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I've given linux a lot of tries over the years. I can be equally productive in both. But Linux always has a high friction to get it to behave how you want it. W

by mholm 2y ago

I've given linux a lot of tries over the years. I can be equally productive in both. But Linux always has a high friction to get it to behave how you want it. With Mac, sensible defaults are generally chosen, and there are some easy to change options. Of all the distros I've tried, defaults seem largely arbitrary, broken, or barely implemented. At least with windows/mac everyone is using the same DE.

lambdaba 2y ago
I would say Linux has *zero* friction to get it to behave exactly how you want it, as a power user, which can be a rabbit hole, but a worthwhile one IMO.
dijit 2y ago
> But Linux always has a high friction to get it to behave how you want it. Anecdotally, I find the exact opposite to be true. Certainly it's because I've been using Linux (along with Windows and MacOS) for a decade or more. Linux is the only consistently power-user friendly experience.
phoronixrly 2y ago
Tell me it's simpler to retrofit a packaging system that distributes binaries compiled by randos on the Internet (Homebrew) to your mac just so you have access to the software you need for your work -- be it a dev environment for a given programming language, or ops tools like ansible, docker, etc... Software that all people using Linux have out of the box signed and in many cases QAd by their distro. What kind of sensible default is to have to install a packaging system on your OS?
znpy 2y ago
> At least with windows/mac everyone is using the same DE. I don't see how what de are other people using would affect your specific productivity. Defaults being felt as "sensible" is largely an effect of having been using a configuration for too long.
- mholm 2y ago
  Because having the same DE means there are other many users testing and extending it. Application developers all develop for the same APIs. Bugs from different software configurations are much less likely. I once had to spend an hour getting a functional audio device switcher because the one that came with PopOS permanently defaulted to an unplugged headphone jack, and then debugging when that didn't work. Nobody had run into this particular issue because everyone is using different combinations of critical software. It feels like everything on linux is like this. Time I spend getting audio working is time I could have spent on literally anything else. Tinkering with my computer is not a hobby, but a chore. I choose the OS that gives me the fewest chores.

by mholm 2y ago

lambdaba 2y ago

I would say Linux has *zero* friction to get it to behave exactly how you want it, as a power user, which can be a rabbit hole, but a worthwhile one IMO.

dijit 2y ago

> But Linux always has a high friction to get it to behave how you want it. Anecdotally, I find the exact opposite to be true. Certainly it's because I've been using Linux (along with Windows and MacOS) for a decade or more. Linux is the only consistently power-user friendly experience.

phoronixrly 2y ago

Tell me it's simpler to retrofit a packaging system that distributes binaries compiled by randos on the Internet (Homebrew) to your mac just so you have access to the software you need for your work -- be it a dev environment for a given programming language, or ops tools like ansible, docker, etc... Software that all people using Linux have out of the box signed and in many cases QAd by their distro. What kind of sensible default is to have to install a packaging system on your OS?

znpy 2y ago

> At least with windows/mac everyone is using the same DE. I don't see how what de are other people using would affect your specific productivity. Defaults being felt as "sensible" is largely an effect of having been using a configuration for too long.

mholm 2y ago
Because having the same DE means there are other many users testing and extending it. Application developers all develop for the same APIs. Bugs from different software configurations are much less likely. I once had to spend an hour getting a functional audio device switcher because the one that came with PopOS permanently defaulted to an unplugged headphone jack, and then debugging when that didn't work. Nobody had run into this particular issue because everyone is using different combinations of critical software. It feels like everything on linux is like this. Time I spend getting audio working is time I could have spent on literally anything else. Tinkering with my computer is not a hobby, but a chore. I choose the OS that gives me the fewest chores.