4 ms·

stupid question because I have not touched a Mac since 1999. What kind of apps are you using on Mac that if you were forced to switch to Linux you feel that you

stupid question because I have not touched a Mac since 1999. What kind of apps are you using on Mac that if you were forced to switch to Linux you feel that you can't live without? the appeal back then (and from I hear people say until today) was always how everything is neatly integrated. a coherent system from the hardware all the way up the stack. not sure if that is overselling it but at least that's how I understand is what people are happy to pay for.

linkandzelda 5y ago
I was an Apple user since 2008 until 2018, when I finally switched to Linux full time. At the time of my first switch attempt it was 2014, but I didn't realise how finely ingrained Apple's OSX workflow was in my mind. I had no problem finding replacement apps, but what was hard was using them and trying to build a comfy desktop environment. Essentially it took me from 2014 til 2018 to transition from OSX specific software to fully open source CLI apps. These days I run Arch and the only GUI app is Chromium. Not counting my i3wm and the lemon bar. It was a fun journey with with some challenging moments!
u-rate 5y ago
Any creative tool (audio, video, picture), that doesn’t randomly crash after 30 minutes
- vhhn 5y ago
  > that doesn’t randomly crash after 30 minutes that rules out any Adobe product :)
gurkendoktor 5y ago
For me: Git Tower, MoneyMoney (German banking app, absolutely fantastic), Fantastical, to some degree also OmniFocus. Plus first-party apps like Safari with its fluid trackpad gestures, Photos with its iCloud integration, and of course Xcode, because being able to build/debug things for macOS/iOS is a bonus feature I can offer as a developer. The list is a lot shorter than 10 or 15 years ago. Most new apps that come out are Electron, but even then there's sometimes no Linux port (Trello, WhatsApp).
- dkmn 5y ago
  That sounds somewhat resonant. I'd be really curious as to what insights you had or choices you made; considering the same type of switch. Did you ever write anything up on the journey or find any particular resources useful?
  - gurkendoktor 5y ago
    Not really. I've played it safe by buying a Linux desktop box in addition to my MacBook. elementary OS was fun (esp. the Daily build) because so many things can be fixed on an evening by sending a small PR, and they also receive support from the Touchégg developer now for better trackpad gestures. But I never managed to treat Linux as more than a thin shell around my IntelliJ IDE.
- pms 5y ago
  Isn't Sublime Merge a great cross-platform replacement for Git Tower?
  - gurkendoktor 5y ago
    Thanks. I've tried it when it came out and wasn't really convinced. The video on its homepage looks better now, I'll give it another try when I'm on Linux again.
sorisos 5y ago
Ableton live (music application) - the only reason I still have mac. I tried to switch to Bitwig that is similar and runs on linux, but I have not had the time to develop a workflow with it.
input_sh 5y ago
I've never used a mac, but I do envy mac users for some of the productivity-focused tools like Alfred, Bear, Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, and similar. While I do have some alternatives on my Linux system (Obsidian, Espanso, uLauncher, a bunch of scripts), they're not as integrated and somewhat of a pain to maintain properly.
d3rezz 5y ago
Adobe tools
innocentoldguy 5y ago
The apps that keep me using Apple products are Scrivener, Logic, Studio One, Final Cut, Photoshop, and Illustrator. There are a few others too. I also like the integration between my phone and my computer. For example, taking a picture on my phone and having it show up in Photos automatically, the ability to copy and paste between my phone and computer, the ability to make phone calls on my computer, the ability to share browser windows between my phone and computer, and the ability to use my iPad as a second monitor. I've been using Linux since Slackware's first release, and still use it today, but it isn't my main desktop for these reasons.
wirrbel 5y ago
By now the appeal is a classical desktop user interface that has been micro-optimised for the past decades (instead of rewrites like Gnome).
- gurkendoktor 5y ago
  This too. I sometimes boot a PowerPC iMac from 2004 to rip a CD, and it's amazing how little Apple has broken/removed since then, while adding gestures, cloud syncing, and all sorts of tiny quality-of-life improvements.
AndroidKitKat 5y ago
I live and die by my IRC Client, Textual [0]. It may seem like a simple thing, but I've tried all the clients on both Windows and Linux and haven't found a suitable replacement. [0]: https://github.com/Codeux-Software/Textual https://github.com/Codeux-Software/Textual
wetpaws 5y ago
Aside from probably iTerm there are none.
throwaway98700k 5y ago
ScreenFlow is a good app I wish I had on Linux.

linkandzelda 5y ago

I was an Apple user since 2008 until 2018, when I finally switched to Linux full time. At the time of my first switch attempt it was 2014, but I didn't realise how finely ingrained Apple's OSX workflow was in my mind. I had no problem finding replacement apps, but what was hard was using them and trying to build a comfy desktop environment. Essentially it took me from 2014 til 2018 to transition from OSX specific software to fully open source CLI apps. These days I run Arch and the only GUI app is Chromium. Not counting my i3wm and the lemon bar. It was a fun journey with with some challenging moments!

u-rate 5y ago

Any creative tool (audio, video, picture), that doesn’t randomly crash after 30 minutes

vhhn 5y ago
> that doesn’t randomly crash after 30 minutes that rules out any Adobe product :)

gurkendoktor 5y ago

For me: Git Tower, MoneyMoney (German banking app, absolutely fantastic), Fantastical, to some degree also OmniFocus. Plus first-party apps like Safari with its fluid trackpad gestures, Photos with its iCloud integration, and of course Xcode, because being able to build/debug things for macOS/iOS is a bonus feature I can offer as a developer. The list is a lot shorter than 10 or 15 years ago. Most new apps that come out are Electron, but even then there's sometimes no Linux port (Trello, WhatsApp).

dkmn 5y ago
That sounds somewhat resonant. I'd be really curious as to what insights you had or choices you made; considering the same type of switch. Did you ever write anything up on the journey or find any particular resources useful?
- gurkendoktor 5y ago
  Not really. I've played it safe by buying a Linux desktop box in addition to my MacBook. elementary OS was fun (esp. the Daily build) because so many things can be fixed on an evening by sending a small PR, and they also receive support from the Touchégg developer now for better trackpad gestures. But I never managed to treat Linux as more than a thin shell around my IntelliJ IDE.
pms 5y ago
Isn't Sublime Merge a great cross-platform replacement for Git Tower?
- gurkendoktor 5y ago
  Thanks. I've tried it when it came out and wasn't really convinced. The video on its homepage looks better now, I'll give it another try when I'm on Linux again.

sorisos 5y ago

Ableton live (music application) - the only reason I still have mac. I tried to switch to Bitwig that is similar and runs on linux, but I have not had the time to develop a workflow with it.

input_sh 5y ago

I've never used a mac, but I do envy mac users for some of the productivity-focused tools like Alfred, Bear, Hazel, Keyboard Maestro, and similar. While I do have some alternatives on my Linux system (Obsidian, Espanso, uLauncher, a bunch of scripts), they're not as integrated and somewhat of a pain to maintain properly.

d3rezz 5y ago

Adobe tools

innocentoldguy 5y ago

The apps that keep me using Apple products are Scrivener, Logic, Studio One, Final Cut, Photoshop, and Illustrator. There are a few others too. I also like the integration between my phone and my computer. For example, taking a picture on my phone and having it show up in Photos automatically, the ability to copy and paste between my phone and computer, the ability to make phone calls on my computer, the ability to share browser windows between my phone and computer, and the ability to use my iPad as a second monitor. I've been using Linux since Slackware's first release, and still use it today, but it isn't my main desktop for these reasons.

wirrbel 5y ago

By now the appeal is a classical desktop user interface that has been micro-optimised for the past decades (instead of rewrites like Gnome).

gurkendoktor 5y ago
This too. I sometimes boot a PowerPC iMac from 2004 to rip a CD, and it's amazing how little Apple has broken/removed since then, while adding gestures, cloud syncing, and all sorts of tiny quality-of-life improvements.

AndroidKitKat 5y ago

I live and die by my IRC Client, Textual [0]. It may seem like a simple thing, but I've tried all the clients on both Windows and Linux and haven't found a suitable replacement. [0]: https://github.com/Codeux-Software/Textual https://github.com/Codeux-Software/Textual

wetpaws 5y ago

Aside from probably iTerm there are none.

throwaway98700k 5y ago

ScreenFlow is a good app I wish I had on Linux.