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Apple lost me two years ago. While I was a big macOS fan and developer, I now work under linux. I was very surprised to see how far linux has gotten as a deskt

by kuon 8y ago

Apple lost me two years ago. While I was a big macOS fan and developer, I now work under linux. I was very surprised to see how far linux has gotten as a desktop workstation. Including very good apps (darktable, ardour, inkscape and even gimp which had an horrible interface at the time). I still think macOS had a superior UI (I say "had" because I haven't touched a mac since sierra) and that the hardware was beautiful. But my main workstation which has 3x 27'' monitors attached to it, was less than 2000$ (without the monitors of course).

Derbasti 8y ago
The exact same thing happened to me. Now I have a big tower PC for serious work (32 cores, 64 Gb RAM, dual 1080) plus a nice laptop (XPS 13), for a combined cost of less than this MBP. While the Linux software ecosystem is not quite as smooth as macOS, I have found it to be quite adequate for my work.
- kuon 8y ago
  The best thing with linux is packages. I use archlinux, and there are very little softwares I cannot find in official repository or AUR.
- wilsonnb2 8y ago
  How exactly are you calculating that your desktop+laptop is cheaper than the MBP? 64GB of ram apparently sells for around $600 right now, plus $500 for each 1080, plus $700 for a 16 core threadripper (I'm not sure what 32 core processor you're using or if you're using multiple processors, but the next gen threadripper will be 32 and cost about this much), plus $1000 for the base model Dell XPS 13 9370 puts you at a total of $3300 before we even get to the motherboard, case, monitors, keyboard, mouse, power supply, storage, laptop upgrades, etc. This also assumes that you built the desktop yourself while valuing the time you spent researching and building at $0. Anyways, saying that your setup cost less than a MBP seems pretty ridiculous even if it is technically accurate when you only consider the "max" price of a MacBook pro.
  - Derbasti 8y ago
    Well, obviously I wouldn't go for the stock configuration. Seeing my needs, the top CPU, RAM, and GPU seem reasonable. But I really didn't check. The point is, the MBP's performance per dollar is ridiculous.
  - kuon 8y ago
    The MBP is nearly 8000$ when upgraded here.
addicted 8y ago
My biggest issue with Linux apps when making it my desktop was basic PIM apps. Any suggestions for those? Even better, are there any sources and places to hang out where you get this information for Linux? One of the best things about the Apple ecosystem (which I cannot even find in Windows) are the number of Mac focused publications that discuss and critique the variety of apps available. This has been damaged lately since most Mac apps are now discussed as extensions of their iOS ones, but it’s still beyond what I have found on Windows or Linux.
- Derbasti 8y ago
  Evolution may not be pretty, but it works pretty well for Email, Calendar, and Contacts (assuming that's what you mean by PIM). Honestly though, email has lost a lot of utility for me in the last few years (privately; professional email is still strong), to the point where I am really fine with webmail these days.
- kuon 8y ago
  If you mean email/calendar/contacts... I use thunderbird. It's not "sexy", but it gets the work done. The good side is that there is nothing I can't do with a bit of coding if I need to adjust some style or behavior. I also use zim wiki for notes taking.

by kuon 8y ago

Derbasti 8y ago

The exact same thing happened to me. Now I have a big tower PC for serious work (32 cores, 64 Gb RAM, dual 1080) plus a nice laptop (XPS 13), for a combined cost of less than this MBP. While the Linux software ecosystem is not quite as smooth as macOS, I have found it to be quite adequate for my work.

kuon 8y ago
The best thing with linux is packages. I use archlinux, and there are very little softwares I cannot find in official repository or AUR.
wilsonnb2 8y ago
How exactly are you calculating that your desktop+laptop is cheaper than the MBP? 64GB of ram apparently sells for around $600 right now, plus $500 for each 1080, plus $700 for a 16 core threadripper (I'm not sure what 32 core processor you're using or if you're using multiple processors, but the next gen threadripper will be 32 and cost about this much), plus $1000 for the base model Dell XPS 13 9370 puts you at a total of $3300 before we even get to the motherboard, case, monitors, keyboard, mouse, power supply, storage, laptop upgrades, etc. This also assumes that you built the desktop yourself while valuing the time you spent researching and building at $0. Anyways, saying that your setup cost less than a MBP seems pretty ridiculous even if it is technically accurate when you only consider the "max" price of a MacBook pro.
- Derbasti 8y ago
  Well, obviously I wouldn't go for the stock configuration. Seeing my needs, the top CPU, RAM, and GPU seem reasonable. But I really didn't check. The point is, the MBP's performance per dollar is ridiculous.
- kuon 8y ago
  The MBP is nearly 8000$ when upgraded here.

addicted 8y ago

My biggest issue with Linux apps when making it my desktop was basic PIM apps. Any suggestions for those? Even better, are there any sources and places to hang out where you get this information for Linux? One of the best things about the Apple ecosystem (which I cannot even find in Windows) are the number of Mac focused publications that discuss and critique the variety of apps available. This has been damaged lately since most Mac apps are now discussed as extensions of their iOS ones, but it’s still beyond what I have found on Windows or Linux.

Derbasti 8y ago
Evolution may not be pretty, but it works pretty well for Email, Calendar, and Contacts (assuming that's what you mean by PIM). Honestly though, email has lost a lot of utility for me in the last few years (privately; professional email is still strong), to the point where I am really fine with webmail these days.
kuon 8y ago
If you mean email/calendar/contacts... I use thunderbird. It's not "sexy", but it gets the work done. The good side is that there is nothing I can't do with a bit of coding if I need to adjust some style or behavior. I also use zim wiki for notes taking.