5 ms·

I'm a long time Linux user who got an M1 Macbook Air from work having about the inverse problem. Every little thing costs like $10-50 and it adds up. And the le

I'm a long time Linux user who got an M1 Macbook Air from work having about the inverse problem. Every little thing costs like $10-50 and it adds up. And the level of polish I've seen isn't really _that_ great. I've paid for things like BetterTouchTool, BetterSnapTool, and Alfred for basic easy features. I still can't get BetterTouchTool to reliably start on boot :/ At this point I've stopped trying to refine my work environment anymore, just because I'm tired of being nickeled and dimed for every little thing

theshrike79 5y ago
I gladly pay for stuff. That means that the developer has motivation to keep the software up to date. Open source relies on the kindness of strangers, sometimes a project has critical mass (or a corporate sponsor) to keep it alive, others just fizzle out. Then I need to spend time finding a replacement. For example: this is why I chose Newsblur as my Google Reader replacement, they took my money. And I haven't regretted my choice even once. Oh and Alfred really doesn't have a replacement anywhere. I bought Soulver just because of the Alfred integration.
- read_if_gay_ 5y ago
  > That means that the developer has motivation to keep the software up to date. If you use OSS, anyone can keep the software up to date.
  - theshrike79 5y ago
    Yes, but very few actually will. It requires someone who is already invested in the software, preferably using it themselves and also has the skills to keep the development going.
    - read_if_gay_ 5y ago
      Unless the software is fairly niche it’s not uncommon. For example a better maintained fork of youtube-dl made front page just yesterday.
      - theshrike79 5y ago
        For every youtube-dl there are a dozen that just fade away into obscurity. The creator no longer cares or uses the software themselves. Maybe they hand off the repo to someone else, who in turn gets crushed under the load and disappears.
        read_if_gay_ 5y ago
        I think once the software reaches some critical mass of users it won’t suffer from this problem. So maybe you just use more niche software than me because to me lack of maintainers hasn’t been a problem in practice.
- lycopodiopsida 5y ago
  > Oh and Alfred really doesn't have a replacement anywhere. It has, but it is also macOS only: Launchbar. My personal pain points are also apps like DevonThink and Hammerspoon/Keyboard Maestro.
reasonabl_human 5y ago
What do those window management tools accomplish that Rectangle doesn’t for free? I recently switched to macOS as a daily driver for work and the non-existent window management in macOS is disappointing
- TimTheTinker 5y ago
  I use Magnet and it's pretty much everything I ever wanted after being on Windows for 13 years.
- joshspankit 5y ago
  Another trick for new macOS users: the solid and excellent free tools are almost invisible. Most long-term macOS users have a collection that they’ve added to slowly over time as they discovered them on various sites.
nicce 5y ago
I’m also long time Linux user and thinking for swapping to Mac on new MBP releases. Are you telling me that I can’t use same tools anymore than in Linux? I dont really care abot gui tools or gui tweaking. Terminal and browser is enough. I have lived with the illusion that almost anything with source code is possible to make work. E.g brew even automates this.
- 0x426577617265 5y ago
  I switched from Linux to an M1 MacBook Air when it came out. I just don't sign into iCloud or use the app store and I have a pretty great experience. The battery life is fantastic and I just install applications from developer's websites.I use FireFox for browser, built in Terminal, Enpass (password manager), Parallels Desktop (VMs), Thunderbird, and Joplin for notes. That's really all I use. So no need for any of the other Apple ecosystem. I do use brew to use stuff like tmux and a few other cli tools.
- sagarm 5y ago
  The shipped userland is either out of date or uses BSD (not GNU) tools. Install updated GNU tools using brew. Be forewarned that brew is slow and unreliable compared to apt or dnf. The compiler Apple ships also has weird defaults; you may need to reconfigure your builds. Alternatively, just build in docker (but beware that docker performance is worse than Linux).
  - CRConrad 5y ago
    > Install updated GNU tools using brew. Be forewarned that brew is slow and unreliable compared to apt or dnf. Time to port apt-get to the Mac?
gitgud 5y ago
There's many FOSS alternatives out there, they're just not as easy to find! [1] I've been a Ubuntu user for 6 years and just got a Mac for work.
jamil7 5y ago
Side note, I’ve recently switched to Raycast after seeing them advertise an appkit role on HN and found it be a really great Alfred replacement. Not sure what the future business model is but it’s free right now. https://www.raycast.com https://www.raycast.com
aldanor 5y ago
Instead of BetterSnapTool, just use Rectangle (brew install rectangle). Re: Alfred, I think it's best in class, and I'm personally happy to pay for it. There's free alternatives (Raycast or w/e it's called), but they're years away in features and usability.

theshrike79 5y ago

I gladly pay for stuff. That means that the developer has motivation to keep the software up to date. Open source relies on the kindness of strangers, sometimes a project has critical mass (or a corporate sponsor) to keep it alive, others just fizzle out. Then I need to spend time finding a replacement. For example: this is why I chose Newsblur as my Google Reader replacement, they took my money. And I haven't regretted my choice even once. Oh and Alfred really doesn't have a replacement anywhere. I bought Soulver just because of the Alfred integration.

read_if_gay_ 5y ago
> That means that the developer has motivation to keep the software up to date. If you use OSS, anyone can keep the software up to date.
- theshrike79 5y ago
  Yes, but very few actually will. It requires someone who is already invested in the software, preferably using it themselves and also has the skills to keep the development going.
  - read_if_gay_ 5y ago
    Unless the software is fairly niche it’s not uncommon. For example a better maintained fork of youtube-dl made front page just yesterday.
    - theshrike79 5y ago
      For every youtube-dl there are a dozen that just fade away into obscurity. The creator no longer cares or uses the software themselves. Maybe they hand off the repo to someone else, who in turn gets crushed under the load and disappears.
      - read_if_gay_ 5y ago
        I think once the software reaches some critical mass of users it won’t suffer from this problem. So maybe you just use more niche software than me because to me lack of maintainers hasn’t been a problem in practice.
lycopodiopsida 5y ago
> Oh and Alfred really doesn't have a replacement anywhere. It has, but it is also macOS only: Launchbar. My personal pain points are also apps like DevonThink and Hammerspoon/Keyboard Maestro.

reasonabl_human 5y ago

What do those window management tools accomplish that Rectangle doesn’t for free? I recently switched to macOS as a daily driver for work and the non-existent window management in macOS is disappointing

TimTheTinker 5y ago
I use Magnet and it's pretty much everything I ever wanted after being on Windows for 13 years.
joshspankit 5y ago
Another trick for new macOS users: the solid and excellent free tools are almost invisible. Most long-term macOS users have a collection that they’ve added to slowly over time as they discovered them on various sites.

nicce 5y ago

I’m also long time Linux user and thinking for swapping to Mac on new MBP releases. Are you telling me that I can’t use same tools anymore than in Linux? I dont really care abot gui tools or gui tweaking. Terminal and browser is enough. I have lived with the illusion that almost anything with source code is possible to make work. E.g brew even automates this.

0x426577617265 5y ago
I switched from Linux to an M1 MacBook Air when it came out. I just don't sign into iCloud or use the app store and I have a pretty great experience. The battery life is fantastic and I just install applications from developer's websites.I use FireFox for browser, built in Terminal, Enpass (password manager), Parallels Desktop (VMs), Thunderbird, and Joplin for notes. That's really all I use. So no need for any of the other Apple ecosystem. I do use brew to use stuff like tmux and a few other cli tools.
sagarm 5y ago
The shipped userland is either out of date or uses BSD (not GNU) tools. Install updated GNU tools using brew. Be forewarned that brew is slow and unreliable compared to apt or dnf. The compiler Apple ships also has weird defaults; you may need to reconfigure your builds. Alternatively, just build in docker (but beware that docker performance is worse than Linux).
- CRConrad 5y ago
  > Install updated GNU tools using brew. Be forewarned that brew is slow and unreliable compared to apt or dnf. Time to port apt-get to the Mac?

gitgud 5y ago

There's many FOSS alternatives out there, they're just not as easy to find! [1] I've been a Ubuntu user for 6 years and just got a Mac for work.

jamil7 5y ago

Side note, I’ve recently switched to Raycast after seeing them advertise an appkit role on HN and found it be a really great Alfred replacement. Not sure what the future business model is but it’s free right now. https://www.raycast.com https://www.raycast.com

aldanor 5y ago

Instead of BetterSnapTool, just use Rectangle (brew install rectangle). Re: Alfred, I think it's best in class, and I'm personally happy to pay for it. There's free alternatives (Raycast or w/e it's called), but they're years away in features and usability.