Many Mac programmers are using Unix for the first time now that it's available on Mac OS X. Many Unix programmers are using the Mac for the first time now that their favorite tools are available on the platform.

In his stellar article on O'Reilly's MacDevCenter entitled Why Unix Matters to Mac OS X, Daniel H. Steinberg discusses the special relationship between OS X and Unix by summarising the O'Reilly Mac OS X Conference keynote speeches by two well-respected members of the Unix and open source communities.

Tim O'Reilly talked about three stages of technology evolution and "urged Mac developers to think about the architecture philosophy of Unix." Jordan Hubbard provided a brief history of Unix and explained the benefits that OS X brings to the Unix community (why OS X matters to Unix!).