4 ms·

I, too, used to love tinkering with Linux. I would compile my own kernels, hack drivers and fix bugs to make it run better on the hardware I chose to buy. I w

I, too, used to love tinkering with Linux. I would compile my own kernels, hack drivers and fix bugs to make it run better on the hardware I chose to buy. I wanted everything to be just so. Then, I realized that I have more money than time. I can choose Apple hardware, and run OS X (now macOS), trouble free. The only time I patched my Linux kernel was when some piece of hardware didn't work. Now, I simply choose hardware that works with my mac. It's not that much more expensive, usually. On the software side, my old workflow with terminals, SSH, and browsers is pretty much unchanged. The only thing I really liked but Apple dropped (and I hate them for it) was virtual desktops. For that, I use TotalSpaces2. That said, I think you can still get a Dell XPS with Linux preinstalled, no?

zarkov99 9y ago
Yes. And it just works. Gnome is not at MacOS levels of polishing but you get a proper dev machine instead of a pretty SSH terminal into your real dev machine.
- mrgordon 9y ago
  I’ve seen way too many Dell lemons to believe its as simple as “it just works” with Linux. Also, as someone who used to live next door to the creator of GNOME, saying it isn’t as polished as MacOS is quite an understatement.
  - curioussavage 9y ago
    Elementary OS is very polished.
- dkonofalski 9y ago
  What are you talking about? MacOS is a certified Unix variant and it has everything you need to do local dev on it.
  - zarkov99 9y ago
    For server side software the deployment environment is overwhelmingly Linux making Linux also the most straightforward choice for the development environment. Its not a slight on MacOS, its tooling might be just as wonderful as the Linux one for deploying on MacOS.
    - comex 9y ago
      Not all developers are writing server side software.
tylerjwilk00 9y ago
Wait! What! Virtual Desktops "Spaces" are gone in OSX?
- thetinguy 9y ago
  No theyre still there. https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25574?locale=en_US https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25574?locale=en_US
- scottmf 9y ago
  Spaces are still there, but what they have removed is that “X”. It’s simply “MacOS” now.
threeseed 9y ago
> The only thing I really liked but Apple dropped (and I hate them for it) was virtual desktops What are you talking about here ? They are still there. Four finger swipe up to get Spaces overview. Then click the plus button to add a new desktop.
- metafunctor 9y ago
  Right, there are still virtual desktops in the form of Spaces, of course. Sorry for being vague. I was referring to the ability to set up virtual desktops in a 2D grid, which was removed in OS X Lion. I got very used to a 3x3 grid of desktops where I can move around with Control + arrows. No animations, just instantly switching to another desktop. That is what I now use TotalSpaces2 for.
ApolloFortyNine 9y ago
I've always kind of wondered what you guys are doing with your computers where you run into issues with Linux. For 95% of users, even software developers, in there off time you just want a web browser. If you are developing, Linux is almost certainly better. The vast majority of languages have all their libraries available in the built in package manager, the included versions being guaranteed to work together. I'm obviously not suggesting you run Arch Linux, but any Debian based distro will pretty much just work. And Ubuntu LTS doubly so.
- haZard_OS 9y ago
  I second that. I own a System76 laptop (Ubuntu 16.04 pre-installed) and an HP stream that I bought specifically to run POP! OS. I have also replaced several of my colleagues' OS with a Linux distro and I have yet to encounter a problem that took more than an hour to solve...and even those minor problems rarely occur. I am by no means a Linux guru - I just grew disgusted with Windows and wasn't willing to switch to Apple.
- driverdan 9y ago
  Linux has always had issues on laptop hardware. Poor power management, inability to switch between integrated and discrete video, lack of hardware support (eg fingerprint readers). It seems that for every one of these issues that gets fixed a new one appears. That said you can get some decent laptops now with full Linux support. You have to stick to that hardware though.
- metafunctor 9y ago
  I switched to Macs quite a while ago, when many things usually didn't work out of the box with Linux. Wifi, bluetooth, hibernation, full disk encryption, GPU support, and external monitors were all things you would either spend a lot of time configuring or even compiling kernel modules from source. The situation today is a lot better. I believe some research into Linux support is still a good idea before purchasing, say, a laptop.
- pjmlp 9y ago
  > If you are developing, Linux is almost certainly better. Assuming UNIX programming is the only thing developers are supposed to do.
tyingq 9y ago
Does it feel, though, like Apple is neglecting MacOS in favor of IOS recently? iPhones and iPads seem to be marching forward while desktops and laptops seem a bit stagnant. They gave up the server line entirely, and the "pro" moniker seems to not mean what it meant in the past. Even the super popular Mac mini seems to be lacking investment. It would be interesting to see an internal view of growth of investment dollars going into MacOS/desktop/laptop vs the tablets and phones. The recent bugs and vulnerabilities certainly seem to point at some neglect.

zarkov99 9y ago

Yes. And it just works. Gnome is not at MacOS levels of polishing but you get a proper dev machine instead of a pretty SSH terminal into your real dev machine.

mrgordon 9y ago
I’ve seen way too many Dell lemons to believe its as simple as “it just works” with Linux. Also, as someone who used to live next door to the creator of GNOME, saying it isn’t as polished as MacOS is quite an understatement.
- curioussavage 9y ago
  Elementary OS is very polished.
dkonofalski 9y ago
What are you talking about? MacOS is a certified Unix variant and it has everything you need to do local dev on it.
- zarkov99 9y ago
  For server side software the deployment environment is overwhelmingly Linux making Linux also the most straightforward choice for the development environment. Its not a slight on MacOS, its tooling might be just as wonderful as the Linux one for deploying on MacOS.
  - comex 9y ago
    Not all developers are writing server side software.

tylerjwilk00 9y ago

Wait! What! Virtual Desktops "Spaces" are gone in OSX?

thetinguy 9y ago
No theyre still there. https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25574?locale=en_US https://support.apple.com/kb/PH25574?locale=en_US
scottmf 9y ago
Spaces are still there, but what they have removed is that “X”. It’s simply “MacOS” now.

threeseed 9y ago

> The only thing I really liked but Apple dropped (and I hate them for it) was virtual desktops What are you talking about here ? They are still there. Four finger swipe up to get Spaces overview. Then click the plus button to add a new desktop.

metafunctor 9y ago
Right, there are still virtual desktops in the form of Spaces, of course. Sorry for being vague. I was referring to the ability to set up virtual desktops in a 2D grid, which was removed in OS X Lion. I got very used to a 3x3 grid of desktops where I can move around with Control + arrows. No animations, just instantly switching to another desktop. That is what I now use TotalSpaces2 for.

ApolloFortyNine 9y ago

I've always kind of wondered what you guys are doing with your computers where you run into issues with Linux. For 95% of users, even software developers, in there off time you just want a web browser. If you are developing, Linux is almost certainly better. The vast majority of languages have all their libraries available in the built in package manager, the included versions being guaranteed to work together. I'm obviously not suggesting you run Arch Linux, but any Debian based distro will pretty much just work. And Ubuntu LTS doubly so.

haZard_OS 9y ago
I second that. I own a System76 laptop (Ubuntu 16.04 pre-installed) and an HP stream that I bought specifically to run POP! OS. I have also replaced several of my colleagues' OS with a Linux distro and I have yet to encounter a problem that took more than an hour to solve...and even those minor problems rarely occur. I am by no means a Linux guru - I just grew disgusted with Windows and wasn't willing to switch to Apple.
driverdan 9y ago
Linux has always had issues on laptop hardware. Poor power management, inability to switch between integrated and discrete video, lack of hardware support (eg fingerprint readers). It seems that for every one of these issues that gets fixed a new one appears. That said you can get some decent laptops now with full Linux support. You have to stick to that hardware though.
metafunctor 9y ago
I switched to Macs quite a while ago, when many things usually didn't work out of the box with Linux. Wifi, bluetooth, hibernation, full disk encryption, GPU support, and external monitors were all things you would either spend a lot of time configuring or even compiling kernel modules from source. The situation today is a lot better. I believe some research into Linux support is still a good idea before purchasing, say, a laptop.
pjmlp 9y ago
> If you are developing, Linux is almost certainly better. Assuming UNIX programming is the only thing developers are supposed to do.

tyingq 9y ago

Does it feel, though, like Apple is neglecting MacOS in favor of IOS recently? iPhones and iPads seem to be marching forward while desktops and laptops seem a bit stagnant. They gave up the server line entirely, and the "pro" moniker seems to not mean what it meant in the past. Even the super popular Mac mini seems to be lacking investment. It would be interesting to see an internal view of growth of investment dollars going into MacOS/desktop/laptop vs the tablets and phones. The recent bugs and vulnerabilities certainly seem to point at some neglect.