Ask HN: MacBooks seems to be the only viable option these days

Post by mstaoru » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 2:17 AM UTC

davidatbu wrote: post #383

mstaoru wrote: post #271

I cannot really accept a MacBook because it's a rental product where Apple has complete control over your machine. Used a Dell XPS for a while, it's a fairly good experience with Linux (Ubuntu and Manjaro), but the build quality is pretty bad. Once it fell backwards from a coffee table and shorted the main board from the hit. I had to resolder a few SMD parts, was not fun. I also hit the corner or the "metal" lid whi…

> I cannot really accept a MacBook because it's a rental product where Apple has complete control over your machine. What are the specific things that you cannot do with your MacBook that are a deal breaker for you? I'm curious because I was previously a "hard-core" i3wm/Ubuntu user, but after switching to Mac/MacOS, the limitations (not running i3wm, pretty much) were not deal breakers for me, especially in light of…

Post by yannovitch » Thu, Apr 21, 2022, 7:39 AM UTC

sam_lowry_ wrote: post #229

chaostheory wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are they made with the same quality of materials as older, more reliable versions? I would guess no. It's also a poor comparison because both are low tech products.

You many be surprised, but ball pens or even pencils are not really low-tech products. Their production needs precision equipment and cutting-edge supply chain. You can´t make a pencil in your basement. side note: "caran d'ache" actually means pencil in Russian which in turn borrowed the name from Turkic, where cara(n) means black and ache is stone. The company is Swiss, but it was set up by a Russian cartoonist that…

Post by thewileyone » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 2:56 AM UTC

Post by mstaoru » Fri, Apr 22, 2022, 6:17 AM UTC

davidatbu wrote: post #442

mstaoru wrote: post #441

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Without going into too much detail, I think my biggest gripes are: - outdated utilities, like `make` v3, that bite you in the ass every now and then, - Docker support is bad, it's slow and quirky, and I use it a lot for development, - hard to trust homebrew's security model, - necessity to bind a phone number and email, deanonymizing your machine, - recent security blunders like root login without a password, - ridic…

Thanks for replying! > Docker support is bad, it's slow and quirky, and I use it a lot for development. That would probably be a deal breaker for me too if I used it for development. > hard to trust homebrew's security model Hmm, how is it different from, say, `apt`'s security model? > necessity to bind a phone number and email, deanonymizing your machine I'm not with you on this one. I log into Chrome/my phone anywa…

Post by Valord » Sun, Apr 24, 2022, 6:05 PM UTC

clint wrote: post #126

28304283409234 wrote: post #42

I'm on my 3rd(!) company supplied macbook in almost 2 years. Macbook Pro, 16'', 32GB. First Macbook: screen broke in the middle. Second Macbook: screen broke and MacOS is complaining that there's something wrong with the SSD. Third macbook I just received and can't tell what will break. But break it will. I only move them around the house, never on the road. When I move them, I place them in a Thule Gauntlet. I reall…

As an equally useless anecdote, I've probably owned ~10 mac laptops in my life and I've never had an issue. I literally have never used a laptop sleeve or anything I just throw it in a bag and go. Literally one of the most indestructible things I've ever owned.