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It Just Works

danielandrews.com

91–100 of 192 posts

Re: It Just Works

#91
post #90

I don't understand why the hacker scene these days is full of proud OSX users. What happened to the proud Linux hackers we've always had? They told me to use OSX at the job I recently started, and I only lasted a week before I told them I wanted to install Linux.

maybe a week isn't enough...

It was more than enough.

Re: It Just Works

#92
post #2

I dunno. I've never experienced any of the problems described in the post. Always kind of dangerous to extrapolate from n=1. It also feels somewhat myopic to claim that people don't like apps like Notes or Calendar because there's more featureful alternatives. The point of stock apps isn't to please the power user.

"I dunno. I've never experienced any of the problems described in the post."

Ok, then what's your favorite list of bugs. You know you have one. Right?

Re: It Just Works

#93

It's certainly the case that OSX, at least, has gotten flaky as heck, but at the same time: What's the competition? While Apple was releasing Yosemite, Microsoft was going down the Windows 8 rabbit-hole, releasing the worst version of Windows since ME. And while desktop Linux has been getting better over time, I don't think anyone would say that it "Just Works" yet. The only desktop/laptop OS that actually does "Just…

I recently transitioned from OSX to elementary OS (an ubuntu-based distro). For me it's the best compromise. I can't really stand Windows, I've tried for years to get comfortable with it, but I've always found it full of bad decisions which make for a very uncomfortable experience.

Linux is still not up to speed in terms of software you can get and hardware compatibility, but I've found it to still be the best option (although I keep a Win8 partition for games).

It really depends on what software you need to run, though.

Re: It Just Works

#94

It's certainly the case that OSX, at least, has gotten flaky as heck, but at the same time: What's the competition? While Apple was releasing Yosemite, Microsoft was going down the Windows 8 rabbit-hole, releasing the worst version of Windows since ME. And while desktop Linux has been getting better over time, I don't think anyone would say that it "Just Works" yet. The only desktop/laptop OS that actually does "Just…

I've suggested ChromeOS to family members that use facebook, email, and limited spreadsheets. Ultimately, I backtracked when they asked about printing. Telling them they have to buy a new printer that's Cloud Print compatible is a tough sell, especially if they've purchased one within the last year. I have found that Chrome Boxes are excellent machines for demoing web products at tradeshows. Cheap, relatively hardene…

You can actually setup any machine as a Cloud Print server (i.e. publishing its own printers as Cloud Print capable printers) so long as it can run Chrome or Chromium. Even a Raspberry Pi will do the trick: http://www.howtogeek.com/169566/how-to-turn-a-raspberry-pi-i...

Re: It Just Works

#95

I don't understand why the hacker scene these days is full of proud OSX users. What happened to the proud Linux hackers we've always had? They told me to use OSX at the job I recently started, and I only lasted a week before I told them I wanted to install Linux.

Because OSX provides a reasonable middle ground between usability and control. You can use it as a regular user when you want to do things like listen to music, watch movies and browse the Internet, and you can also use it as a "hacker" by leveraging its "Unixness".

It also integrates extremely well with other parts of the Apple ecosystem, unlike Linux.

Re: It Just Works

#96
It never really "just worked". People have been complaining about, for example, iTunes, ever since it came out. Apple stuff always had a ton of annoyances. Perhaps the experience was more restricted before, or Jobs' pitch more convincing.

Re: It Just Works

#97

I don't understand why the hacker scene these days is full of proud OSX users. What happened to the proud Linux hackers we've always had? They told me to use OSX at the job I recently started, and I only lasted a week before I told them I wanted to install Linux.

Part of the 'pride' behind being a Linux hacker came from heavily customizing, breaking, fixing, and generally maintaining your dev kit. I have a friend who's taken on a motorcycle rebuild project and I can see a lot of analogs there.

For me, personally, I realized that having a system which I can take from zero to 'dev ready' in less than an afternoon (which I did recently with a freshly shipped MacBook) is the main 'feature' I want from my dev software stack. I don't love all of OS X's defaults, but I customize very few things.

The bigger issue for me, though, is hardware. I know this varies dramatically from developer to developer, but weight, size, battery life, and display quality (in roughly that order) are my primary concerns with laptop hardware. I recently switched my work laptop from a Chromebook Pixel (first gen) to an 11" MacBook Air and I've been thrilled with the change. That said, the leap in display quality and general machine 'feel' from the Air to the MacBook I use for personal developer is almost as big, for me, as the leap from the Pixel to the Air. Apple builds hardware that feels 'right' to me in a way that other manufacturers that I've encountered don't.

So, I can't speak for others, but there's why I'm a proud OS X user instead of a proud Linux user.

Re: It Just Works

#98
post #76

I switched to mac when when MS lost its mind and came up with Vista--it was unusable, so much so that switching cost to mac was lower than trying to get Windows to work. Nowadays the only reason I stay with Mac is because I make iOS apps and realize it will be annoying if I abandon Mac. Apple is no more in a "just works" business. It's in a lock-in business. I used to be delighted to download their new OS's, and I'm…

> Apple is no more in a "just works" business. It's in a lock-in business. No such change has happened between 2007 (MS Vista time frame) and now. People familiar with Apple since 1980-something know very well that it's always been about both of the above: just works for the end user, and a lock-in business. If anything, it's less locked in now than it used to be, because of the use of Intel processors (that was a bi…

Whether lock-in has bettered or worsened depends on perspective. While OS X can be shoehorned to run on Hackintoshes and VMs now, I can't remember any time when it was virtually impossible to install a custom operating system on Apple hardware until the iPhone came out (and, eventually, when the iPhone 3GS closed up the bugs that allowed the bootloader's security checks to be cirvumvented; said bugs were the only way to install a custom OS - like Android - on an iPhone). As far as I know, the software on Apple's desktops and laptops has always been unrestricted (as I know firsthand; literally all my PowerPC Mac hardware runs OpenBSD nowadays).

Re: It Just Works

#99
post #97

I don't understand why the hacker scene these days is full of proud OSX users. What happened to the proud Linux hackers we've always had? They told me to use OSX at the job I recently started, and I only lasted a week before I told them I wanted to install Linux.

Part of the 'pride' behind being a Linux hacker came from heavily customizing, breaking, fixing, and generally maintaining your dev kit. I have a friend who's taken on a motorcycle rebuild project and I can see a lot of analogs there. For me, personally, I realized that having a system which I can take from zero to 'dev ready' in less than an afternoon (which I did recently with a freshly shipped MacBook) is the main…

The hardware is very nice. I'm typing this into a Macbook running Arch Linux. However, I don't know if it's fair to say you can't get up and running in an afternoon these days, even if you have a heavily customized system like I do (https://sr.ht/-77r.png). I expect that the sort of people who invest heavily in making their Linux setup their own are people who have the hardest time with OS X - everything just felt wrong for me, and it was very difficult to use because of this.

Re: It Just Works

#100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Spotify is a possible replacement (even without their streaming and music finding services), but I find that application quite buggy.

Spotify seems determined to force me to listen to albums on shuffle.

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