6 ms·

Considering that Apple doesn't care much about developer's exerience (look at XCode crashes, iOS UI Bugs, shitty UX of itunesconnect portal) I won't engage in a

Considering that Apple doesn't care much about developer's exerience (look at XCode crashes, iOS UI Bugs, shitty UX of itunesconnect portal) I won't engage in any new tool by apple.

mibbiting 10y ago
I've had macbooks for years. I finally gave up and got a Dell XPS running Ubuntu earlier this year. Best decision I ever made. So much faster, so much more responsive. No massive delay waiting for that idiotic spinner. It's been clear for a while Apple don't care about developers.
- sealjam 10y ago
  This is something I'm considering. I'm interested to hear more about your switch. Did you have any major problems? Is there anything you're particularly missing about your MB? I wonder whether there are a whole load of solid integration things I take for granted with Apple products (simple stuff like the machine actually going to sleep when you close the lid etc)
  - mibbiting 10y ago
    Nothing I miss. The Dell XPS goes to sleep when lid closed, and correctly (and fast) wakeup when you open the lid. Battery life amazing as well. So I just shut the laptop, and open it the next day and continue...
- HappyAndHarmles 10y ago
  I have been meaning to switch to Linux, however I am yet to find something that has as good of a display quality (retina fonts) as the Mac. How is the XPS like?
  - brianshaler 10y ago
    The XPS13 has a hiDPI screen. Hardware wise, the screen definitely seems on-par with MBP but on the software side, it's a little infuriating encountering applications that don't support hiDPI. Instead of those apps just looking blurry like when OS X introduced 2x resolution, they show up at native resolution (50% of normal size) But who knows, maybe I missed a setting somewhere to correct that.
  - JoshTriplett 10y ago
    I've used high-DPI displays under Linux, and they consistently work fine. GNOME autodetects a high-DPI display and scales well by default, and all modern applications handle this as well. (If you run old non-toolkit applications, they may not scale automatically.) I did find that Firefox doesn't seem to autodetect high-DPI displays, but if you open about:config and set layout.css.devPixelsPerPx to 1.4 (for 1440p) or 2 (for 4k), Firefox works great. (Adjust to taste.)
    - op00to 10y ago
      This is not true. Linux does not handle HiDPI just fine. Try using 2 displays with 2 different dpis. You get your choice: one screen normal, and one screen teeny tiny.
      - merb 10y ago
        actually on wayland it does. tough there aren't many wayland distro's.
        op00to 10y ago
        Good point! I haven't had any Wayland distros work long enough to plug in a 2nd monitor. :)
    - sz4kerto 10y ago
      Linux is not something that handles hiDPI. X handles it, Gnome handles it, Qt handles it. Almost all of them are a bit different, and you have to take care of them separately. There are things that already work together well, e.g. X DPI detection works with Gnome 3, but if you open a Qt GUI (old Skype) then that might very well be tiny. Chrome has not worked well until recently, I don't know if they fixed it already or not.
      - renaudg 10y ago
        That's all I needed to hear to know that 2016 (and probably 2017) is still not "the year of the Linux desktop" (coming from a Linux desktop guy until 2004: switched to the Mac because I value my time, I keep monitoring any new developments in my old camp but if I had held my breath I'd be dead.)
- yberreby 10y ago
  Did your previous MacBook have an SSD or a hard drive? What were its specs?
sgt 10y ago
I've used Xcode actively the last couple of years and I can't really say I've experienced that many crashes. I've seen far more NetBeans crashes, to give an example of another IDE I've frequently used. That is not to say I think Xcode is perfect though - it still needs improvements.
- pivo 10y ago
  Not sure what OP meant by crashes, but yeah, Xcode itself doesn't crash that much for me. SourceKit crashes all the time, but it restarts automatically and doesn't bring down Xcode. Not pleasant, but not terrible either.
  - amiga-workbench 10y ago
    I get multiple Xcode crashes every day, usually when manipulating storyboards, the whole application just bombs out.
rimantas 10y ago
if itunesconnect is any indication then Apple cares a lot more about developers than it did five years ago.
- na85 10y ago
  Thrice a penny is still pocket change.
madeofpalk 10y ago
To be fair, MacOS Server isnt anything new - they've been making it forever.
dep_b 10y ago
As much as I would like to defend Xcode it isn't a great tool allround. Visual Studio + ReSharper feels like it's from another planet, yet it's so much nicer than anything not from JetBrains or Microsoft. It's not crashing all the time but yes I get some vague bugs that are resolved by restarting, clearing some files or simply compiling again. Not to mention Swift 2.3 in the last version of Xcode 7 isn't compiling Swift 2.3 code in Xcode 8. But it's fast and the code completion works pretty well.
Quarrelsome 10y ago
the terms of their AppStore EULA did it for me. It struck me as a very long winded way of writing the words "fuck you".
mirekrusin 10y ago
I don't understand why they're not open-sourcing xcode, framework-by-framework, keeping whichever frameworks they need as private. It would make devs happy, free bug reports, free fixes and a pool of potential developers to hire.
- fooker 10y ago
  It might be an enormous not-so-organized codebase without much review about what is going in. In that case taking it apart and open sourcing parts is going to be a massive effort.
- givinguflac 10y ago
  I think you'll see some of that eventually, but to me it seems like they're gearing up to provide Xcode for iOS, which means they probably won't open source anything for a while after that at least.
  - cableshaft 10y ago
    > ...Xcode for iOS What makes you think this is going to happen sometime soon? Have you seen anything specific that indicates that?
Gorbzel 10y ago
Confirmation bias turning HN into an anti-Apple echo chamber of niche, subjective rants is really getting old (...and it's not even been a week). As an iOS developer, I've got the experience to know this kind of drivel doesn't reflect reality. More then that though, I simply find it amusing how people here rush to judgment about a product they've never used, then circle the wagons. I guess it's not surprising, developers and entrepreneurs tend to be god-awful at understanding the needs of end users, tale as old as time. What's more concerning is that despite over 40 years of technical revolutions, attention to minor detail wins, and adoption/consideration of community input, industry "professionals" won't give Apple even the slightest hint of the benefit of the doubt. But I do wonder about the empathy and humanity of people who say that Apple "doesn't care." They has over 125,000 employees worldwide, many of them hardware engineering, open-source software, and design veterans who know and are passionate about the work they do. Passionate enough to know about tradeoffs you make when shipping a successful product. Marginalizing these people simply because you've decided to switch to Desktop Linux reflects really poorly on you, not on the Touch Bar. Nor does it get anything done, as time and time again Cupertino shows that the haters have less memory than a Nomad and are lame. Meanwhile, scores of developers will use the tbMBP, Xcode, and even iTunes Connect to do tons of productive things with their time. Maybe think of that next time you decide to lower the discourse +1 on every damn article.
- izacus 10y ago
  > Confirmation bias turning HN into an anti-Apple echo chamber of niche, subjective rants is really getting old (...and it's not even been a week). Oh come on, HN is one of the most pro-Apple communities around. That still doesn't mean people can't criticise them when they do something they don't like.
- vegabook 10y ago
  > As an IOS developer..... k so you're at the center of Apple's attention. You're lucky. You perhaps don't need 32 Gig. Many of us do though, and 16 gig limit is just as nonsensical as it gets on a "Pro" computer and no amount of "oh this is getting old now please stop" is going to change the hard fact that Apple screwed up, or is dumping serious power users. I'm still angry, and I agree with the backlash. I want to toolup away from Apple as well. There is something useful to me in posts that show that I'm not alone, because it suggests a certain momentum towards alternatives, reducing my risk. There is also something very useful to Apple's competitors in gauging frustration as it may push them to create closer alternatives.
givinguflac 10y ago
This is by no means a new tool, just a newer version. But hey enjoy that reeeeaaalll tall horse :)

Considering that Apple doesn't care much about developer's exerience (look at XCode crashes, iOS UI Bugs, shitty UX of itunesconnect portal) I won't engage in any new tool by apple.

mibbiting 10y ago

I've had macbooks for years. I finally gave up and got a Dell XPS running Ubuntu earlier this year. Best decision I ever made. So much faster, so much more responsive. No massive delay waiting for that idiotic spinner. It's been clear for a while Apple don't care about developers.

sealjam 10y ago
This is something I'm considering. I'm interested to hear more about your switch. Did you have any major problems? Is there anything you're particularly missing about your MB? I wonder whether there are a whole load of solid integration things I take for granted with Apple products (simple stuff like the machine actually going to sleep when you close the lid etc)
- mibbiting 10y ago
  Nothing I miss. The Dell XPS goes to sleep when lid closed, and correctly (and fast) wakeup when you open the lid. Battery life amazing as well. So I just shut the laptop, and open it the next day and continue...
HappyAndHarmles 10y ago
I have been meaning to switch to Linux, however I am yet to find something that has as good of a display quality (retina fonts) as the Mac. How is the XPS like?
- brianshaler 10y ago
  The XPS13 has a hiDPI screen. Hardware wise, the screen definitely seems on-par with MBP but on the software side, it's a little infuriating encountering applications that don't support hiDPI. Instead of those apps just looking blurry like when OS X introduced 2x resolution, they show up at native resolution (50% of normal size) But who knows, maybe I missed a setting somewhere to correct that.
- JoshTriplett 10y ago
  I've used high-DPI displays under Linux, and they consistently work fine. GNOME autodetects a high-DPI display and scales well by default, and all modern applications handle this as well. (If you run old non-toolkit applications, they may not scale automatically.) I did find that Firefox doesn't seem to autodetect high-DPI displays, but if you open about:config and set layout.css.devPixelsPerPx to 1.4 (for 1440p) or 2 (for 4k), Firefox works great. (Adjust to taste.)
  - op00to 10y ago
    This is not true. Linux does not handle HiDPI just fine. Try using 2 displays with 2 different dpis. You get your choice: one screen normal, and one screen teeny tiny.
    - merb 10y ago
      actually on wayland it does. tough there aren't many wayland distro's.
      - op00to 10y ago
        Good point! I haven't had any Wayland distros work long enough to plug in a 2nd monitor. :)
  - sz4kerto 10y ago
    Linux is not something that handles hiDPI. X handles it, Gnome handles it, Qt handles it. Almost all of them are a bit different, and you have to take care of them separately. There are things that already work together well, e.g. X DPI detection works with Gnome 3, but if you open a Qt GUI (old Skype) then that might very well be tiny. Chrome has not worked well until recently, I don't know if they fixed it already or not.
    - renaudg 10y ago
      That's all I needed to hear to know that 2016 (and probably 2017) is still not "the year of the Linux desktop" (coming from a Linux desktop guy until 2004: switched to the Mac because I value my time, I keep monitoring any new developments in my old camp but if I had held my breath I'd be dead.)
yberreby 10y ago
Did your previous MacBook have an SSD or a hard drive? What were its specs?

sgt 10y ago

I've used Xcode actively the last couple of years and I can't really say I've experienced that many crashes. I've seen far more NetBeans crashes, to give an example of another IDE I've frequently used. That is not to say I think Xcode is perfect though - it still needs improvements.

pivo 10y ago
Not sure what OP meant by crashes, but yeah, Xcode itself doesn't crash that much for me. SourceKit crashes all the time, but it restarts automatically and doesn't bring down Xcode. Not pleasant, but not terrible either.
- amiga-workbench 10y ago
  I get multiple Xcode crashes every day, usually when manipulating storyboards, the whole application just bombs out.

rimantas 10y ago

if itunesconnect is any indication then Apple cares a lot more about developers than it did five years ago.

na85 10y ago
Thrice a penny is still pocket change.

madeofpalk 10y ago

To be fair, MacOS Server isnt anything new - they've been making it forever.

dep_b 10y ago

As much as I would like to defend Xcode it isn't a great tool allround. Visual Studio + ReSharper feels like it's from another planet, yet it's so much nicer than anything not from JetBrains or Microsoft. It's not crashing all the time but yes I get some vague bugs that are resolved by restarting, clearing some files or simply compiling again. Not to mention Swift 2.3 in the last version of Xcode 7 isn't compiling Swift 2.3 code in Xcode 8. But it's fast and the code completion works pretty well.

Quarrelsome 10y ago

the terms of their AppStore EULA did it for me. It struck me as a very long winded way of writing the words "fuck you".

mirekrusin 10y ago

I don't understand why they're not open-sourcing xcode, framework-by-framework, keeping whichever frameworks they need as private. It would make devs happy, free bug reports, free fixes and a pool of potential developers to hire.

fooker 10y ago
It might be an enormous not-so-organized codebase without much review about what is going in. In that case taking it apart and open sourcing parts is going to be a massive effort.
givinguflac 10y ago
I think you'll see some of that eventually, but to me it seems like they're gearing up to provide Xcode for iOS, which means they probably won't open source anything for a while after that at least.
- cableshaft 10y ago
  > ...Xcode for iOS What makes you think this is going to happen sometime soon? Have you seen anything specific that indicates that?

Gorbzel 10y ago

Confirmation bias turning HN into an anti-Apple echo chamber of niche, subjective rants is really getting old (...and it's not even been a week). As an iOS developer, I've got the experience to know this kind of drivel doesn't reflect reality. More then that though, I simply find it amusing how people here rush to judgment about a product they've never used, then circle the wagons. I guess it's not surprising, developers and entrepreneurs tend to be god-awful at understanding the needs of end users, tale as old as time. What's more concerning is that despite over 40 years of technical revolutions, attention to minor detail wins, and adoption/consideration of community input, industry "professionals" won't give Apple even the slightest hint of the benefit of the doubt. But I do wonder about the empathy and humanity of people who say that Apple "doesn't care." They has over 125,000 employees worldwide, many of them hardware engineering, open-source software, and design veterans who know and are passionate about the work they do. Passionate enough to know about tradeoffs you make when shipping a successful product. Marginalizing these people simply because you've decided to switch to Desktop Linux reflects really poorly on you, not on the Touch Bar. Nor does it get anything done, as time and time again Cupertino shows that the haters have less memory than a Nomad and are lame. Meanwhile, scores of developers will use the tbMBP, Xcode, and even iTunes Connect to do tons of productive things with their time. Maybe think of that next time you decide to lower the discourse +1 on every damn article.

izacus 10y ago
> Confirmation bias turning HN into an anti-Apple echo chamber of niche, subjective rants is really getting old (...and it's not even been a week). Oh come on, HN is one of the most pro-Apple communities around. That still doesn't mean people can't criticise them when they do something they don't like.
vegabook 10y ago
> As an IOS developer..... k so you're at the center of Apple's attention. You're lucky. You perhaps don't need 32 Gig. Many of us do though, and 16 gig limit is just as nonsensical as it gets on a "Pro" computer and no amount of "oh this is getting old now please stop" is going to change the hard fact that Apple screwed up, or is dumping serious power users. I'm still angry, and I agree with the backlash. I want to toolup away from Apple as well. There is something useful to me in posts that show that I'm not alone, because it suggests a certain momentum towards alternatives, reducing my risk. There is also something very useful to Apple's competitors in gauging frustration as it may push them to create closer alternatives.

givinguflac 10y ago

This is by no means a new tool, just a newer version. But hey enjoy that reeeeaaalll tall horse :)