6 ms·

Developers should just buy a ThinkPad and run Linux. A much more dependable machine and a far superior keyboard.

komali2 8y ago
I found an old Thinkpad laying around in the office once and just for shits and giggles decided to give the old Linux thing a try. Threw Ubuntu on it, hated it, tried again with Debian, now I'm a full convert. It's my main dev Machine but I've thrown a Debian VM on my PC at home for when I WFH and dual booted my MacBook I was using before with Debian. It's just... So clean...
delinka 8y ago
Until they have to build and test iOS apps...
- justherefortart 8y ago
  Buy a used Mac Mini. They haven't been updated in like 5.5 years at this point. You can just remote into it. Or just build a hackintosh.
  - kitsunesoba 8y ago
    Neither is a good option for an established company — in that situation your app is likely too large/complex to compile quickly on a mini and the legal grayness associated with hackintoshing makes that a no go. At work I just use an external KB while I’m working at my desk (98% of the time), rendering the macbook’s internal KB almost entirely moot.
    - bananaboy 8y ago
      I agree. The Mac Mini is enticing as a build server because of its price and form factor, but goddamn does it feel slow. I suppose a Mac Pro would be a better choice but they are so much more expensive.
- bsaul 8y ago
  If anyone working even remotely for the european union, or any agency willing to take on Apple for bad practice: THIS is the real legal thing you should complain about. Locking people out of your software store if they don't buy your hardware for their development is an absolute scandal.
whytaka 8y ago
Isn't that by the company that put spyware at the hardware level?
- digi_owl 8y ago
  Ideapads, not thinkpads. There were never any evidence of such shenanigans showing up on the thinkpads. Whenever i see someone complain about brand X, it is because hey picked up the cheapest model on offer at some corner store. Buy the business models...
bluedino 8y ago
I’ll take an Apple keyboard over a Thinkpad trackpad
- digi_owl 8y ago
  try the trackpoint...
  - cheeze 8y ago
    IMO it's still much worse than the trackpad
justherefortart 8y ago
I still run a T61p (bedroom), T420, and T430. I keep wanting a new one but they're all plugging along just fine. On the T420 right now. I even bust out my T42p from time to time when I want to play old 4:3 games. My X200 is my media center for my bedroom TV as well. I've used Thinkpads since ~1995. Lenovo has screwed up here and there, but I'd say they're still 90% as good as the IBM ones (after the initial 2-3 years).
- Yetanfou 8y ago
  I'm using a T42p as one of my main machines, mostly due to the screen (1600x1200 at 4:3, have not found its equal yet) and the keyboard. The thing is 14 years old but it still works like new, it still runs ~2 hours on the (extended) battery. I did put an SSD in the machine (using a $1 PATA-SATA adapter which sits between the drive and the socket, I only needed to modify the drive hatch on the side of the machine to get it to fit) but for the rest it is stock standard. Now that more and more functions are moving back into the server - did I say server, it should have been 'cloud' of course... - these older machines are actually getting more usable again as their rather anaemic processors (1.8GHz Pentium M) and limited memory capacity (2GB + 128MB VRAM) are getting to be less of an issue.
deadcat 8y ago
Thinkpads are made by Lenovo, who have a very bad history. They have used the UEFI bootloader to install spyware. The mac UI is nicer than the various Linux window managers. Running a mac lets me do cross platform development
- dingaling 8y ago
  > The mac UI is nicer than the various Linux window managers. Well that is entirely subjective. To me OS X is a cluttered, distracting, cold-grey mess.
TwoBit 8y ago
Better keyboard, maybe. But also a much worse touchpad, same as virtually all Windows laptops.
- Yetanfou 8y ago
  In what sense is the touchpad worse? Is it because it is smaller and it isn't covered in glass? I've been using touchpads ever since Cirque launched the original 'Glidepoint' - I still have the original, it still works but the RS232-interface it uses is getting rare - so I have some experience using the things. I also have an Apple 'magic touchpad' which I use with a stationary machine. What the latter has going for it is the size - which fits stationary applications but gets in the way within the confined space of a laptop - and the glass cover - which doesn't wear down like the plastic versions do. The 'clickpad' functionality can be handy but it has its drawbacks as well, especially when your fingers happen to be all the way at the top of the pad where clicking the thing takes noticeably more force than at the bottom, this due to the design where the actual switch sits at the bottom feet. Nearly all touchpads support multi-touch gestures (two-finger scroll being the one I use most).
doggydogs94 8y ago
A typical Mac user on Linux; surely you jest.

I found an old Thinkpad laying around in the office once and just for shits and giggles decided to give the old Linux thing a try. Threw Ubuntu on it, hated it, tried again with Debian, now I'm a full convert. It's my main dev Machine but I've thrown a Debian VM on my PC at home for when I WFH and dual booted my MacBook I was using before with Debian. It's just... So clean...

delinka 8y ago

Until they have to build and test iOS apps...

justherefortart 8y ago
Buy a used Mac Mini. They haven't been updated in like 5.5 years at this point. You can just remote into it. Or just build a hackintosh.
- kitsunesoba 8y ago
  Neither is a good option for an established company — in that situation your app is likely too large/complex to compile quickly on a mini and the legal grayness associated with hackintoshing makes that a no go. At work I just use an external KB while I’m working at my desk (98% of the time), rendering the macbook’s internal KB almost entirely moot.
  - bananaboy 8y ago
    I agree. The Mac Mini is enticing as a build server because of its price and form factor, but goddamn does it feel slow. I suppose a Mac Pro would be a better choice but they are so much more expensive.
bsaul 8y ago
If anyone working even remotely for the european union, or any agency willing to take on Apple for bad practice: THIS is the real legal thing you should complain about. Locking people out of your software store if they don't buy your hardware for their development is an absolute scandal.

whytaka 8y ago

Isn't that by the company that put spyware at the hardware level?

digi_owl 8y ago
Ideapads, not thinkpads. There were never any evidence of such shenanigans showing up on the thinkpads. Whenever i see someone complain about brand X, it is because hey picked up the cheapest model on offer at some corner store. Buy the business models...

bluedino 8y ago

I’ll take an Apple keyboard over a Thinkpad trackpad

digi_owl 8y ago
try the trackpoint...
- cheeze 8y ago
  IMO it's still much worse than the trackpad

justherefortart 8y ago

I still run a T61p (bedroom), T420, and T430. I keep wanting a new one but they're all plugging along just fine. On the T420 right now. I even bust out my T42p from time to time when I want to play old 4:3 games. My X200 is my media center for my bedroom TV as well. I've used Thinkpads since ~1995. Lenovo has screwed up here and there, but I'd say they're still 90% as good as the IBM ones (after the initial 2-3 years).

Yetanfou 8y ago
I'm using a T42p as one of my main machines, mostly due to the screen (1600x1200 at 4:3, have not found its equal yet) and the keyboard. The thing is 14 years old but it still works like new, it still runs ~2 hours on the (extended) battery. I did put an SSD in the machine (using a $1 PATA-SATA adapter which sits between the drive and the socket, I only needed to modify the drive hatch on the side of the machine to get it to fit) but for the rest it is stock standard. Now that more and more functions are moving back into the server - did I say server, it should have been 'cloud' of course... - these older machines are actually getting more usable again as their rather anaemic processors (1.8GHz Pentium M) and limited memory capacity (2GB + 128MB VRAM) are getting to be less of an issue.

deadcat 8y ago

Thinkpads are made by Lenovo, who have a very bad history. They have used the UEFI bootloader to install spyware. The mac UI is nicer than the various Linux window managers. Running a mac lets me do cross platform development

dingaling 8y ago
> The mac UI is nicer than the various Linux window managers. Well that is entirely subjective. To me OS X is a cluttered, distracting, cold-grey mess.

TwoBit 8y ago

Better keyboard, maybe. But also a much worse touchpad, same as virtually all Windows laptops.

Yetanfou 8y ago
In what sense is the touchpad worse? Is it because it is smaller and it isn't covered in glass? I've been using touchpads ever since Cirque launched the original 'Glidepoint' - I still have the original, it still works but the RS232-interface it uses is getting rare - so I have some experience using the things. I also have an Apple 'magic touchpad' which I use with a stationary machine. What the latter has going for it is the size - which fits stationary applications but gets in the way within the confined space of a laptop - and the glass cover - which doesn't wear down like the plastic versions do. The 'clickpad' functionality can be handy but it has its drawbacks as well, especially when your fingers happen to be all the way at the top of the pad where clicking the thing takes noticeably more force than at the bottom, this due to the design where the actual switch sits at the bottom feet. Nearly all touchpads support multi-touch gestures (two-finger scroll being the one I use most).

doggydogs94 8y ago

A typical Mac user on Linux; surely you jest.