5 ms·

Some of us are not masochists at heart, and value the ability to switch between a GUI for my desktop things and a virtualized Linux image for development/testin

by skwb 6y ago

Some of us are not masochists at heart, and value the ability to switch between a GUI for my desktop things and a virtualized Linux image for development/testing.

freetime2 6y ago
Of course you should use whatever works best for you, but I disagree with your characterization of Linux users as masochists at heart. I’m very much a person who values technology that “just works”. While my latest Ubuntu installation admittedly wasn’t quite as smooth as running macOS on Apple hardware, the gap has narrowed considerably. Especially for anyone who already possesses a fair amount of Linux experience from working with servers for work, and who sticks with known-compatible hardware, running a Linux desktop can be a delight.
- wtallis 6y ago
  Linux on a desktop can be fine, depending on what you want out of that desktop experience. But Linux on a laptop still tends to be Sisyphean: by the time you get all the hardware features working correctly and with proper power management and with all the firmware bugs worked around, at least one of the hardware or the distro will be years out of date. The only way to be satisfied is to decide you didn't need that feature anyways, or didn't need that last hour of battery life.
  - freetime2 6y ago
    Out of curiosity, does this still hold true if you buy one of the System76 / Dell / Lenovo laptops with Linux pre-installed? I’m currently using a desktop, so don’t have any recent experience with this, but my assumption is the experience has also improved quite a bit on these OEM Linux laptops.
    - livueta 6y ago
      It's better but not perfect. If you tried Linux on commodity laptops a decade ago, you'd frequently run into awful hardware issues. There's less of that now with the OEM laptops (with some exceptions; looking at you, Killer wlan chipsets!). UI jank is also reduced but not eliminated. Even Pop!/DE Ubuntu have a fair number of rough edges - not so much that you're constantly tearing your hair out, but there's definite room for improvement. Personally, I live with it because I also think Windows and OSX have regressed in usability and stability, but I'd be a liar if I didn't mention all the time spent yelling at things like DPI scaling w/ hardware dock-attached monitors. e: also, expect to do some manual power tuning if you want anything close to battery life parity.
    - fsflover 6y ago
      I never had any problems with my Librem 15.
  - gorgoiler 6y ago
    When it works though, it is wonderful. I still have my G3 iBook that ran Debian Woody perfectly.
  - 3131s 6y ago
    This is not true.
cxnews 6y ago
Indeed I'm not a masochist. That's why I avoid staring at a screen with poor LED backlight, using a crappy keyboard or a kitsch GUI, all of this brought to you by Apple[tm].
antaviana 6y ago
I use my Macs basically for browsing, as a thin client for Windows AWS instances via RDP, and also Linux development via VS Code Remote Development (ssh) for AWS Linux instances. I find the overall UX quite good (Microsoft RD + Microsoft VS Code) and the fact that I do not have relevant data on the Macs allows me to hop from office to home, and second homes without having to carry a laptop.

by skwb 6y ago

Some of us are not masochists at heart, and value the ability to switch between a GUI for my desktop things and a virtualized Linux image for development/testing.

freetime2 6y ago

Of course you should use whatever works best for you, but I disagree with your characterization of Linux users as masochists at heart. I’m very much a person who values technology that “just works”. While my latest Ubuntu installation admittedly wasn’t quite as smooth as running macOS on Apple hardware, the gap has narrowed considerably. Especially for anyone who already possesses a fair amount of Linux experience from working with servers for work, and who sticks with known-compatible hardware, running a Linux desktop can be a delight.

wtallis 6y ago
Linux on a desktop can be fine, depending on what you want out of that desktop experience. But Linux on a laptop still tends to be Sisyphean: by the time you get all the hardware features working correctly and with proper power management and with all the firmware bugs worked around, at least one of the hardware or the distro will be years out of date. The only way to be satisfied is to decide you didn't need that feature anyways, or didn't need that last hour of battery life.
- freetime2 6y ago
  Out of curiosity, does this still hold true if you buy one of the System76 / Dell / Lenovo laptops with Linux pre-installed? I’m currently using a desktop, so don’t have any recent experience with this, but my assumption is the experience has also improved quite a bit on these OEM Linux laptops.
  - livueta 6y ago
    It's better but not perfect. If you tried Linux on commodity laptops a decade ago, you'd frequently run into awful hardware issues. There's less of that now with the OEM laptops (with some exceptions; looking at you, Killer wlan chipsets!). UI jank is also reduced but not eliminated. Even Pop!/DE Ubuntu have a fair number of rough edges - not so much that you're constantly tearing your hair out, but there's definite room for improvement. Personally, I live with it because I also think Windows and OSX have regressed in usability and stability, but I'd be a liar if I didn't mention all the time spent yelling at things like DPI scaling w/ hardware dock-attached monitors. e: also, expect to do some manual power tuning if you want anything close to battery life parity.
  - fsflover 6y ago
    I never had any problems with my Librem 15.
- gorgoiler 6y ago
  When it works though, it is wonderful. I still have my G3 iBook that ran Debian Woody perfectly.
- 3131s 6y ago
  This is not true.

cxnews 6y ago

Indeed I'm not a masochist. That's why I avoid staring at a screen with poor LED backlight, using a crappy keyboard or a kitsch GUI, all of this brought to you by Apple[tm].

antaviana 6y ago

I use my Macs basically for browsing, as a thin client for Windows AWS instances via RDP, and also Linux development via VS Code Remote Development (ssh) for AWS Linux instances. I find the overall UX quite good (Microsoft RD + Microsoft VS Code) and the fact that I do not have relevant data on the Macs allows me to hop from office to home, and second homes without having to carry a laptop.