I'm not sure we are as diametrically opposed as you suggest but if you are unalterably opposed to sole source installations, I would have suggested you switch to Windows but from what I hear they are moving, or trying to move, in the same direction as OS X. I guess that leaves you with the sole option of some dialect of Unix for your operating system.
If we knew what it was we were doing, it wouldn't be called research, would it?
