4 ms·

Certainly. Right now I program Rails on an old 2012 MBPr. I want to get a faster machine. Possibilities: 1) Spend 5k on a iMac Pro. That's an absurd amount of

Certainly. Right now I program Rails on an old 2012 MBPr. I want to get a faster machine. Possibilities: 1) Spend 5k on a iMac Pro. That's an absurd amount of money. 2) Get a new MBP limited by USB C, new keyboard, and the abominable Touchbar. That's a lot of money for a downgrade. 3) Get a decent specced iMac or Mac Mini. Most viable option. 4) Ditch Rails, start learning .NET, so I can go Windows 100% to build my own PC. I save money. I lose a lot of time. 5) Build PC, install Linux. Viable but might be a configuration nightmare. I just want to work. 6) Run Linux under Windows host as a VM. Second most viable option. I'm pretty frustrated. Suggestions?

88 9y ago
7) Build a Hackintosh
- jdhn 9y ago
  While I have a Hackintosh, I'm not sure I'd want to get one if it was my primary computer. Granted, I haven't had any problems with mine, but all it takes is an update from Apple to break or brick it. Native Macs don't have that issue.
  - dogma1138 9y ago
    Its also a legal risk to do any kind of billable work on a hackintosh.
    - copperx 9y ago
      It might be unethical, but the risk is zero. Apple isn't going to sue you. Running unlicensed Windows is a significantly bigger risk.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        The risk is pretty real, see my other thread. If you don't have a legal office declared for business activities to the regulators, then yeah it might be zero.
    - jonhendry18 9y ago
      If you have a real Mac/Macbook and a Hackintosh it would probably be hard to prove which was used for the work.
      - pjmlp 9y ago
        Except if you happen to live in a country where goverment authorities are entitled to search your office for illegal software. Then good luck in court.
Volundr 9y ago
I've had pretty good luck with Linux "just working" these days. That said, this is coming from the kind of guy who runs Arch Linux, so take that as you will. System 76 sells machines with Linux pre-installed. I've had good luck with these (replacing the default Ubuntu with Arch of course). But: 7) continue developing Rails using Windows 10 and the Windows Subsystem For Linux Overall my experience with WSL has been great.
cakeface 9y ago
You can run ubuntu natively without a VM on windows 10. It works really well. Also configuring Linux is not the beast that it was years ago. Even on laptops it is fairly straightforward. I feel the pain here too. It feels like macbooks have stagnated the last 5 years. I am struggling to do java / microservices development on my MBP. I just don't have the RAM and cores to run a lot of server processes.
- scarface74 9y ago
  I wouldn't touch the current slate of MacBooks. I prefer the Dell 2-n-1s - either business line or bought from the Microsoft store to avoid the bloatware. The only Macs worth buying now are the iMacs.
handbanana 9y ago
7) buy an XPS or precision. Install ubuntu or another linux on it, or buy one with it preinstalled. I did this, bought an XPS and a precision. Both refurbed in sales/with coupons, great specs. Cost me ~500 less than retail. Both like new. Sure I'd prefer a mac, but its over double the cost for similar specs. I could look past the touchbar and ports. But not the keyboard 8) buy a librem. I don't know how good they are, though
scarface74 9y ago
What's wrong with the iMac for development? $2500 for a quad core 3.44Ghz Core I5 with 32GB of RAM would make a nice development machine. If you need more power for $2900 you can get a Core I7 4.2Ghz quad core with the same specs. I'm not a Mac fanboy by any stretch of the imagination - I haven't bought a Mac in 12 years but I want to get away from Windows and don't want to futz with Linux. Getting an iMac would allow me to develop for iOS, Android, Windows, and give me a real Unix environment. You can do .Net Core with a Mac. I am a Windows developer now, and will probably stick with .Net, but especially for hosted solutions, using Linux is a lot cheaper for deployment.
- copperx 9y ago
  I agree that the iMac is a good choice, although it's a bit pricey for a stationary machine that shouldn't be constrained by power, size, or cooling. I am OK with paying a 100% markup for a well-designed laptop, however. Even with these objections I think that I will end up getting an iMac. Reluctantly.
untangle 9y ago
> I'm pretty frustrated. Suggestions? I suggest an upgraded 2009 Mac Pro. The upgrades would include: flash to 5,1, 3.46 MHz Intel Hexcore proc, 32 GB RAM, SSD on a PMCIA card, and 5770 GPU. This should cost $1K USD or less, dual CPU (12 core) for a bit more. Mine Geekbenches at 3800 (S) and 17,800 (M). I'm running one of these and it has been bulletproof and 100% hardware/software compatible.
- copperx 9y ago
  That actually sounds fantastic. Can it drive a 4k display?
gaius 9y ago
7) remote into a box in Azure or AWS when you need more power, still would be Lin or Win tho’
rbanffy 9y ago
On 5, it's my home setup. SSH'ing to a local Linux box is fast and I'd already be using a terminal. I use it from both Linux and Macs and the only thing that bothers me a little is syncing the working directories. Most server grade boxes from Dell or Lenovo work with Linux perfectly and the tower ones are great workstations. The iMac Pro is overspecced for Rails development. You can get a very decent Mac for much less. If you keep your work environment synced via iCloud or Dropbox, the problem of syncing I mentioned doesn't exist (I prefer the minor discomfort to syncing through a third party). As for 6, get a Linux PC and run a Windows VM when you need it. It's better to have the decent OS host the crappy one than the other way around.

88 9y ago

7) Build a Hackintosh

jdhn 9y ago
While I have a Hackintosh, I'm not sure I'd want to get one if it was my primary computer. Granted, I haven't had any problems with mine, but all it takes is an update from Apple to break or brick it. Native Macs don't have that issue.
- dogma1138 9y ago
  Its also a legal risk to do any kind of billable work on a hackintosh.
  - copperx 9y ago
    It might be unethical, but the risk is zero. Apple isn't going to sue you. Running unlicensed Windows is a significantly bigger risk.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      The risk is pretty real, see my other thread. If you don't have a legal office declared for business activities to the regulators, then yeah it might be zero.
  - jonhendry18 9y ago
    If you have a real Mac/Macbook and a Hackintosh it would probably be hard to prove which was used for the work.
    - pjmlp 9y ago
      Except if you happen to live in a country where goverment authorities are entitled to search your office for illegal software. Then good luck in court.

Volundr 9y ago

I've had pretty good luck with Linux "just working" these days. That said, this is coming from the kind of guy who runs Arch Linux, so take that as you will. System 76 sells machines with Linux pre-installed. I've had good luck with these (replacing the default Ubuntu with Arch of course). But: 7) continue developing Rails using Windows 10 and the Windows Subsystem For Linux Overall my experience with WSL has been great.

cakeface 9y ago

You can run ubuntu natively without a VM on windows 10. It works really well. Also configuring Linux is not the beast that it was years ago. Even on laptops it is fairly straightforward. I feel the pain here too. It feels like macbooks have stagnated the last 5 years. I am struggling to do java / microservices development on my MBP. I just don't have the RAM and cores to run a lot of server processes.

scarface74 9y ago
I wouldn't touch the current slate of MacBooks. I prefer the Dell 2-n-1s - either business line or bought from the Microsoft store to avoid the bloatware. The only Macs worth buying now are the iMacs.

handbanana 9y ago

7) buy an XPS or precision. Install ubuntu or another linux on it, or buy one with it preinstalled. I did this, bought an XPS and a precision. Both refurbed in sales/with coupons, great specs. Cost me ~500 less than retail. Both like new. Sure I'd prefer a mac, but its over double the cost for similar specs. I could look past the touchbar and ports. But not the keyboard 8) buy a librem. I don't know how good they are, though

scarface74 9y ago

What's wrong with the iMac for development? $2500 for a quad core 3.44Ghz Core I5 with 32GB of RAM would make a nice development machine. If you need more power for $2900 you can get a Core I7 4.2Ghz quad core with the same specs. I'm not a Mac fanboy by any stretch of the imagination - I haven't bought a Mac in 12 years but I want to get away from Windows and don't want to futz with Linux. Getting an iMac would allow me to develop for iOS, Android, Windows, and give me a real Unix environment. You can do .Net Core with a Mac. I am a Windows developer now, and will probably stick with .Net, but especially for hosted solutions, using Linux is a lot cheaper for deployment.

copperx 9y ago
I agree that the iMac is a good choice, although it's a bit pricey for a stationary machine that shouldn't be constrained by power, size, or cooling. I am OK with paying a 100% markup for a well-designed laptop, however. Even with these objections I think that I will end up getting an iMac. Reluctantly.

untangle 9y ago

> I'm pretty frustrated. Suggestions? I suggest an upgraded 2009 Mac Pro. The upgrades would include: flash to 5,1, 3.46 MHz Intel Hexcore proc, 32 GB RAM, SSD on a PMCIA card, and 5770 GPU. This should cost $1K USD or less, dual CPU (12 core) for a bit more. Mine Geekbenches at 3800 (S) and 17,800 (M). I'm running one of these and it has been bulletproof and 100% hardware/software compatible.

copperx 9y ago
That actually sounds fantastic. Can it drive a 4k display?

gaius 9y ago

7) remote into a box in Azure or AWS when you need more power, still would be Lin or Win tho’

rbanffy 9y ago

On 5, it's my home setup. SSH'ing to a local Linux box is fast and I'd already be using a terminal. I use it from both Linux and Macs and the only thing that bothers me a little is syncing the working directories. Most server grade boxes from Dell or Lenovo work with Linux perfectly and the tower ones are great workstations. The iMac Pro is overspecced for Rails development. You can get a very decent Mac for much less. If you keep your work environment synced via iCloud or Dropbox, the problem of syncing I mentioned doesn't exist (I prefer the minor discomfort to syncing through a third party). As for 6, get a Linux PC and run a Windows VM when you need it. It's better to have the decent OS host the crappy one than the other way around.