I think linux beats OSX as development environment for the simple reason that most OSS is built for linux first [and almost all the interesting software is OSS nowadays]. Personally the only reason i use OSX is iphone or Mac development.
Regarding your last point: most users who use linux want to learn programming or are already developers. And slick is slick for a few hours after installation, but each special effect comes with bugs; what's the point of slick menu animations when your computer refuses to sleep, hangs up when you connect an external display and does not yet have a desktop search? They don't even have a shortcut for the terminal on the desktop anymore! And the #1 rule for me is that i should be able to get my job done as fast as possible without useless effects cluttering my workflow. I 'm up for honest computing, not for overpromising in UI and underdelivering in UX. [p.s. I 'm probably extremely biased today, as i spent most of the day trying to customize KDE to my needs , just to end up dumping it after many lost hours ]
Regarding your last point: most users who use linux want to learn programming or are already developers. And slick is slick for a few hours after installation, but each special effect comes with bugs; what's the point of slick menu animations when your computer refuses to sleep, hangs up when you connect an external display and does not yet have a desktop search? They don't even have a shortcut for the terminal on the desktop anymore! And the #1 rule for me is that i should be able to get my job done as fast as possible without useless effects cluttering my workflow. I 'm up for honest computing, not for overpromising in UI and underdelivering in UX. [p.s. I 'm probably extremely biased today, as i spent most of the day trying to customize KDE to my needs , just to end up dumping it after many lost hours ]