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Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

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Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#231

Post by yummyfajitas »

wtallis wrote: post #228
drivebyacct2 wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You forgot the part where it takes two hours to properly import 30GB of music on a fresh install of the OS. And then it forgets the index if you use a non standard location. And then it forgets it again. And then you delete iTunes and use Doubletwist. Then you find out it sucks too and you wish for rhythmbox or amarok.

Do you really think that poor support for non-standard music library locations is a legitimate complaint? What's so horribly wrong with ~/Music/iTunes as the location for your iTunes music library?

I had a macbook with an 80gb HD, and a music collection that was about 400gb. I suppose I could have configured ~/Music/iTunes as an NFS mountpoint. But why bother with this when iTunes won't play my ogg or flac files?

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#232

Post by icey »

fauigerzigerk wrote: post #197
bradleyland wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find the interface requires that I use the mouse way to often, and I have to know all Apple's special key combinations to get anything done If you expect to get anything done without using the mouse, knowing all the "special key combinations" is a pre-requisite for any OS. I hate to be the kool-aid drinker that jumps to Apple's defense, but I hear a lot of complaints about OS X keyboard accessibility that simply…

Have you found out how to get Linux/Windows Alt+Tab behaviour on OS X? It's one of those things that slows me down 10% whenever I'm on a Mac.

Command+Tab?

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#233

Post by jamesbritt »

slantyyz wrote: post #167
technomancy wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Macs are a lot more solidly-built than they used to be, but there are a few of things still keeping them from being competitive with Thinkpads. 0) They don't try to compete on screen resolution. The 13-inch Macbook screen is only 800 pixels tall, which is fewer pixels than my phone. 1) They're quite heavy. In particular the 13-inch is only marginally lighter than the 15-inch. 2) The glossy screens make them unusable…

I don't think you could do much work on a 13" screen anyways. The 15" mbps, however, are competitive with resolution with the latest generation.

"I don't think you could do much work on a 13" screen anyways. "

I used a 12" Toshiba portege laptop as my development machine for some time, and the 1920x1200 res rocked. So much so that ever since then I made a point of getting 1920x1200 on each new laptop.

This was one reason I skipped on getting a macbook. Poor rez options, and no trackpoint mouse.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#234

Post by wtallis »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #231
wtallis wrote: post #228

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do you really think that poor support for non-standard music library locations is a legitimate complaint? What's so horribly wrong with ~/Music/iTunes as the location for your iTunes music library?

I had a macbook with an 80gb HD, and a music collection that was about 400gb. I suppose I could have configured ~/Music/iTunes as an NFS mountpoint. But why bother with this when iTunes won't play my ogg or flac files?

iTunes already has a solution for this: shared libraries. It's much, much easier to configure than NFS, and it's fully supported. Why do you demand the ability to reinvent the wheel?

(Also, iTunes will play ogg files if you install the Xiph codecs for QuickTime. This has been the case since at least 2006, and you've stated that you last used iTunes in 2007, so I suspect you're not even trying to be fair in your criticism of iTunes, which is a shame given that there are plenty of real problems with it.)

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#235

Post by jamesg »

I love my Thinkpad. It's had all sorts of tortuous treatment and just keeps on ticking. It was kind of amazing the first time I spilt water on it to have it drain out through the holes in the bottom of it and just keep going (I've also stepped on it, dropped it, etc; I'm actually very careful with my computers, but when you work with it 14+ hours a day for a few years, sooner or later you're going to do something stupid with it).

I have the x61, which is great. If I were buying one today, I'd probably get one of the x300 series; they seem to have a slower CPU than the x61 (and x200), but faster graphics, and better screen resolution. CPUs are fast enough that it almost doesn't matter these days (for web dev anyway), but faster graphics are always good -- I really feel the screen redraw when switching desktops with it plugged into my 26 inch monitor (still, this machine is like, 2.5 years old).

For me, having a lightweight and portable machine is pretty key. I also have an MBP (15 inch), but it's so much more work to throw into my backpack and lug around. I always have my Thinkpad with me, which is a huge part of what makes it valuable.

... Man, I am such a fanboy! :)

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#236

Post by jamesg »

jamesg wrote: post #235

I love my Thinkpad. It's had all sorts of tortuous treatment and just keeps on ticking. It was kind of amazing the first time I spilt water on it to have it drain out through the holes in the bottom of it and just keep going (I've also stepped on it, dropped it, etc; I'm actually very careful with my computers, but when you work with it 14+ hours a day for a few years, sooner or later you're going to do something stu…

Oh, forgot to mention: I've been running Ubuntu on it exclusively for the last few years. Suspend and resume has been flakey in some releases of Ubuntu, ok in others (I've given up trying, honestly), but otherwise the hardware support has been flawless.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#237

Post by mcxx »

erikwiffin wrote: post #122
jzawodn wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The touchpad drives me nuts on that machine. :-( Thankfully I have a Thinkpad 410s replacing it tomorrow.

I have a UL-30 and the wildly sensitive touchpad is my only complaint. I love the keyboard, battery life, and how light it is. It performs more than well enough for web development, web browsing, video watching.

I on the other hand love the touchpad. It taught me not to use the mouse anymore (and I was a hardcore mouse person before).

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#238

Post by Yaggo »

> Essentially I think, my question is, is the experience on a MBP so much better, that it's worth having to learn the MacOS platform?

Shortly, yes. Mac as a platform (hw & sw) is really solid and beautiful, letting you to focus on your work, instead of configuring your machine. I used various Linux distros (Redhat, Debian, Gentoo, Ubuntu) as my primaly OS from 1998 to 2006, until switched to Mac with no previous experience. It took few months before it felt like home, but after that I have never considered to swithing back.

Your Linux skills will be in great use on server side.

> Do I easily get all the software I'll need (svn, git, django, python, vim)?

No problem. You can have even apt-get. Check out these:

http://mxcl.github.com/homebrew/ & http://www.macports.org/

PS. As a FOSS advocate, in my wildest dream the FOSS community will some day come up with something as elegant as OS X, but unfortunately it's hard to see that happening.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#239

Post by fauigerzigerk »

icey wrote: post #232
fauigerzigerk wrote: post #197

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you found out how to get Linux/Windows Alt+Tab behaviour on OS X? It's one of those things that slows me down 10% whenever I'm on a Mac.

Command+Tab?

Cmd+Tab doesn't switch to the most recently visited window. With Cmd+Tab and Shift+Cmd+Tab, you have to remember if your last move was forward or backward. I keep forgetting that. Unfortunately it's something I do hundereds of times each day. The other issue I have with OS X usability is how to quickly maximize a window.

Re: Ask HN: Best Developer Linux Laptop?

#240

Post by drats »

Uchikoma wrote: post #40

Am I the only one who is using a Lenovo machine (X200) and hating it and would do nearly everything to go back to a MBP? (X200 feels cheap, plastic breaks, lcd dies, battery replaced twice, hibernation does not work all the time, sound problems, logos flew off, ....) I was using a small Dell laptop at my last job and the quality was much much better than the X200. Essentially after IBM sold them the quality tanked.

For me it's the opposite, I had a white macbook and the casing cracked and the hdd failed (along with an iPhone with 3G that didn't work - powercord that frayed and headphones that died). The X200 on the other hand has a much higher quality keyboard and seems to be a higher quality than all my past Apple products. After being locked into paying for 3G for two years and not having the phone work with it I will not be buying Apple ever again as they have personally cost me hundreds and hundreds and don't support their products in the slightest. That's to say nothing of how Ubuntu decimates the horrible package management on OSX and is light-years ahead in many other areas.
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