Mac OS is locked down. With every release Apple has been stripping away compatability and making it harder for third-party delopers to work on the platform.
Examples:
1) Removing 32-bit compatability with Mac OS Catalina
2) Mac OS X used to work on UFS filesystems. Now it's all APFS with their proprietary encryption. They removed that support long ago, yes. But we remember that
3) They have disallowed third-party firewalls to access system layer connections, only limiting those to a user layer
4) PowerPC support (Rosetta) was removed long ago, but we remember that as well
5) OpenGL support was deprecating. Along with dropping support of 32-bit apps we know that it made gaming on Mac OS nearly impossible (unless you have M1 Mac which runs store-only apps)
6) Third-party installation is becoming harder and harder with each new release. If you are a power Mac user you know that. Signing is required, extensions are blocked, etc. I use HomeBrew package manager and it resolves many issues (for now)
7) Try single user mode. It's impossible. But before that I was able to boot in terminal skipping the whole Mac OS UI and modifying system volume any way I wanted
When I've started using Mac in 2007 it was like a blank canvas with the system open to third-party developers, no app store (amazing!), open source notification applications, etc.
Apple literally locked me into their eco-system.
With Linux? Well, let's see:
1) I can choose from dozens of different UIs and environments. I can change it any way I want. No need to adapt to specific things
2) I can use app stores, I can skip those, I can compile apps, I can use AppImage, Flatpac or Snap to install software. I am free there. Mac OS used to be similar in that sense, not anymore
3) I can pick any filesystem that I like. There is absolutely no need to stick with just one
4) I can create /home partition on a separate volume and move it around
5) I can upgrade kernel or I can stick with the old ones. I can update separate modules or I can leave those. Hey, it's an open world
Yes, Mac OS and Linux are locked down and Linux has some limitations too. But at least there is a choice in Linux. Honestly, there is a choice even for Windows because in terms of compatability it can run apps (e.g Internet Explorer 1.0 from 1995). Try that with Mac? Even the apps from 2013-2014 won't work unless those are 64-bit.
Mac OS was great. It used to be. But the concept has changed. It's no longer for curious people - it's more like an advanced version of iPad OS. That's it.
