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Ask HN: Who Went Mac –> Linux?
A lot of people do the switch from Something -> Mac,
but who's going the other way? and why?
I personally just bought a Macbook, worked like a charm for 3 months but then I figured out Apple hardware do not like tea, and all Apple shops just suggested me to buy a new Macbook - which seems a little crazy expensive to me.
So I went back to Linux, and fell in love with Linux again. It seems much more productive for my work with Linux, except when I update and my drivers stop working again.
- cpach 2y agoI haven’t, but one reason to switch that I’ve heard is the ability to run OCI containers natively.
- kristianp 2y agoI always have my laptop sitting raised above a surface if I also have a drink on that surface. I figure it reduces the chances of a spill getting into the laptop. Macbook Pros more resistant to fluids than non-pro hardware?
- sandreas 2y agoI personally did about 18 months ago and it did cost me blood, sweat and tears, but in the end, I'm happy with the results (although there are still some caveats). I wanted something repairable and open and although I'm still convinced that the Apple M-series devices are ahead of everything else, my development work does not really suffer from a little less battery life or a little less performance. The hardest problem to solve was the sheer amount of options you have when choosing linux. There are not 3 options, not 10 options, but hundreds of them. Hardware compatibility, different distributions, UI Frameworks, Window Managers, Filesystems, etc. etc. How could anyone new to this stuff find a solution for this in a week? After tinkering around about 4 months I made a final decision to use Fedora on a used Lenovo T480s with a replaced glass touchpad (Today, I would probably go for a Ryzen Framework Notebook), and so far it is great. High resolution screen, good battery life, replaceable parts / repairable notebook and still good performance. Fedora with GNOME really feels most similar to macOS. I also considered Pop!OS and Debian. However, my workflow still has some issues. The things I miss most are the touchpad (although with libinput-config the experience comes really close to macOS), the default Apps Suite (Mail, Calendar, Preview, Contacts) and the ability to deploy software to other Apple devices (e.g. iOS). Since I also switched to GrapheneOS on a Pixel 4a recently (long live the audio jack), it is no longer a problem, but working with PDFs and documents is really a pain. Window Management issues are not that present, but sometimes there are minor problems like the apps overlapping the screen, moving in a strange way, etc. I still thing that the switch was worth it. Never having to deal with hardware repair issues or apples other shenanigans let me feel walking the extra mile takes half the time :-)
- ofalkaed 2y agoI switched about 15 years ago and had started migrating shortly after OSX came out, they kept changing stuff with each release of OSX, ceased caring about backwards compatibility and then dropped the classic comparability layer which was the last straw for me. Primary importance in an OS for me is a stable userland which stays out of my way, so I switched to slackware with ion/notion wm which turned out to be perfect for me. Thanks to who ever it was on irc that recommended slackware to me all those years ago.
- feep 2y agoI switched, maybe 2018? The _only_ reason it happened was because of the shitty MacBook keyboards. There wasn’t any good way to avoid them. So I got a used Dell 9360. Sway and wayland. Changed the way I use the computer. Switched back to Mac with the ARM MacBook (and working keyboard). I use both very similarly and am comfortable on both OSes. But for now, Apple Silicon is _very_ nice. Also, just having all the devices and suspend work. I will take that as a side benefit.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- runjake 2y agoI use both, with an eye on going fully back to Linux.
- recvonline 2y agoI bought a Framework 13“ with AMD. I chose Arch, with Wayland and Sway. So far, everything works great! I can even upgrade my screen to the new 2.8k version if I wanted to. OS X was the reason why I moved from Windows to Mac many, many years ago. macOS is the reason I moved to Linux. My work offers me a laptop, and I chose a MacBook I have to say. I cannot yet justify spending time tinkering during work hours on unrelated problems. And boy do I wish anyone would (could?) compete on a hardware level with Apple. Their new MacBooks are just the best on the market. But after using Linux daily for my private life, I wish they would fix macOS. I love how easy and straight forward everything is with Linux.
- shrimp_emoji 2y ago!! https://youtu.be/cQ9X3M1BXe0 https://youtu.be/cQ9X3M1BXe0 !!
- mr_o47 2y agoI personally went the other way around, Linux to MacOS, Initially I hated macos, as there were no tiling window managers but later on I got accustomed to it, even though I miss using linux. Now I just want everything that works out of the box, But I do plan onto getting myself cheap Thinkpad and might run linux on it.
- sandreas 2y agoYou know Amethyst[1], right? If tiling is not your thing any more, there is Rectangle[2] and using the alt key while clicking on maximize. On macOS, the alt key is often very useful, try e.g. alt+shift+volume to increase / decrease volume in smaller steps than default or when you mute notifications. 1: https://ianyh.com/amethyst/ https://ianyh.com/amethyst/ 2: https://rectangleapp.com/ https://rectangleapp.com/
- loveparade 2y agoI have been a Mac user for about 10 years now and I'm now thinking about making the switch to Linux. I don't use Apple products on my Mac and all the Apple ecosystem apps get in my way more than they help. The biggest reason for my switch is gaming. Linux is pretty much on par with Windows these days, but Mac gaming is still nonexistent and an afterthought for nearly all developers.
- Quinzel 2y agoI currently have a Mac, but thinking of getting Linux in addition to that for some little side projects I want to do. My MacBook serves its main purpose really well though, I use it for research and writing essentially, and I do a little bit of my business stuff on it, but nothing fancy since it’s mainly all just done through accounting software and my accountant sorts the other shit… But I’m wanting to explore a little more of the software/programming side of stuff and experimenting with that sort of thing so I’m going to use Linux for that, and basically I just want to see what I can achieve with basically just a raspberry pi and Linux, and build on it from there. I’m very much winging it so I know I sound like an idiot.
- fracternal 2y agoI use mostly Mac’s in my house but I do have a few raspberry pi’s and Linux machines in the house for projects. I have an older pc that I converted to an Ubuntu desktop device but don’t use it much day to day. I just ssh into all of them and run whatever I need for automations etc
- throwaway1194 2y agoDHH did: https://omakub.org/ https://omakub.org/
- frou_dh 2y agoLol does he have to "brand" everything he does?
- jnaina 2y agoBeing a long time Mac user, I really tried to make Ubuntu my daily driver, as most of my homelab/server projects were on Debian linux. But, after "death by a thousand micro cuts", I gave up. My current "equilibrium" that works well is Mac for my desktops and laptops, and Linux for all my other systems in my homelab (Plex server, NAS, app servers, touch controls for home automation, home surveillance systems, etc). As long as the Linux track pad experience remains crappy, I doubt I will ever move over to Linux as my primary desktop.
- cpach 2y agoThis. IMHO, Mac for personal computers and Linux for anything server-related gives the best of two worlds.
- martinbaun 2y agoWas it primarily the trackpad or was there other considerations as well? By the way, I gave up completely on Ubuntu. Fedora is the "new Ubuntu" for me. Easy to setup and use.
- kypro 2y agoI always use Linux desktops. However, if looking for a laptop Macbooks are just so much better built and the M series have such superior battery life it would be insane to use anything else in my opinion.
- hierophantic 2y agoI am a linux desktop user shopping for a laptop and I disagree because of the windows laptop options with 2500+ cuda cores. I just can't decide between a macbook air, thinkpad and msi windows machine with a nice NVIDIA card.
- angoragoats 2y agoMy Thinkpad with extended battery gets about the same battery life as my M1 MacBook Air. And the Thinkpad’s battery life can be easily doubled or tripled since the batteries are hot swappable.
- kypro 2y agoI was issued a Thinkpad at my last place. They're great and built to last, but you just can't compare them to Macs. The Thinkpad will weigh twice as much, it be about 3x the volume of a Macbook Pro (with the extended battery), the trackpad will half the size (and suck), and finally it will get hot and need to spin up the fans constantly. Oh and the screen and speakers will probably suck compared to the Macs. And you won't have mag-safe. And you'll need to carry around a massive and heavy power adapter.
- angoragoats 2y agoI can and do compare it to Macs! :) My Thinkpad weighs approximately 1.2 pounds more than my MacBook Air, or about a half pound more than a 14” MacBook Pro. My MacBook Air doesn’t have MagSafe, so that’s a wash, and the thinkpad uses USB-C to charge, just like the Mac. I usually use the same small 30W charger for both laptops. Screen/speakers are probably marginally worse on the thinkpad. And you’re correct that it’s thicker, though I’d doubt that it’s 3x the volume. In exchange for the above cons, I get: * The ability to use 64GB of memory and an SSD of my choosing, purchased for reasonable market prices * The ability to easily run any distribution of Linux that I want * The ability to replace the battery easily when it wears out by simply buying a new one and snapping it in * A large ecosystem of parts (aftermarket and OEM) for doing my own repairs and upgrades I’ve considered my options and find that these tradeoffs are worth it for me a lot of the time. Though these benefits may not be important for other people, I’d encourage you not to say things like “it’d be insane to use anything else.”
- endorphine 2y agoI switched to Linux after 5 years of Apple and never looked back. The reason was mostly that I wanted to learn more about how OSes work and macOS was getting in the way. Also I had to manage Linux systems at work, so I wanted to get more accustomed to it. Stayed for the stability, ethos and openess.
- leros 2y agoI used both Mac and Linux for a while. Other than cost of a Mac computer, I don't see much downside to using a Mac. You get *nix with a more standard setup and you'll spend less time tinkering. I think the only reason I'd go Linux today is if I needed a beefier computer then what I can get out of a $2000 MacBook.
- martinbaun 2y agowhat about potential repairs? Or are you not using a MacBook?
- dagw 2y agoHonestly in the real world, I'be never found repairability to be a huge factor for me. My employer pays for my laptop, including warranty and service contracts. If I break it, which has honestly happened literally once in 12 years, I just get it replaced.
- leros 2y agoI'm using a MacBook. I've never needed a repair but if I did I would just pay Apple to repair it. As far as I can tell, MacBooks are some of the most durable laptops out there. I don't personally have any concern about them needing more repairs than others.
- angoragoats 2y agoMac OS (and most Apple software in general of late) is not open source, not all that stable, and contains ads for Apple’s products and services that can’t be disabled. Those are three reasons why I prefer Linux, all things considered. Though I do own both a Mac and a Linux machine. I disagree that Mac OS is somehow “more standard” (whatever that means). In addition, if you are a web developer, chances are you’re either deploying your software to Linux or to a container platform that’s native to Linux. Having your dev and prod environments match can be helpful.
- dangus 2y agoUgh, here we go. Not all that stable: honestly an outright lie. Windows is stable. Linux is stable. Mac is stable. They’re all fine. Ads for Apple products: they absolutely can be disabled and never come up after the first time they’re dismissed. By the way, not all Linux is non-commercial and the most popular distributions like Ubuntu and Red Hat are commercial distributions. https://linuxiac.com/ubuntu-once-again-angered-users-by-placing-ads/ https://linuxiac.com/ubuntu-once-again-angered-users-by-plac... I think the parent comment to yours was saying “more standard” in the sense that more software (especially commercial software) knows what to do with a Mac and works well with it. There are a whole bunch of commercial applications that have a Mac and Windows version but no Linux version. macOS is also only one distribution while there are hundreds of flavors of Linux. If you’re on a Mac then someone targeting your platform knows what components you have. People who make accessories consider your existence and test their products with your platform. Finally, most people aren’t web developers. But even if they were, I would argue that making your workstation exactly match the production server environment isn’t going to work that well even if you’re on a Linux desktop and is probably the wrong approach anyway. If I’m using an Arch Linux workstation and my application is running on Amazon EKS backed by Amazon Linux, there’s no possible way to make my container environment perfectly match the production technology.
- jimbobthrowawy 2y agoMy imac aged out of osx support (got one more OS version through installer hacking), and I couldn't get windows 8 to work right through bootcamp. Haven't reverted since. I've used apple computers for work stuff later, but wouldn't purchase one for myself again unless I needed to.
- more_corn 2y agoI moved Mac to Linux a few years ago. I found the trackpad and pointer precision on my X1 to be a constant irritant and went back. Someone is working on a smooth trackpad driver project so maybe it is better now. I considered going back a few months ago after some bullshit from Apple but never closed the loop.
- millzlane 2y agoAs someone who oversees repairs of these things. Most computers to don't like tea. Depending on the severity the MacBooks can be repaired. But if you spilled and every thing is corroded you're looking at close to 80% of the cost of a brand new similar device. This is for most devices.
- dangus 2y agoI’m not sure how relevant this is, I would think almost every laptop is this way. Even a modular laptop like a Framework will end up with the user replacing a whole lot of components in that situation. It will be less wasteful but the cost will still be high.
- palata 2y agoI went Windows -> macOS -> Linux. I don't think there is one particular reason to go from one to the other: just personal preferences. People love to criticize OSes, but the fact is that it is extremely interesting to understand how they work and what the differences are.
- ThePhysicist 2y agoApple hardware with Linux software would be the sweetspot for me. Asahi exists but I think it still has many gaps (e.g. no external displays), I would prefer it over MacOS. Linux over Parallels is also quite usable though, and I still use a Lenovo as my second device when I'm fed up with the MacBook. It's also great software of course, Linux just feels more like a poweruser operating system to me, and KDE is in my opinion way better than the MacOS window manager.
- RollAHardSix 2y agoI now use Windows professionally & use Debian on my older home laptop (and server), & I previously used a Mac professionally--last year. My thoughts can be summed simply, Macs are toys. Windows is the king of business productivity; I've never seen someone with a mac do what I qualify as real business work using any applications outside of the Adobe ecosystem- If you took someone who works heavily in Microsoft & gave them a Windows machine, they'll be vastly more productive then they are in Mac OS even though Microsoft works on both platforms. I suspect this is a core design issue more then anything as in Windows the work you do is forefront, in Mac using the Mac OS is forefront, and with Linix open source is forefront. I can tweak my Debian all day long but it won't ever run Rufus; while my Mac might run some windows applications it also won't give me the same terminal power as Debian will. Debian however won't allow me to run windows apps, will have driver issues (like my completely incompatible-still audio drivers for a laptop from 2008). Package management is and likely always will be a nightmare in Debian. However if I baby Debian and focus on particular workflows, I can set up a workflow for what I want-aka a writing environment or my golang environment but it lacks the robustness of jumping between applications seemlessly like Windows has. Linux continues to fail by not providing a superior desktop environment, however I'll still take Linux over Mac OS for any real work. My next personal desire is to move my home computing towards purposed servers- one for writing, one for programming, etc while going either super-light laptop or portable screen & usb keyboard / mouse for maximum flexibility. That way I can setup at the multi-monitor command center if I want, or move out to the porch lightly. I'd even go so far as to say that with the exception of gaming setups, beefier laptops / desktops isn't needed at all- just build home servers.
- LogHouse 2y ago> Windows is the king of business productivity; I've never seen someone with a mac do what I qualify as real business work using any applications outside of the Adobe ecosystem I agree but I feel that’s a very unpopular statement. There’s also counter examples. The OpenAI teams run on Macs, and it’s VERY hard to say they’re not productive. But in general, if you use excel or outlook, yah, there’s no way to replace that with a Mac. Even if, as you said, the apps are available.
- conor- 2y ago
- throwaway1194 2y agoI dread using a Mac for any serious work, you lose a lot of the advantages of Linux (proper package and window management, native containers, built-in drivers for every hardware out there, excellent filesystems support, etc). And you get what exactly?