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I've been a Linux user for the last ~15 years, and now I need to do some iOS development so just a few days ago I've ordered a Mac Mini. I guess I'm in for a bu

I've been a Linux user for the last ~15 years, and now I need to do some iOS development so just a few days ago I've ordered a Mac Mini. I guess I'm in for a bumpy ride. Oh well.

redsymbol 7y ago
I used linux on all my laptops/work machines for about 7 years, then switched to macbook pros 5 years ago. Definitely some things you have to adapt to (I still miss focus-follows-mouse). But for the most part, you'll find it's a smooth ride. When bumps like this happen, they tend to push out a fix quickly - especially when it gets traction on HN like this.
- john_alan 7y ago
  macOS is POSIX UNIX. it definitely has focus follows mouse. You just mean that hover over a lower window allows scrolling right? MacOS has that.
  - redsymbol 7y ago
    Not just scrolling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_(computing)#Focus_follows_pointer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_(computing)#Focus_follow...
- quesera 7y ago
  For me, focus-follows-mouse is most useful for terminal windows. It is a feature you can enable in iTerm2. This doesn't help across applications of course, and there's a reasonable argument that the inconsistency is worse than the absence -- but for me, iTerm2's FFM feature helps.
  - redsymbol 7y ago
    Didn't know iTerm2 did that. Thanks, I'll check it out - might help a lot.
- toast0 7y ago
  I used a mac for almost 8 years. When things worked, and you shared the same preferences as the designers (or were willing to adapt), things were pretty good. If you had different preferences, mostly too bad. Maybe if you reboot with system protection turned off, you can edit the config file, and hope it doesn't get reverted. If things didn't work, like when I was getting static for audio 25% of the time I hit Play in iTunes from a shoutcast server for a whole major release, there wouldn't be any useful help on the internet. Maybe somebody had a similar problem 3 releases ago, but that fix doesn't work anymore. Other problems, or irritants are often the same way. With Windows, most of the problems you run into are fixable, and easy to find. With an open source OS, at least you can dig in and try to fix your own problems.
fredsted 7y ago
It's honestly not that bad, but I'd advise to go into it with an open mind. A lot of switchers get angry at macOS when their habits from other systems don't work with it (e.g. wanting to maximize all the windows)
- jonfw 7y ago
  You don't have to have that open of a mind. I was angry at macOS because I didn't have good window management, but it was really easy to install a third party utility to do so. I use Amethyst which is much easier to setup than my old Linux WMs. There are also tools like Yabai which are more customizable.
  - fredsted 7y ago
    Sure, I guess you can also do that. I'd still advise to not go out and "fix" everything the minute you boot up OS X. It's worth learning how and why it works before you hack it.
jonfw 7y ago
If you're a linux user for that long you've probably got experience updating CLI utilities. That's all that's required here, simply installing a new openSSH. I recently made the transition (from ~10yrs Linux) to Mac and it was really smooth. At the end of the day it's just a Unix system with a really nice looking Window Manager and lots of supported apps. If you don't like the included version of SSH, just use a different one, same as linux.

I've been a Linux user for the last ~15 years, and now I need to do some iOS development so just a few days ago I've ordered a Mac Mini. I guess I'm in for a bumpy ride. Oh well.

redsymbol 7y ago

I used linux on all my laptops/work machines for about 7 years, then switched to macbook pros 5 years ago. Definitely some things you have to adapt to (I still miss focus-follows-mouse). But for the most part, you'll find it's a smooth ride. When bumps like this happen, they tend to push out a fix quickly - especially when it gets traction on HN like this.

john_alan 7y ago
macOS is POSIX UNIX. it definitely has focus follows mouse. You just mean that hover over a lower window allows scrolling right? MacOS has that.
- redsymbol 7y ago
  Not just scrolling. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_(computing)#Focus_follows_pointer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Focus_(computing)#Focus_follow...
quesera 7y ago
For me, focus-follows-mouse is most useful for terminal windows. It is a feature you can enable in iTerm2. This doesn't help across applications of course, and there's a reasonable argument that the inconsistency is worse than the absence -- but for me, iTerm2's FFM feature helps.
- redsymbol 7y ago
  Didn't know iTerm2 did that. Thanks, I'll check it out - might help a lot.
toast0 7y ago
I used a mac for almost 8 years. When things worked, and you shared the same preferences as the designers (or were willing to adapt), things were pretty good. If you had different preferences, mostly too bad. Maybe if you reboot with system protection turned off, you can edit the config file, and hope it doesn't get reverted. If things didn't work, like when I was getting static for audio 25% of the time I hit Play in iTunes from a shoutcast server for a whole major release, there wouldn't be any useful help on the internet. Maybe somebody had a similar problem 3 releases ago, but that fix doesn't work anymore. Other problems, or irritants are often the same way. With Windows, most of the problems you run into are fixable, and easy to find. With an open source OS, at least you can dig in and try to fix your own problems.

fredsted 7y ago

It's honestly not that bad, but I'd advise to go into it with an open mind. A lot of switchers get angry at macOS when their habits from other systems don't work with it (e.g. wanting to maximize all the windows)

jonfw 7y ago
You don't have to have that open of a mind. I was angry at macOS because I didn't have good window management, but it was really easy to install a third party utility to do so. I use Amethyst which is much easier to setup than my old Linux WMs. There are also tools like Yabai which are more customizable.
- fredsted 7y ago
  Sure, I guess you can also do that. I'd still advise to not go out and "fix" everything the minute you boot up OS X. It's worth learning how and why it works before you hack it.

jonfw 7y ago

If you're a linux user for that long you've probably got experience updating CLI utilities. That's all that's required here, simply installing a new openSSH. I recently made the transition (from ~10yrs Linux) to Mac and it was really smooth. At the end of the day it's just a Unix system with a really nice looking Window Manager and lots of supported apps. If you don't like the included version of SSH, just use a different one, same as linux.