Well, I've tried developing on a mac and deploying to linux. Never again.
When I used Mac OS X, everything was very shiny, but also not fully there, functionally. You almost had everything you need, but those few packages that needed to be manually built. And that setting was almost reasonable, but not quite. And there was always something that could be worked around, but never get solved.
So yes, I could run MS Word without resorting to Wine, but I couldn't get any work done without working around many many small issues.
I was glad when that Mac broke down. It was the worst computer I ever had -- even when considering the ThinkPad I had before burst into flames one day -- because the software never worked as I expected it to.
And I'm too old to learn how to reuse my computer. Especially when I can get it running the way I like (as long as I don't use OS X, that is.)
Apart from development being a complete pain, the UI was designed for casual users. The virtual desktop implementation switched desktops on alt+tab, rendering desktops completely useless for separation of activities. There were many such small annoyances, and I was thoroughly glad to switch to Ubuntu in the end.
i myself have lost 5 years in the mac world. there is no skill set i gained there, which made any sense in my dev work. i just remember annoyingly slow visual effects which make you lose a zillion seconds a year watching.
It seems like you wanted to use OS X for something it wasn't intended: a programming workstation to target Linux deployment.
Use a Virtual Machine for that. You'll get an environment like the one you deploy to, snapshots, easy backup, multiple versions of deployment environments with provisioning AND your desktop remains clean.
The reverse situation (trying to use a Linux system as a Desktop machine) is terribly IMHO. As soon as you step in common 2013 Desktop use (e.g edit the video files from your camera or use some proprietary software, hardware etc) you are in a world of pain.
I except from any desktop OS I use in 2013 FULL multimedia capabilities, consuming AND editing, and with a large variety of software offerings to chose from for each.
Now, if you're satisfied with just a terminal a browser window and a way to play mp3 and avis, sure, use Linux.
Go to any developer's conference and it's 80+ MBP and Air's with OS X. Do you hear them bitch?
Use a Virtual Machine or a remote/cloud etc server like the pros do. It's 2013. It's not rocket science.
"Oh, I tried installing something and I broke my MacPorts" -- well, cry me a river.
Do you know how many times I (and millions of people) have struggled with borked RPMs and DEBS, external repos not being totally compatible, latest stuff only being available on experimental repos, having to revert to manual compilation, messing with hardware drivers et all in Linux?