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Perhaps we should all keep and maintain a Linux machine in the event that Apple and Microsoft both decide to screw us over.
by Razengan 7y ago
Perhaps we should all keep and maintain a Linux machine in the event that Apple and Microsoft both decide to screw us over.
- fit2rule 7y agoHad my Linux machine up and running somewhere since the day Linus announced it on minix-list. Still though, also have my stack of MacBooks. Apple becoming a Unix vendor lured me to their hardware, which functions as a terminal server in most regards, for my needs. For everything else, there's a fat Linux machine. Windows: just, no. Only use it if I get paid to use it.
- michaelcampbell 7y agoGuess who's on the board of the Linux Foundation?
- _eht 7y agoAt the platinum level, even.
- chefandy 7y agoLinux machines are fantastic if you don't need to use commercial software for things like graphics, as many web-focused developers do.
- thrax 7y agoJust wanted to throw out a plug for photopea.com .. discovered it recently and it handles everything that I, as a programmer ever needed from Photoshop.
- _eht 7y agoWhat is it specifically you are needing to run? I only ask because I’ve been running Linux for the last 15 years exclusively, in and out of the commercial corporate world, and have yet to feel limited software wise.
- godelski 7y agoI do graphics, but on the scientific side, we all use Linux. Except when the lab provides us Macs, then we get frustrated and just remote in. I'm just trying to detangle the type of graphics being mentioned. I do wish Nvidia drivers were better, but maybe that'll happen with ROCs coming out soon.
- est31 7y agoMay I ask what ROCs is and why is it making Nvidia drivers better?
- lake99 7y agoNot ROCs, it's ROCm. AMD's GPU compute libraries. It won't make NVidia better, but will provide an alternative to those who are stuck with NVidia for doing tensorflow, PyTorch stuff. https://rocm.github.io/ https://rocm.github.io/
- marcosdumay 7y ago> I do wish Nvidia drivers were better Get AMD. Why do people insist on getting Nvidia cards and then complain that those aren't aimed at them? Get the one that is selling to you.
- badsectoracula 7y agoBecause Nvidia has faster hardware (assuming you want that) and the best and most complete OpenGL implementation. At least that is the reason i get Nvidia GPUs.
- Filligree 7y agoBecause you simply can't do much ML experimentation on AMD; it lacks the entire CUDA ecosystem. I'm sorely tempted to run two GPUs, but also worried they'll probably clash.
- godelski 7y agoI am interested to see ROCm. AMD has the contact for the exascale machines and there's a big push for ML at the DOE. So I hope there's some real competition coming (looks like it's already integrated into pytorch btw)
- semi-extrinsic 7y agoBetween Gimp, Inkscape and Krita, what are the things not covered in this domain?
- pkulak 7y agoI've gotten way too addicted to DxO. But it runs fine in a VM. That said, I only use it a couple times a month. If I had to run it professionally, I'm not sure I'd be down.
- johnchristopher 7y agoDoes gimp feature non-destructive multiple filtering on layers yet ? Photoshop CS2 (and you know why I mention that specific version) from more than ten years ago has it.
- AJ007 7y agoIt’s worth mentioning Blender 2.8 too. This is software people are leaving top tier commercial 3D apps like Maya for because it is better. The stereotype of unfriendly UI and UX in open software is breaking down and does not have to be a given.
- basq 7y agoBlender is good for character animation, but it's learning curve is higher and there aren't as many QoL improvements as in other 3d software. 2.8 is a step in the right direction but I still find cinema4d to be much much much faster to get results with for my purposes of motion graphics.
- chefandy 7y agoSpeed really is the crux of the biscuit. It's not like you can't get the same results using FOSS, but the amount of time and effort to do so is significantly increased.
- ctrl-j 7y agoFor some simple photo manipulation Gimp works - but it seems a lot harder to use. Plus it's missing non-destructive adjustment layers, and the brush engine is nowhere near as advanced as photoshop. Inkscape is similar - everything is a little harder to do - and there's some basic things that don't seem to be in the application at all. Does Inkscape support multiple artboards yet? What about exporting multiple resolutions without duplicating the assets? The symbol support also was very lackluster when I used it last. Krita lags horribly every time I've tried to use it. I like the notion that there are open source replacements for these systems.. and I'd love to drop my $50+ per month subscription - but the alternatives aren't yet equivalents.
- Jach 7y agoIt depends on the software (and associated hardware if you're talking about graphics) of course, but between wine (and its extensions like proton that are successfully handling many AAA games old and new), qemu, and virtualbox, the need for actually having to dual boot from Linux or have a dedicated Windows box grows less and less each year.
- alluro2 7y agoOne of the reasons I'm so thrilled with Figma and that it completely covers (and more) what I had to use Sketch for...I'm now seriously entertaining the thought of migrating from Hackintosh (on a laptop) to Linux for my web dev / UXD stuff, and potentially just using KVM / Xen for any rare cases when I'd need OSX...For now, I think I'd just sorely miss Postbox (can anyone recommend a Linux alternative?), that's actually all I can think of...
- polotics 7y agoWell thank you captain obvious! And Qubes at that...
- asveikau 7y agoWhat do you mean keep a spare machine for emergencies? Some of us have always had them as primaries, rather than leaving that world. 20 years ago, the type of person analogous to a typical HN type would have been on Linux. Thread after thread on places like Slashdot started from a position of Linux advocacy as a common baseline. Then in the early 2000s there was a massive shift to Mac among those types. Personally, I miss the days of rank and file in such communities being desktop Linux advocates. We lost something of our soul.
- tapoxi 7y agoIt's ironic, Linux today is in a better state than its ever been. Chrome is Chrome, dependency hell is more easily mitigated by containerization, desktop environments have mostly become stable, hardware from Purism, System76, and Dell is quite good. I think a lot of us just end up with Macs because work IT hates the idea of managing Linux machines and macOS gets you 95% of what you need.
- JoshTriplett 7y ago> I think a lot of us just end up with Macs because work IT hates the idea of managing Linux machines Many of us end up with Linux precisely because work IT doesn't manage Linux machines. (What's worse is when they think they can manage Linux machines.)
- pault 7y agoIt seems that GP forgot to include the sarcasm flag.
- AnIdiotOnTheNet 7y agoI, for one, don't miss it. Linux Desktop evangelists are horrifically annoying people to deal with because they look down on everyone, believing themselves superior for using it. Tell them Linux doesn't work for what you're doing and they'll say you should change what you're doing, tell them it is missing essential functionality for you and they'll insist you don't need it, tell them you don't like the way parts of the system work and they'll list a dozen reasons you're wrong. Then, after roundly dismissing all criticism, they'll gaze into the heavens and shout "why won't more people use the Linux Desktop? Is it not pretty enough!?". In short, they're condescending assholes and I'm glad they aren't nearly as prevalent as they used to be.
- noonespecial 7y agoIt's the apples and mickies I keep on a shelf "just in case". I pull them out a few times a year for that odd doc or onerous requirement. Otherwise I've been happy with debian for a decade.
- msla 7y ago> Perhaps we should all keep and maintain a Linux machine in the event that Apple and Microsoft both decide to screw us over. It's already happened.