Why does Linux looks like Macintosh?

[RikTelner]

Why does Linux, looks like Macintosh?
I am in classroom, there are 2 Macintosh users, then me, with Linux openSUSE/Ubuntu and Mint then rest of Windows 7/8.
So, one of Macintosh users came standing behind my screen (everybody in the class is stalking one another, as if it was normal, nobody counter-reacts whatsoever).
He went with text starting as "Wow, Linux looks like Mac, crazy!", so, yeah, I went to see his Macintosh, and it did indeed looked awfully like Unity and GNOME.

I know that Macintosh and Linux have Unix descent. But c'mon, that really hits.
Is there no other, DE (Desktop Environment), beyond Matte, Unity, Gnome, KDE? Or at least, how do I modify current Desktop Environment? I've heard Linux was highly customizable. At least, more than Windows.

[L7Sqr]

What are you looking to get out of an OS? Visual distinction? Try any number of window managers: fluxbox, xfce, enlightenment... Better yet, try going without a window manager ;)

I like to think of my OS as a tool: the more it works for me; the better the tool. I'm less worried about the look of my desktop and more worried about the functionality it provides.

[Slavi]

Elementary os = Linux version of Mac :)

[RikTelner]

What are you looking to get out of an OS?

Nothing. It was just a question. I remain aside of Linux.

Visual distinction?

Well, it kinda looks better if it is.

Better yet, try going without a window manager ;)

I don't think I can start VMware or any other application without window manager. But trust me, if I could I'd be editing all my programming files by NANO ;).

I'm less worried about the look of my desktop and more worried about the functionality it provides.

How about being worried about functionality, choosing the best one and then worrying about finding way to improve the look?

Elementary os = Linux version of Mac :)

What?

[rubberman]

Mac OS is basically BSD Unix with a nice GUI. Linux is similar, with many nice GUIs, SOME of which resemble the Mac's. That said, Linux GUIs are a lot more user configurable than the Mac's is. Play with them. You can switch easily enough, without munging the entire system.

[RikTelner]

You can switch easily enough, without munging the entire system.

See, to what I look, as already mentioned, Unity, Gnome and KDE look like Mac and these are only one advanced DEs (Desktop Environments) that I know of. There are some more above mentioned by another member, but these go to very easy low-resource-usage level where "looks" is also limited. I know I may seem opposite of humble, but, you know, I got kinda good computer, I also want to look it a bit fancy. If I wanted extremely fast and efficient OS, without good looks. I would install Windows XP Pro x64 and taskkill /f /im explorer.exe and then use CMD only to run particular programs.

[mike_2000_17]

Elementary os = Linux version of Mac :)

What?

ElementaryOS is a distribution of Linux, based on Ubuntu and GNOME, which pretty much copied all the GUI elements of Mac OS X. See for yourself.

He went with text starting as "Wow, Linux looks like Mac, crazy!",

I find that most "layman" people's reaction to Linux is some sort of ambiguous look, followed by "Are you running Mac OS on a PC?". This is mainly because for most people anything that isn't Windows looks like Mac.

I went to see his Macintosh, and it did indeed looked awfully like Unity and GNOME.

Yeah, that is true. Unity really incorporated a lot of the typical Mac elements. It has a top menu bar that changes depending on the application window that is in focus, which is something that Mac OS introduced. It has a side bar with applications large icons only (instead of the bottom bar with small icons and text, as in traditional Windows), which is also inspired by Mac (although many Linux distributions had this already for a long time). The software center of Ubuntu probably pre-dates any kind of AppStore from Apple, i.e., this is an element that was taken from the Linux world into the Mac world.

I think that the main thing to remember is that Apple is known for being innovative when it comes to such things, and for being quite successful at coming up with features that people like. And Linux distributions tend to be very quick at adopting things that people like, in addition to being very innovative in their own rights as well. So, it's kind of natural that these two operating system would have a lot in common, either by imitation (like the features I just listed), or by virtue of both being very in touch with the needs and desires of their users.

Or at least, how do I modify current Desktop Environment? I've heard Linux was highly customizable.

GNOME and Unity are not that customizable, as an end-user. They can be very customizable, once you get down to it (tweak configuration files and scripts), which is what people do when they create new distributions of Linux based on GNOME or Unity. But these desktop environments are very static after that (i.e., you can't go through the system settings menu to tweak much).

KDE is far more customizable. You can pretty much make it look like just about anything you want. Case in point, there are themes that make it look almost identical to Mac OSX, like this one. Or maybe you prefer a desktop virtually identical to Windows XP, like this one. Or maybe Windows 7 look instead. KDE is really the one desktop environment in Linux that is the most made for and intended to be customized to your heart's content. There are lots of widgets and themes, and you can pretty much tweak every aspect of the interface.

GNOME / Unity and KDE are really the two main desktop environments (with their respective derivatives, which are just slight variations). Except for the "light-weight" environments like XFCE and LXDE, there aren't that many other mature desktop environments.