[LAU] Linux VS Mac

Hi all! If this subject isn't wanted here, please forgive me and feel free to send me where it would be most appropriate. Or if this has already been discussed, please just let me know and I'll go through and look it up. I don't want to be a bother, but I appreciate any info you people could pass along. I know the Mac isn't Linux based, but I understand it is somewhat Unix based. From what I've seen, some of the packages I could make and install (Perhaps that really means compile?) could be done in Mac. Can anyone give me some general info about when that might work and when it clearly won't? I only thought it might be nice to avoid switching back and forth from different operating systems, but I can and will if it just really isn't practical. I've just been seeing references in various packages to installing/compiling on both systems, and thought I could get a bit more basic info. As you can tell, my technical skills are still quite basic, but I've done enough of this before to have some success but get into a bit of trouble too. Any info is appreciated. Thanks much. Kevin