3 ms·

The only thing holding millions, possibly in the 100s, from switching to Desktop Linux from Windows is Apple's iPhone support.

stefanfisk 9mo ago
As a Mac user I might be missing something obvious - why do they need iPhone support on their computer?
- throwaway1389z 9mo ago
  Backups. Copying photos. Sharing files. As a Mac User, you're probably well served with backups integration in Finder, as well as iCloud, AirDrop, iMessage, and friends without realising it.
  - llm_nerd 9mo ago
    Do you mean like...iTunes? Huh? I know approximately zero people who still tether an iPhone to a desktop for any sort of backups.
    - throwaway1389z 9mo ago
      No.
    - lorenzhs 9mo ago
      Even if it was still a thing (and it really isn’t, imo), libimobiledevice does a decent job already, and given a little funding it shouldn’t be super hard to close the gaps and build a nice UI on top of it. But that’s not happening because very few people care about it at all. Now, AirDrop support is a completely different beast. But it requires hardware support (promiscuous mode, iirc) that many common chipsets simply lack.
      - throwaway1389z 9mo ago
        Your response and the parent sounds like the comments on DropBox thread. It is detached from reality of consumers and fails to contribute direction that can actually move the needle.
        llm_nerd 9mo ago
        Could you describe the "reality of consumers", because it sounds like you just time travelled from 2011.
        throwaway1389z 9mo ago
        If you read my first comment carefully beyond "Backups" and respond, I might bother to explain more, until then.
        llm_nerd 9mo ago
        I read your comment. This doesn't expand on how dated your claim is whatsoever. Acting pissy and mysterious about your claim doesn't help either. You literally claimed these are exclusive to Windows if not a Mac. Not only do very close to zero Mac users do this on their Mac -- do you understand we can copy and share photos and files right on the iPhone? -- on Windows the dominate way people do this is a web browser. You know, exactly the same web browser that works on basically any computer. As a longtime iPhone user with Macs and Windows, I was legitimately confused by your weird claim of a dependency on Windows. The more comments you've made, the more certain I am that you actually have no idea what you're talking about.
        throwaway1389z 9mo ago
        It is pretty clear that you have no idea about the level of seamless integration between iPhone and Windows via iTunes, from Music to Photos and file sharing. I have no idea how being able to share something right on the iPhone or via browser on Windows has to do with this.
  - gambiting 9mo ago
    Eh? I don't have an iPhone, but my mum does and she uses it fine without a Mac. Everything just syncs to iCloud, if there is some benefit to connecting it to a Mac then I'm genuinely unaware of it.

stefanfisk 9mo ago

As a Mac user I might be missing something obvious - why do they need iPhone support on their computer?

throwaway1389z 9mo ago
Backups. Copying photos. Sharing files. As a Mac User, you're probably well served with backups integration in Finder, as well as iCloud, AirDrop, iMessage, and friends without realising it.
- llm_nerd 9mo ago
  Do you mean like...iTunes? Huh? I know approximately zero people who still tether an iPhone to a desktop for any sort of backups.
  - throwaway1389z 9mo ago
    No.
  - lorenzhs 9mo ago
    Even if it was still a thing (and it really isn’t, imo), libimobiledevice does a decent job already, and given a little funding it shouldn’t be super hard to close the gaps and build a nice UI on top of it. But that’s not happening because very few people care about it at all. Now, AirDrop support is a completely different beast. But it requires hardware support (promiscuous mode, iirc) that many common chipsets simply lack.
    - throwaway1389z 9mo ago
      Your response and the parent sounds like the comments on DropBox thread. It is detached from reality of consumers and fails to contribute direction that can actually move the needle.
      - llm_nerd 9mo ago
        Could you describe the "reality of consumers", because it sounds like you just time travelled from 2011.
        throwaway1389z 9mo ago
        If you read my first comment carefully beyond "Backups" and respond, I might bother to explain more, until then.
        llm_nerd 9mo ago
        I read your comment. This doesn't expand on how dated your claim is whatsoever. Acting pissy and mysterious about your claim doesn't help either. You literally claimed these are exclusive to Windows if not a Mac. Not only do very close to zero Mac users do this on their Mac -- do you understand we can copy and share photos and files right on the iPhone? -- on Windows the dominate way people do this is a web browser. You know, exactly the same web browser that works on basically any computer. As a longtime iPhone user with Macs and Windows, I was legitimately confused by your weird claim of a dependency on Windows. The more comments you've made, the more certain I am that you actually have no idea what you're talking about.
        throwaway1389z 9mo ago
        It is pretty clear that you have no idea about the level of seamless integration between iPhone and Windows via iTunes, from Music to Photos and file sharing. I have no idea how being able to share something right on the iPhone or via browser on Windows has to do with this.
- gambiting 9mo ago
  Eh? I don't have an iPhone, but my mum does and she uses it fine without a Mac. Everything just syncs to iCloud, if there is some benefit to connecting it to a Mac then I'm genuinely unaware of it.