5 ms·

I want old pre-AppStore OSX/macOS that doesn’t nanny my installs or screw old drivers, with a good package manager, and easily tabbed and gridded terminal windo

by _where 6y ago

I want old pre-AppStore OSX/macOS that doesn’t nanny my installs or screw old drivers, with a good package manager, and easily tabbed and gridded terminal windows without tmux necessarily. I’d also like GPL’d Windows XP running flawlessly like a mac. I’d use Linux on the desktop, but I’ve never liked any of the desktop managers and it was never as reliable as OSX/macOS.

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
You've tried every desktop manager for Linux and spent enough time with them to be sure you didn't like them? Very impressive. Not sure what your reliability metrics are, but I've run Linux and macOS desktops side by side for years now (decades, even), and I don't really detect much of a difference. The macOS ones do tend to have the benefit of a rigid hardware platform, which is why I suppose they do a bit less well when forced to run on an arbitrary platform (e.g. inside KVM).
- PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
  Rather than give me negative points, how about you folks doing that trying to actually respond?
  - dang 6y ago
    If you want good-faith responses, it's best not to be a jerk in what you're posting. Actually, your comment would be excellent if it had been just the second paragraph. Unfortunately the first paragraph negated it (and then some) before it even had a chance. That's one reason why the HN guidelines include "Don't be snarky." If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules when posting here, we'd be grateful and you'll get much more interesting responses. Note these in particular: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."
LuvSauce 6y ago
Would you mind using Linux? It's been my experience that it's done everything I wanted it to well. Linux on desktop has changed. I hated it too in the 2000s. Now mostly everything just works, KDE can look and feel like any desktop including OSX. Very reliable. You'll find a pirated version of XP running as you wish soon since the leak of the XP source code not GPL though.
- usefulcat 6y ago
  > Now mostly everything just works 'Mostly' is the key--and the problem. I've been using Elementary OS as a daily driver for at least a year, maybe two (and before that I used Mint for several years). For the most part (there's that pesky word again!), it works quite well. And it really is beautiful--aesthetically, I quite like it. But boy do I wish that bluetooth would work reliably. Since working at home full time, noise-cancelling headphones have gone from 'nice to have' to 'nearly essential'. It worked more or less fine for a while, then some update broke something and it stopped working. Now it's working again, kind of, but connecting a pair of headphones causes most of the entire UI to stop responding for a full minute or two. Sigh. And maybe the next time I update it will be fine again. Who knows? And that's the problem: every update feels like Russian roulette. And this isn't even a laptop. I use this thing for work; I do not have time to dick around all today troubleshooting obscure bluetooth problems. If I'm going to continue to use it, I guess what I need to do is stop updating (or only update specific apps, like firefox) once I happen upon a relatively 'stable' configuration. Security updates be damned.
  - duckducky 6y ago
    Use pulse audio volume control. See if it would help. Mine also broke after some system update. With this I was able to select bluetooth profile as well as set audio out via bluetooth. Before finding this bluetooth headset wouldnt work correctly on elementary os, but never needed it in linuxmint. apt install pavucontrol
    - foobiekr 6y ago
      you're missing his point. the issue is not the specific issue but the endless litany of issues.
maxerickson 6y ago
Xfce doesn't really do enough to get in the way. I guess I don't pay much attention to the look and feel though, mostly clicking around inside a couple of apps.
- happyjack 6y ago
  This is me. I run Xfce (Xubuntu default settings) and it gets out of my way. I love it.

by _where 6y ago

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago

You've tried every desktop manager for Linux and spent enough time with them to be sure you didn't like them? Very impressive. Not sure what your reliability metrics are, but I've run Linux and macOS desktops side by side for years now (decades, even), and I don't really detect much of a difference. The macOS ones do tend to have the benefit of a rigid hardware platform, which is why I suppose they do a bit less well when forced to run on an arbitrary platform (e.g. inside KVM).

PaulDavisThe1st 6y ago
Rather than give me negative points, how about you folks doing that trying to actually respond?
- dang 6y ago
  If you want good-faith responses, it's best not to be a jerk in what you're posting. Actually, your comment would be excellent if it had been just the second paragraph. Unfortunately the first paragraph negated it (and then some) before it even had a chance. That's one reason why the HN guidelines include "Don't be snarky." If you wouldn't mind reviewing https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and sticking to the rules when posting here, we'd be grateful and you'll get much more interesting responses. Note these in particular: "Please respond to the strongest plausible interpretation of what someone says, not a weaker one that's easier to criticize. Assume good faith." "Please don't comment about the voting on comments. It never does any good, and it makes boring reading."

LuvSauce 6y ago

Would you mind using Linux? It's been my experience that it's done everything I wanted it to well. Linux on desktop has changed. I hated it too in the 2000s. Now mostly everything just works, KDE can look and feel like any desktop including OSX. Very reliable. You'll find a pirated version of XP running as you wish soon since the leak of the XP source code not GPL though.

usefulcat 6y ago
> Now mostly everything just works 'Mostly' is the key--and the problem. I've been using Elementary OS as a daily driver for at least a year, maybe two (and before that I used Mint for several years). For the most part (there's that pesky word again!), it works quite well. And it really is beautiful--aesthetically, I quite like it. But boy do I wish that bluetooth would work reliably. Since working at home full time, noise-cancelling headphones have gone from 'nice to have' to 'nearly essential'. It worked more or less fine for a while, then some update broke something and it stopped working. Now it's working again, kind of, but connecting a pair of headphones causes most of the entire UI to stop responding for a full minute or two. Sigh. And maybe the next time I update it will be fine again. Who knows? And that's the problem: every update feels like Russian roulette. And this isn't even a laptop. I use this thing for work; I do not have time to dick around all today troubleshooting obscure bluetooth problems. If I'm going to continue to use it, I guess what I need to do is stop updating (or only update specific apps, like firefox) once I happen upon a relatively 'stable' configuration. Security updates be damned.
- duckducky 6y ago
  Use pulse audio volume control. See if it would help. Mine also broke after some system update. With this I was able to select bluetooth profile as well as set audio out via bluetooth. Before finding this bluetooth headset wouldnt work correctly on elementary os, but never needed it in linuxmint. apt install pavucontrol
  - foobiekr 6y ago
    you're missing his point. the issue is not the specific issue but the endless litany of issues.

maxerickson 6y ago

Xfce doesn't really do enough to get in the way. I guess I don't pay much attention to the look and feel though, mostly clicking around inside a couple of apps.

happyjack 6y ago
This is me. I run Xfce (Xubuntu default settings) and it gets out of my way. I love it.