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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?

#91

Post by rob05c »

PLejeck wrote: post #46

I see everybody with the view that OSX is so much more productive, but I'll give a different view, as an OS X user turned Linux user. I switched entirely about 6 months ago, and it just sort of happened once Linux was set up to my liking. Positives: * Tiling WMs - I have always found myself working primarily in fullscreen applications like in OSX, but it's nice to have a small status bar at the top still and splitscr…

offtopic: It makes me happy how often I see other people mention Tiling WMs :). I think they're awesome (pun totally intended), and I think Windowing was a mistake. I think most people would agree if it weren't for, as Torvalds put it, "Better is Worse if it's Different."

I hope the trend continues to grow.

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

#92

Post by chatman »

gnaffle wrote: post #65
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…

I used Linux exclusively for many years but switched to OSX for work some years ago. I still feel more productive in Linux, but it's because of a few tricks that I so far haven't found a good replacement for in OSX: - Focus follows mouse without auto-raise - Instant switching between virtual desktops (not possible to disable the animation in OSX last time I checked) - Instantly open a new terminal window with intelli…

GNOME 3 has a good search. Unity has a decent search too.

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

#93

Post by [deleted] »

bowlofpetunias wrote: post #63

I've used Linux for years. I've even used Linux on the first Macs I ever had. In the end, I found it just cost me too much time, especially if I wanted to keep it running on the hardware of my choice, which will most likely remain Apple. And I'm not compromising my hardware choice, as long as other manufacturers can't be bothered to invest as much in excellent product design. Also, having so much freedom to choose an…

[deleted]

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

#94

Post by PLejeck »

gnaffle wrote: post #65
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…

I used Linux exclusively for many years but switched to OSX for work some years ago. I still feel more productive in Linux, but it's because of a few tricks that I so far haven't found a good replacement for in OSX: - Focus follows mouse without auto-raise - Instant switching between virtual desktops (not possible to disable the animation in OSX last time I checked) - Instantly open a new terminal window with intelli…

The lack of good email clients on Linux is a real shame. I'd love to have something like Sparrow or Mailbox. 1password is also a sad thing to be missing.

As for the others, we have locate(1) for searching and rdiff-backup instead of Time Machine.

As for having desktops like that, if you mean monitors, then there's a great solution: Synergy. Hook up monitors to both computers and use Synergy to connect them.

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

#95

Post by mindcrime »

aclevernickname wrote: post #35
mindcrime wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you wedded to Ubuntu? If not, Fedora is a pretty nice distro as well...

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.

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

#96

Post by PLejeck »

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…

Please never use OS X clones.

But you're right that Linux stopped being ugly. Even in Tiling WMs, we're pretty beautiful now. My windows now have the same gaussian blur and shadow abilities as on Mac OS X, thanks to Compton. My status bar has beautiful text set by Pango and rendered by Cairo. My text rendering is as good (or better than, against transparency) in OSX, thanks to the Infinality patchsets.

Really, it's only ugly if you do it wrong. One way of getting it wrong is to try and imitate OS X.

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

#97

Post by PLejeck »

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…

As a fellow OSX -> Arch person, I feel your pain. The experience of making Broadcom function is enough to drive a man insane.

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

#98

Post by sieisteinmodel »

aaronbrethorst wrote: post #13

> Have you considered switching from OS X to Linux? No. > forced corporate policies care to elaborate? I'm not sure what this means. Policies forced by the company you work for? How does Linux solve this? > lack of hardware choice Plus, not a minus. I think the 13" MacBook Air is the best laptop on the market today. Tight integration between hardware and software is key. > closed operating software Don't care, see an…

> Plus, not a minus. I think the 13" MacBook Air is the best laptop on the market today. Tight integration between hardware and software is key.

Sorry? How is a restriction a plus? Can you use a Lenovo with OS X? No. Can you use a Macbook with Linux? Yes.

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

#99

Post by rob05c »

PLejeck wrote: post #96
rob05c wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

Please never use OS X clones. But you're right that Linux stopped being ugly. Even in Tiling WMs, we're pretty beautiful now. My windows now have the same gaussian blur and shadow abilities as on Mac OS X, thanks to Compton. My status bar has beautiful text set by Pango and rendered by Cairo. My text rendering is as good (or better than, against transparency) in OSX, thanks to the Infinality patchsets. Really, it's o…

I agree, but I realize not everyone else does.

Same goes for Windows.

You can make Linux look like anything you want. If what you want is a clone of your old OS, well, I can't help your aesthetic taste, but I can at least make you happy.

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

#100

Post by gnaffle »

chatman wrote: post #92
gnaffle wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used Linux exclusively for many years but switched to OSX for work some years ago. I still feel more productive in Linux, but it's because of a few tricks that I so far haven't found a good replacement for in OSX: - Focus follows mouse without auto-raise - Instant switching between virtual desktops (not possible to disable the animation in OSX last time I checked) - Instantly open a new terminal window with intelli…

GNOME 3 has a good search. Unity has a decent search too.

Can it also show inline previews of PDF files and search emails?
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