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Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

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Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#111

Post by epsylon »

rob05c wrote: post #86
jzelinskie wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A lot of my friends use Linux and tell me that if I spend the right amount of time tinkering with it -- making it mine -- I'd reap the benefits of a bespoke OS, just like slipping on a suit that's tailored just for me. If you do things like change your keyboard layout to Dvorak/Colemak, go for it. It really is a more productive environment once you're used to it, but the trade-offs are similar. Yes, you can tailor e…

> I came from Arch Linux to OSX. I find the tight integration between hardware and software... I just went the other direction :). I agree, the hardware/driver issues are a pain. If you're using a desktop without wireless, you probably won't have issues. If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix. If you're trying to install something like FreeBSD on a laptop with a non-broadcom card? God have merc…

> If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix.

I've tried various distros on my laptop (Thinkpad W500) but I was seriously impressed when Ubuntu had everything working (including WiFi and ACPI key bindings) out of the box.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#112

Post by ciclista »

epsylon wrote: post #111
rob05c wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I came from Arch Linux to OSX. I find the tight integration between hardware and software... I just went the other direction :). I agree, the hardware/driver issues are a pain. If you're using a desktop without wireless, you probably won't have issues. If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix. If you're trying to install something like FreeBSD on a laptop with a non-broadcom card? God have merc…

> If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix. I've tried various distros on my laptop (Thinkpad W500) but I was seriously impressed when Ubuntu had everything working (including WiFi and ACPI key bindings) out of the box.

Check out Linux Mint as well, I've been using it as my main distro for some months now. It's based on Ubuntu, but very clean and easy.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#113

Post by aclevernickname »

mindcrime wrote: post #95
aclevernickname wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most linux users start on Redhat/Fedora, and quickly leave due to the pain that is RPM. I left to gentoo. Most others take the debian/ubuntu path.

That might have been the received wisdom a decade ago, but YUM/RPM work about as well as apt-get now, and - to be quite honest - I prefer YUM. I like, for example, that I use the same command to search for packages as to install them, instead of having to remember that on Ubuntu it's "apt-cache search FOO" instead. shrug YMMV.

perhaps my previous post was too polite. People that never actually _care_ to learn linux go from Redhat to Ubuntu (or stay right where they are!). People with an interest in the OS itself move to Gentoo/Funtoo/LFS.

I still use CentOS to this day (Asterisk), it's painful.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#114

Post by jzelinskie »

epsylon wrote: post #111
rob05c wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I came from Arch Linux to OSX. I find the tight integration between hardware and software... I just went the other direction :). I agree, the hardware/driver issues are a pain. If you're using a desktop without wireless, you probably won't have issues. If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix. If you're trying to install something like FreeBSD on a laptop with a non-broadcom card? God have merc…

> If you pick Ubuntu, any issues usually aren't too hard to fix. I've tried various distros on my laptop (Thinkpad W500) but I was seriously impressed when Ubuntu had everything working (including WiFi and ACPI key bindings) out of the box.

Thinkpads have been officially Ubuntu certified for years now. They are probably the best laptop you can buy for GNU/Linux that doesn't have it already pre-installed.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#116

Post by diminoten »

teddyh wrote: post #34
diminoten wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So you're willfully less productive because you want to have a cleaner conscience?

Yes. For some people this is not a choice , as such. It’s like wearing slightly uglier, slightly less comfortable clothes because they weren’t made by child slave labor. Is there a true choice what to wear?

Yes, you could wear the clothes that fed that child that day.

Stuff isn't so black/white, I guess I'm trying to say.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#117

Post by abrowne »

_jb wrote: post #67

I've been toying with the idea, yeah. Then I got my MacBook Pro stolen and used an old laptop replacement with Ubuntu while I was in the process of replacing it. Long story short, there are a few things that I couldn't get over within a week: - CTRL-C rather than CMD-C is now a weird contorsion for my hand. - CTRL-C and CTRL-V can't be used for copying and pasting in the terminal. I understand why, but really couldn'…

This bothered me too, so I

    1. Rebound control to the command key
    2. Changed the terminal shortcuts to control-c, etc. (from control-shift-).
    3. Set the terminal to use control-j instead of control-c for sigint:
       $ stty intr ^j
(I'm slowly transitioning from OS X to Linux.)

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#118

Post by thrill »

rob05c wrote: post #78
jmduke wrote: post #15

I'll say something that's vaguely awful: what's in it for me? I use Linux at work and it's not bad , but I'm less productive on it with 95% of tasks than I would be with OSX. It looks worse (I recognize this is subjective.) A lot of my friends use Linux and tell me that if I spend the right amount of time tinkering with it -- making it mine -- I'd reap the benefits of a bespoke OS, just like slipping on a suit that's…

> It looks worse (I recognize this is subjective.) Yes, yes it is. If you're using Ratpoison, well yeah, it's gonna be fugly. Gnome 3 and Unity look pretty sharp though, and Compiz and Clutter are at least as good as Quartz. In fact, if you think nothing short of an OS X clone is pretty: How to Make Ubuntu Linux Look Like Mac OS X http://www.howtogeek.com/45817/ "Linux is ugly" is an outdated cliche. It used to be tr…

Unity is great. Wish someone would port it to Redhat (and clones) since my work deals mostly with those.

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#119

Post by thrill »

claudius wrote: post #33
siculars wrote: post #21

This. +100. I'm growing increasingly uncomfortable with the Apple ecosystem. iProducts, iCloud, etc. I can't transfer this to that cause I'm not allowed, click here to accept this, turn on location services so we can track you - on your laptop. It's getting to be too much. What's the best laptop for running any Ubuntu flavored desktop?

> What's the best laptop for running any Ubuntu flavored desktop? Thinkpads (the actual ones, not the cheap Ideapad-in-a-black-case-things). Of course, you don’t really save money compared to a Macbook, but the hardware appears (to me) much sturdier.

I use Ubuntu (with Unity) on a 15 Samsung Series 9. Wish they'd come out with the higher resolution version of the 15".

Re: Ask HN: Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux?

#120

Post by nsmartt »

PLejeck wrote: post #56
kayoone wrote: post #42

Thought about this alot, probably too much. The bottom line is that switching to Linux will be a step back in terms of convenience. It is still true that the closed operating systems are just easier to use as day-to-day one-size-fits-all machines. In my recent tries with Xubuntu i had some sound issues, the machine didnt want to sleep correctly and skype had audio lag issues and didnt show a popup when somebody was c…

Linux is harder to learn and get set up, but it's just spending a bit more time now to be more productive in the long run. Of course, it's not more productive for everybody, but it is for some of us. Plus we have Docker.io instead of Vagrant. Way nicer.

Vagrant is available for Linux.
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