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I used that same excuse to switch to Mac, but found that OS X really didn't "just work" and that there were tons of things that needed extensive configuration t
by kunai 13y ago
I used that same excuse to switch to Mac, but found that OS X really didn't "just work" and that there were tons of things that needed extensive configuration to get to work properly.
Now, I'm on a Chromebook Pixel, and I can say safely that it's the only computer I've EVER used that really lives up to the "just works" mantra. To top it off, it actually is Linux inside, so for someone like me who uses a Linux VM on OS X most of the time, all I have to do is install crouton, do startx and go with Gnome 3 (which is quite polished now).
- hnriot 13y agoif you're bypassing the ChromeOS by installing a full Linux stack then aren't you undoing the "just works" part and you're back to the same issue of "maintaining" an OS. And its a very expensive machine for what you're getting. The Air is less expensive for more hardware, and you get a real operating system.
- kunai 13y agoNot quite. Around 70% of the time, I'm in pure Chrome OS. The 30% I start a GNOME 3 session is to edit in Sublime and do some light image editing, and since GNOME 3 is pretty much full-GUI now without many config files, it's one setup and done.
- gohrt 13y agoCan you switch without a full reboot?
- hayksaakian 13y agoI would also like to know this.
- agravier 13y agoI used to use a dirty hack for that (https://github.com/agravier/chromarch https://github.com/agravier/chromarch), but it was developed for the first generation of Samsung chromebooks, I don't know if it would work on the latest ones.
- rjknight 13y agoYes: https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton
- Ecio78 13y agoCan I ask you the remaining 70% of the time what you do in pure Chrome OS? Web browsing, using Google docs etc..?
- kunai 13y agoBrowse HN and edit in Vim most of the time.
- pbsdp 13y agoThis is the ridiculous opposite of "just works".
- kunai 13y agoNo, actually it isn't. A chroot environment to run Sublime and a few other GNOME applications is not the opposite of "just works." You're going to have to do a hell of a lot more configuration in OS X than in Chrome OS if you want to run X applications.
- pbsdp 13y agoFirst of all, why would I want to run X applications? That said, let's say I do -- so I download and double-click the MacPorts installer, and then run 'port install' to install an X11 app from a binary package. Not that I'd want to.
- tluyben2 13y agoBecause of using the Samsung Chromebook for a while with ChromeOS, I started getting very used to that way of working. I write code 70% of the time, which is not very nice on a Chromebook indeed, but because Crouton is a chroot, I ended up with a rsync/git chroot which takes a few minutes to install and is almost always synced with my server both at home and at the colo. For most of the work that $249 thing is just definitely good enough. And if it breaks / gets totally destroyed / whatever, I have everything back in no time and ready to work.
- _delirium 13y agoThat's been my experience. I use OSX, but am regretting it after a few years of it seeming interesting. I think it really was superior years ago when Linux had bad wifi support, but nowadays it seems like it's not going to be my next machine. The experience is so bad that I spend much of my time inside a Debian VM inside Virtualbox inside OSX! The package management sucks: the OSX app store has a fairly narrow range of things, and then brew/Macports/fink have a different range of things, which don't install or work nearly as reliably as the stuff I apt-get inside a virtual machine. Setting environment variables requires a weirdly extensive intervention (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/135688/setting-environment-variables-in-os-x http://stackoverflow.com/questions/135688/setting-environmen...). And the difference between the base-install python/perl/ruby and recent versions installed via non-Apple means is an unnecessary hassle. Etc.
- jmgtan 13y agoHave you tried MacPorts? I use Linux extensively in the server side but really don't like using it as a development machine. I'm using a rMBP right now.
- ams6110 13y agoI've just been setting up MacPorts and pkgsrc side-by-side and though certainly have not plumbed the depths of either, I'm finding MacPorts to work better and have more packages.
- jrochkind1 13y agoHuh, everyone I know switched to `brew` as an OSX package manager and never looked back. I've been quite happy with `brew`.
- jmgtan 13y agoNever really understood the appeal of brew. I tried it several times, ended up wasting a lot of time looking for the recipes. I might be using it incorrectly. I do enjoy using MacPorts because I can quickly search the packages from their website.
- jordanthoms 13y agoThe Pixel seems great, I think I would need a more powerful processor and more storage & RAM for it to work for me though.
- dman 13y agoThe Pixel with the 3.9 kernel is really incredible - it just works with linux. Every single thing works flawlessly - suspend / resume, kernel mode setting, wireless, sound, touchscreen, display backlight. The weight, screen and battery life make the package even more compelling. I liked the macbook pro I had from work quite a bit, but this is the first laptop I have that I love using.