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I don't get these sorts of "make X look like Y" products (Twister OS isn't the only one out there). You can't polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter. A

I don't get these sorts of "make X look like Y" products (Twister OS isn't the only one out there). You can't polish a turd but you can roll it in glitter. A Pi is always going to be a Pi. Its always going to be a Linux thing (Debian IIRC). If you want Windows, buy a PC. If you want macOS, but a Mac. But to me at least there's very little point indeed making the UI look sort of, maybe, like Windows or macOS if the UX is going to still be Linux.

jagged-chisel 6y ago
> You can't polish a turd. You can[1]. I think projects like this are a good step to/from familiarity. "Oh, it looks like what I'm accustomed to, maybe I can learn this..." or "I'd really like something small on which to emulate my desktop of choice, but it's not available on the small device, maybe I can start from here..." 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI
- aequitas 6y ago
  Problem is even though it looks familiar it feels anything but. I spent a considerable amount of time making my work Linux environment feel (I don't care mucht about the looks) like my Mac at home, Things like keyboard shortcuts, terminal application, spotlight, expose window movement, etc. Because I just don't want to keep adjusting my workflow between two different systems. But it's really hard to get it done completely or find a common middleground that works effectively on both systems.
asutekku 6y ago
If I’m going to use something extremely low powered that has graphical abilities, then at least i’d like it to look nice.
Fnoord 6y ago
If you're used to X, and can make Y look and function like X, this is useful. It can also be fun, which by itself is useful. Important project? Subjective. I tend to make a lot of apps Solarized. E-mail (Mutt/Postbox), Sublime/Vim, iTerm, even HN, for example are all Solarized (dark to be precise). That's also different than the original UI. Also, for some machines there's no macOS (very high end, and embedded like this one). Hackintosh has its drawbacks, and doesn't exist for ARM. Regarding Windows, there have been UIs for *NIX which looked like a version of Windows since ever since I started using Linux (RedHat 5.2 somewhere end of 90s).
- saagarjha 6y ago
  I use Solarized everywhere, largely because it is generally available for almost every developer tool and it is dead-simple to do light/dark mode setup. However, this is completely different than theming an OS to look like another you use: the amount of work to even get something basic is significantly more, and usually the end result sucks regardless.
giancarlostoro 6y ago
> A Pi is always going to be a Pi. Its always going to be a Linux thing (Debian IIRC). Or any compatible Linux Distro: openSUSE, Ubuntu, Windows for IoT, and so on....
renewiltord 6y ago
I don't understand why people make comments like this. Not that I'm offended or anything. I don't care much for this theming myself. But...that's what personal preference is? There's nothing to get. It's like saying "I don't get why people like dark chocolate. I don't like dark chocolate. Just eat cocoa powder if you want to avoid milk and sugar". It's like the most information-sparse comment someone could make. I can't do anything with it. "Some rando on the Internet doesn't like this". Cool.
- justwalt 6y ago
  Have to agree with this. It’s part of why I stopped going on Reddit so much, because seeing that kind of attitude was affecting how I viewed things. I mean, imagine if you were talking face to face with someone and they responded with that amount of negativity. It’d kill the conversation and the mood.
jrm4 6y ago
Anything that gets to get to the truth of the matter -- which is that the vast majority of the effort spent by developers and programmers on Window Managers and Desktops and Desktop Managers is mostly a waste of time. Obviously, people can choose to spend their time how they want -- but I really wish more would consider the possibility that there's entirely too much energy spent on small changes related to just the tiny amount of time between "turning on the computer" and "starting your real work or fun in an application."
- ideamotor 6y ago
  I think you are right for a lot of tasks. However, some tasks, arguably more and more for a modern developer, unfortunately involve switching between many different applications and browser tabs. A decently fast programmer will have to spend some time finding the best way to manage this in a way they can both release some working memory and switch quickly. Now, I personally don’t believe that’s worth designing my own windows manager. But I will simply be thankful for those that do.
  - jrm4 6y ago
    I 100% agree -- which is why the WM space needs to be more like the "text editor" space and less KDE + Gnome et al trying to be the next Apple OS. Make a WM (or two or ten) that one can customize to their hearts content and accept that people will customize it, e.g. Vim, Emacs, Atom, Sublime etc. The key difference is the aggressive backwards compatibility and/or "customary use" breakage, supposedly in the name of user experience. Your Vim today will 100% work like your Vim tomorrow. Your Gnome today is going to break in some way eventually.
    - ideamotor 6y ago
      Very good points. I need a find an OS independent WM. My mix of BetterTouchTools, Alfred, Karabiner for Mac versus some AutoHotkey and PowerToys for Windows is quite the pain and, as you say, liable to break at any update. Any suggestions?
jml78 6y ago
Let me help. I worked as a developer using a Mac since 2006. My workflow was defined by it. Prior to that, I was a Linux guy. But back then the Linux UI was just terrible. In 2018, I convinced my company to get me a system76 laptop. Pop_os is Ubuntu based. I spent days getting my workflow to where I wanted it. Yes manually getting gnome how I want it is possible. Right now I switched to elementaryOS because I get 95% of my flow out of the box. I am not looking for a clone of OSX but I want general concepts to be the same. ElementaryOS is considered to be copying OS X. I wanted out of the hardware that Apple required but their UI is top notch. So yeah, I picked a Linux distro that copies a lot of OS X
- yowlingcat 6y ago
  Thanks for the thoughtful comment -- I thought about using elementaryOS a while back but got cold feet. How do you like it compared to OSX? Are there any missing killer features you wish it had?
rvz 6y ago
> A Pi is always going to be a Pi. Its always going to be a Linux thing (Debian IIRC). Well it 'can' run a real version of Windows 10 [0] and can run unmodified x86 Win32 programs natively, so at least that is a valid option much better than a skinned up Linux distro. > If you want Windows, buy a PC. Hence with the Pi also being able to run Windows 10 (Desktop), you can have it both ways. [0] https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/02/09/heres-how-windows-10-runs-on-raspberry-pi-4-and-3/ https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/02/09/heres-how-windows-1...
socialdemocrat 6y ago
All you do is make it look worse. When you try a Mac look on Linux e.g. there are too many jarring inconsistencies that makes you go crazy. I think themes made specifically for Linux tends to work better. You have to work within the confines of the system you are on.
yowlingcat 6y ago
Why did so many tech firms move from monolithic SSR to API + SPA over the past decade? It's not the right choice for everyone or everything, but making the backend and frontend modular is useful, because it lets you create different UIs that do the same backend operations.

jagged-chisel 6y ago

> You can't polish a turd. You can[1]. I think projects like this are a good step to/from familiarity. "Oh, it looks like what I'm accustomed to, maybe I can learn this..." or "I'd really like something small on which to emulate my desktop of choice, but it's not available on the small device, maybe I can start from here..." 1 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yiJ9fy1qSFI

aequitas 6y ago
Problem is even though it looks familiar it feels anything but. I spent a considerable amount of time making my work Linux environment feel (I don't care mucht about the looks) like my Mac at home, Things like keyboard shortcuts, terminal application, spotlight, expose window movement, etc. Because I just don't want to keep adjusting my workflow between two different systems. But it's really hard to get it done completely or find a common middleground that works effectively on both systems.

asutekku 6y ago

If I’m going to use something extremely low powered that has graphical abilities, then at least i’d like it to look nice.

Fnoord 6y ago

If you're used to X, and can make Y look and function like X, this is useful. It can also be fun, which by itself is useful. Important project? Subjective. I tend to make a lot of apps Solarized. E-mail (Mutt/Postbox), Sublime/Vim, iTerm, even HN, for example are all Solarized (dark to be precise). That's also different than the original UI. Also, for some machines there's no macOS (very high end, and embedded like this one). Hackintosh has its drawbacks, and doesn't exist for ARM. Regarding Windows, there have been UIs for *NIX which looked like a version of Windows since ever since I started using Linux (RedHat 5.2 somewhere end of 90s).

saagarjha 6y ago
I use Solarized everywhere, largely because it is generally available for almost every developer tool and it is dead-simple to do light/dark mode setup. However, this is completely different than theming an OS to look like another you use: the amount of work to even get something basic is significantly more, and usually the end result sucks regardless.

giancarlostoro 6y ago

> A Pi is always going to be a Pi. Its always going to be a Linux thing (Debian IIRC). Or any compatible Linux Distro: openSUSE, Ubuntu, Windows for IoT, and so on....

renewiltord 6y ago

I don't understand why people make comments like this. Not that I'm offended or anything. I don't care much for this theming myself. But...that's what personal preference is? There's nothing to get. It's like saying "I don't get why people like dark chocolate. I don't like dark chocolate. Just eat cocoa powder if you want to avoid milk and sugar". It's like the most information-sparse comment someone could make. I can't do anything with it. "Some rando on the Internet doesn't like this". Cool.

justwalt 6y ago
Have to agree with this. It’s part of why I stopped going on Reddit so much, because seeing that kind of attitude was affecting how I viewed things. I mean, imagine if you were talking face to face with someone and they responded with that amount of negativity. It’d kill the conversation and the mood.

jrm4 6y ago

Anything that gets to get to the truth of the matter -- which is that the vast majority of the effort spent by developers and programmers on Window Managers and Desktops and Desktop Managers is mostly a waste of time. Obviously, people can choose to spend their time how they want -- but I really wish more would consider the possibility that there's entirely too much energy spent on small changes related to just the tiny amount of time between "turning on the computer" and "starting your real work or fun in an application."

ideamotor 6y ago
I think you are right for a lot of tasks. However, some tasks, arguably more and more for a modern developer, unfortunately involve switching between many different applications and browser tabs. A decently fast programmer will have to spend some time finding the best way to manage this in a way they can both release some working memory and switch quickly. Now, I personally don’t believe that’s worth designing my own windows manager. But I will simply be thankful for those that do.
- jrm4 6y ago
  I 100% agree -- which is why the WM space needs to be more like the "text editor" space and less KDE + Gnome et al trying to be the next Apple OS. Make a WM (or two or ten) that one can customize to their hearts content and accept that people will customize it, e.g. Vim, Emacs, Atom, Sublime etc. The key difference is the aggressive backwards compatibility and/or "customary use" breakage, supposedly in the name of user experience. Your Vim today will 100% work like your Vim tomorrow. Your Gnome today is going to break in some way eventually.
  - ideamotor 6y ago
    Very good points. I need a find an OS independent WM. My mix of BetterTouchTools, Alfred, Karabiner for Mac versus some AutoHotkey and PowerToys for Windows is quite the pain and, as you say, liable to break at any update. Any suggestions?

jml78 6y ago

Let me help. I worked as a developer using a Mac since 2006. My workflow was defined by it. Prior to that, I was a Linux guy. But back then the Linux UI was just terrible. In 2018, I convinced my company to get me a system76 laptop. Pop_os is Ubuntu based. I spent days getting my workflow to where I wanted it. Yes manually getting gnome how I want it is possible. Right now I switched to elementaryOS because I get 95% of my flow out of the box. I am not looking for a clone of OSX but I want general concepts to be the same. ElementaryOS is considered to be copying OS X. I wanted out of the hardware that Apple required but their UI is top notch. So yeah, I picked a Linux distro that copies a lot of OS X

yowlingcat 6y ago
Thanks for the thoughtful comment -- I thought about using elementaryOS a while back but got cold feet. How do you like it compared to OSX? Are there any missing killer features you wish it had?

rvz 6y ago

> A Pi is always going to be a Pi. Its always going to be a Linux thing (Debian IIRC). Well it 'can' run a real version of Windows 10 [0] and can run unmodified x86 Win32 programs natively, so at least that is a valid option much better than a skinned up Linux distro. > If you want Windows, buy a PC. Hence with the Pi also being able to run Windows 10 (Desktop), you can have it both ways. [0] https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/02/09/heres-how-windows-10-runs-on-raspberry-pi-4-and-3/ https://www.windowslatest.com/2020/02/09/heres-how-windows-1...

socialdemocrat 6y ago

All you do is make it look worse. When you try a Mac look on Linux e.g. there are too many jarring inconsistencies that makes you go crazy. I think themes made specifically for Linux tends to work better. You have to work within the confines of the system you are on.

yowlingcat 6y ago

Why did so many tech firms move from monolithic SSR to API + SPA over the past decade? It's not the right choice for everyone or everything, but making the backend and frontend modular is useful, because it lets you create different UIs that do the same backend operations.