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I'm also a long-time Mac user, but I've really had about enough of this. Between the seemingly constant stream of security problems and the dumbing down of OSX

I'm also a long-time Mac user, but I've really had about enough of this. Between the seemingly constant stream of security problems and the dumbing down of OSX (MacOS, whatever), I'm not sure I'm willing to pay a premium for this product anymore. At the same time the Apple seems to be dropping the ball, some of the more noob-friendly linux distros are starting to look very attractive. And while Apple still seems to have the best hardware overall, a Lenovo Carbon X1 seems like a very decent option. I'm by no means a "pro" user (I have a decent understanding of computers, can get around on linux command line, some basic experiences in programming, etc), but I'm probably going to start making the switch, at least for my laptop. Slightly off topic, but one of the only software issues holding me back previously was 1Password compatibility on linux, but apparently, it is now available (1). Anyone tried it? It's not a stand-alone application, but I'm probably okay with that. (1) https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/79940/a-present-for-chrome-os-and-linux-users https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/79940/a-present...

eeks 9y ago
> Slightly off topic, but one of the only software issues holding me back previously was 1Password compatibility on linux, but apparently, it is now available (1). Well, it's a Chrome extension. For some people (including yours truly), it's a deal breaker. I would suggest `password-store`[0] if you don't need to share your vault with anyone. [0] https://www.passwordstore.org https://www.passwordstore.org
- ghostly_s 9y ago
  > if you don't need to share your vault with anyone Or any other devices? Or even have rudimentary browser integration? How is this an alternative?
  - eeks 9y ago
    Please check their website. You have extensions for Firefox, applications for Android, etc... It is an alternative, albeit not a drop-in replacement.
- dpedu 9y ago
  Not quite what you're looking for, but Gonepass is a GTK read-only frontend for 1Password data. And Enpass is a complete replacement for 1Password.
- FreedomWarrior 9y ago
  Actually, pass has great support for teams. Dropping one or more GPG keys in ".gpg-id" will encrypt the passwords for the various identities. This works globally or per sub-folder. I use dedicated subkeys for work and mobile so that I don't have to share my main key, or indeed every password with every device.
  - eeks 9y ago
    Nice +1 I wasn't aware of that.
threeseed 9y ago
I never understand this line. How is MacOSX being dumbed down ? It's largely the same OS since back in 10.0 DP1. Sure they try to lock down applications to those that are signed. But it's trivial to override and is great for OSX users that can't immediately identify malware.
duncan_bayne 9y ago
I run 1Password in the browser (Firefox) and have no problem working with a team of OSX users running 1Password. My own stuff I keep in a ccrypt-ed text file that I view and edit with Emacs.
reaperducer 9y ago
If some of the Linux distros would start trying to look like MacOS instead of constantly aping Windows, then switching would be a lot easier. That's been the big reason I've never really taken to Linux. The GUIs all look like Windows with a skin. Where's the innovation?
- Cyberdog 9y ago
  Amen to this. A stickler for me personally is the universal menu bar at the top of the screen rather than separate menu bars inside windows. I know that older versions of KDE could be configured to do this, but not sure if more recent ones can do it, or if other DEs can do it. Every now and then I do some research on it, but the results are never promising. (From what I remember, the Ubuntu/Unity bar gets close but still feels weird.)
- fyfy18 9y ago
  Take a look at https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn (SFW other than the name) if you want some inspiration for what you can do if you customise it.
- willtim 9y ago
  This is not true in general. Linux Desktop UIs like Gnome 3 have taken a lot of criticism precisely because they have not been copying Windows and have deviated considerably (due to patent concerns). Of course, there are some fringe "garage effort" Linux distros that don't care about patents and do just give some part of the community what they want. As for innovation, Linux desktop UIs had virtual desktops and window tiling features long before Windows and MacOS.
  - pjmlp 9y ago
    > As for innovation, Linux desktop UIs had virtual desktops and window tiling features long before Windows and MacOS. Well, all commercial UNIXes had them before Linux was even a thing.
    - willtim 9y ago
derpaderp1 9y ago
lol look at this kid he's going to build his own OS
willtim 9y ago
> Apple still seems to have the best hardware overall The example comparison you gave, an X1 Carbon, has a more reliable keyboard with more travel, a matte-screen option without fragile glass, a user-replaceable battery, a user-replaceable NVMe drive, a variety of ports new and old, a docking solution, security cable lock etc
- icelancer 9y ago
  As always, the mousepad can't yet be beaten. While it sounds trite - and I've long since switched away from my original Macbook Retina, IMO the height of Mac's hardware dominance - I still pine for it compared to everything I've used since.
  - willtim 9y ago
    I haven't used one, but newer machines use Microsoft's "Precision Touchpad" standard which is supposed to close the gap and support fancy gestures. Personally I just use the ThinkPad nipple and as many shortcut keys as I can memorise :)
    - ams6110 9y ago
      I'm another one who much prefers the nib in the middle of the keyboard to the touch pad. I use a Thinkpad keyboard on my desktop machine for this reason. No mouse on my desk at all and I'm not constantly moving my arm back and forth to reach for it.
  - Viper007Bond 9y ago
    I thought the same thing but I switched from a MacBook running Bootcamp to the new Surface Laptop and I actually prefer the latter. It's absolutely phenomenal. Microsoft is kicking ass lately and WSL lets me do all the Linux stuff I need to do (build scripts, etc.).
  - mikeokner 9y ago
    I was right there with you for a long time, but the touchpads on PC flagships have largely caught up. I switch between a Dell XPS 15 and a late-model MBP daily, and while I still give a slight edge to the mac, the Dell works well too and doesn't cause any frustration/pining.
draw_down 9y ago
I'm right there with you, I have no desire to encourage their sloppiness by buying more of their products. My inclination now is to just have the batteries replaced in my devices and not purchase new ones to the extent possible. However, I still don't seriously believe anyone else is making better products than they are, so I also don't have a desire to "switch". This is part of the reason Apple is able to get away with such sloppiness.
djsumdog 9y ago
Dells and Lenovos both have a lot of their hardware supported in most major Linux distributions. I run Gentoo on two Dells without any major issues. I really prefer Linux over MacOS and have been lucky that at my last three jobs I've been able to use Linux natively on my work laptops/desktops. Using a tiling window manager like i3 also make things so much easier as well. It may not look as pretty, but from a utility standpoint, it's far above the usability of MacOS for developers.
- hanklazard 9y ago
  Thanks for the tip. Bought an X1 pre-owned yesterday and am planning to try native Mint on it.
kuon 9y ago
1Password was also an important app for me, but after they moved to a service, I switched to keepass. 1password was a great app done right, but keepass is much more extensible (while being quite ugly) and with all the recent "security debacle" I'm happier with an open source solution.
cageface 9y ago
On top of all these the touchbar, the new, ridiculously large trackpad and the loss of magsafe are a step back in UX from previous iterations of the MBP. I can't realistically switch to a platform that doesn't run Sketch but I used to look forward to new Apple hardware and I can't say that's true anymore.
mtnygard 9y ago
I've been using the 1Password Chrome extension on Linux. It works pretty well.
newscracker 9y ago
I don't have direct experience with 1Password on Linux, but customers have complained about how AgileBits has treated the Windows and Android builds as third class citizens and not put in a lot of effort into those. So I'd be cautious, try it out and then decide instead of taking someone else's word for it. For multi-platform password managers with browser extensions, Enpass (enpass.io) is an option. Dash lane is another, though it's about as expensive (or more) than the 1Password subscription that AgileBits pushes (the dark pattern on the AgileBits website about completely hiding the standalone license is something I don't like).

eeks 9y ago

> Slightly off topic, but one of the only software issues holding me back previously was 1Password compatibility on linux, but apparently, it is now available (1). Well, it's a Chrome extension. For some people (including yours truly), it's a deal breaker. I would suggest `password-store`[0] if you don't need to share your vault with anyone. [0] https://www.passwordstore.org https://www.passwordstore.org

ghostly_s 9y ago
> if you don't need to share your vault with anyone Or any other devices? Or even have rudimentary browser integration? How is this an alternative?
- eeks 9y ago
  Please check their website. You have extensions for Firefox, applications for Android, etc... It is an alternative, albeit not a drop-in replacement.
dpedu 9y ago
Not quite what you're looking for, but Gonepass is a GTK read-only frontend for 1Password data. And Enpass is a complete replacement for 1Password.
FreedomWarrior 9y ago
Actually, pass has great support for teams. Dropping one or more GPG keys in ".gpg-id" will encrypt the passwords for the various identities. This works globally or per sub-folder. I use dedicated subkeys for work and mobile so that I don't have to share my main key, or indeed every password with every device.
- eeks 9y ago
  Nice +1 I wasn't aware of that.

threeseed 9y ago

I never understand this line. How is MacOSX being dumbed down ? It's largely the same OS since back in 10.0 DP1. Sure they try to lock down applications to those that are signed. But it's trivial to override and is great for OSX users that can't immediately identify malware.

duncan_bayne 9y ago

I run 1Password in the browser (Firefox) and have no problem working with a team of OSX users running 1Password. My own stuff I keep in a ccrypt-ed text file that I view and edit with Emacs.

reaperducer 9y ago

If some of the Linux distros would start trying to look like MacOS instead of constantly aping Windows, then switching would be a lot easier. That's been the big reason I've never really taken to Linux. The GUIs all look like Windows with a skin. Where's the innovation?

Cyberdog 9y ago
Amen to this. A stickler for me personally is the universal menu bar at the top of the screen rather than separate menu bars inside windows. I know that older versions of KDE could be configured to do this, but not sure if more recent ones can do it, or if other DEs can do it. Every now and then I do some research on it, but the results are never promising. (From what I remember, the Ubuntu/Unity bar gets close but still feels weird.)
fyfy18 9y ago
Take a look at https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn (SFW other than the name) if you want some inspiration for what you can do if you customise it.
willtim 9y ago
This is not true in general. Linux Desktop UIs like Gnome 3 have taken a lot of criticism precisely because they have not been copying Windows and have deviated considerably (due to patent concerns). Of course, there are some fringe "garage effort" Linux distros that don't care about patents and do just give some part of the community what they want. As for innovation, Linux desktop UIs had virtual desktops and window tiling features long before Windows and MacOS.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  > As for innovation, Linux desktop UIs had virtual desktops and window tiling features long before Windows and MacOS. Well, all commercial UNIXes had them before Linux was even a thing.
  - willtim 9y ago

derpaderp1 9y ago

lol look at this kid he's going to build his own OS

willtim 9y ago

> Apple still seems to have the best hardware overall The example comparison you gave, an X1 Carbon, has a more reliable keyboard with more travel, a matte-screen option without fragile glass, a user-replaceable battery, a user-replaceable NVMe drive, a variety of ports new and old, a docking solution, security cable lock etc

icelancer 9y ago
As always, the mousepad can't yet be beaten. While it sounds trite - and I've long since switched away from my original Macbook Retina, IMO the height of Mac's hardware dominance - I still pine for it compared to everything I've used since.
- willtim 9y ago
  I haven't used one, but newer machines use Microsoft's "Precision Touchpad" standard which is supposed to close the gap and support fancy gestures. Personally I just use the ThinkPad nipple and as many shortcut keys as I can memorise :)
  - ams6110 9y ago
    I'm another one who much prefers the nib in the middle of the keyboard to the touch pad. I use a Thinkpad keyboard on my desktop machine for this reason. No mouse on my desk at all and I'm not constantly moving my arm back and forth to reach for it.
- Viper007Bond 9y ago
  I thought the same thing but I switched from a MacBook running Bootcamp to the new Surface Laptop and I actually prefer the latter. It's absolutely phenomenal. Microsoft is kicking ass lately and WSL lets me do all the Linux stuff I need to do (build scripts, etc.).
- mikeokner 9y ago
  I was right there with you for a long time, but the touchpads on PC flagships have largely caught up. I switch between a Dell XPS 15 and a late-model MBP daily, and while I still give a slight edge to the mac, the Dell works well too and doesn't cause any frustration/pining.

draw_down 9y ago

I'm right there with you, I have no desire to encourage their sloppiness by buying more of their products. My inclination now is to just have the batteries replaced in my devices and not purchase new ones to the extent possible. However, I still don't seriously believe anyone else is making better products than they are, so I also don't have a desire to "switch". This is part of the reason Apple is able to get away with such sloppiness.

djsumdog 9y ago

Dells and Lenovos both have a lot of their hardware supported in most major Linux distributions. I run Gentoo on two Dells without any major issues. I really prefer Linux over MacOS and have been lucky that at my last three jobs I've been able to use Linux natively on my work laptops/desktops. Using a tiling window manager like i3 also make things so much easier as well. It may not look as pretty, but from a utility standpoint, it's far above the usability of MacOS for developers.

hanklazard 9y ago
Thanks for the tip. Bought an X1 pre-owned yesterday and am planning to try native Mint on it.

kuon 9y ago

1Password was also an important app for me, but after they moved to a service, I switched to keepass. 1password was a great app done right, but keepass is much more extensible (while being quite ugly) and with all the recent "security debacle" I'm happier with an open source solution.

cageface 9y ago

On top of all these the touchbar, the new, ridiculously large trackpad and the loss of magsafe are a step back in UX from previous iterations of the MBP. I can't realistically switch to a platform that doesn't run Sketch but I used to look forward to new Apple hardware and I can't say that's true anymore.

mtnygard 9y ago

I've been using the 1Password Chrome extension on Linux. It works pretty well.

newscracker 9y ago

I don't have direct experience with 1Password on Linux, but customers have complained about how AgileBits has treated the Windows and Android builds as third class citizens and not put in a lot of effort into those. So I'd be cautious, try it out and then decide instead of taking someone else's word for it. For multi-platform password managers with browser extensions, Enpass (enpass.io) is an option. Dash lane is another, though it's about as expensive (or more) than the 1Password subscription that AgileBits pushes (the dark pattern on the AgileBits website about completely hiding the standalone license is something I don't like).