Anybody have success with Linux on a Surface Pro 3 or 4?
I am considering the purchase of a Surface Pro 3 i7 w/ 512GB for Linux web-dev.
From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
41–50 of 106 posts
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#42You can see the differences between linux and macOS when you consider your environment as a desktop workstation rather than a simple dev machine. I've switched from linux to macOS after 13+ years because, IMHO, the linux desktop overall experience sucks for everyday use.
I agree completely. I have been using a Ubuntu desktop as my primary workstation for the better part of three years, after fifteen minutes of using a MacBook attached to a 27" screen made me want to switch.
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#43Earlier quoted context omitted.
That doesn't matter at all when using programming languages with OS agnostic runtimes[0]. Also, unless IT agrees to put beefy machines under each one's desk, the server is quite different from what developers can use anyway. Finally if there is any issue that really needs testing on the server, that is what remote connections (including remote debugging) are for. [0] We usually develop on Windows and deploy on UNIX.
You would be surprised what can happen with "agnostic runtimes" Running the same libraries, on the same base OS is invaluable to me - but that can depend on what you are developing. > Also, unless IT agrees to put beefy machines under each one's desk, the server is quite different from what developers can use anyway. With "the cloud", these days that is not necessarily true. a t2.large / m2.large are 2 cores, 8GB RAM…
> With "the cloud", these days that is not necessarily true. a t2.large / m2.large are 2 cores, 8GB RAM. - well within the reach of a basic laptop.
Which is why we just connect to "cloud" and clone our own instance from a production server, if we really need to.
> Never debug in production. No developer should have access to production.
Maybe in a perfect world.
On real life I have been in projects where developers were exchanging dlls and jar files on them.
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#44Is this post part of a series (intentionally short?) while I liked the post it wasn't long enough for me.
It was only:
1. Apt-get is cool 2. Vim 3. Sublime 4. Atom?
I felt a little more effort could have been put into this post (similar to a tutorial?)
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#45To me a huge selling point of linux is i3wm. If you haven't used this thing yet, you absolutely have to try it out! It is the best tool that I have discovered since emacs. It allows me to easily and conveniently manage dozens of windows, and it's hard to describe how convenient that is until you get used to it. I usually have around 10 workspaces open: 1. Emacs with personal notes, goals, todo lists. 2. Emacs windows…
My setup is similar to this except I use XMonad on Arch instead of i3wm. Each desktop is a "context". I have rxvt on the first one, firefox on the second, emacs on the third, the other desktops are for transient stuff. 95% of the time I use the fullscreen layout. It helps me focus.
At work I use OS X and compared to my setup at home, it's passable at best.
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#46To me a huge selling point of linux is i3wm. If you haven't used this thing yet, you absolutely have to try it out! It is the best tool that I have discovered since emacs. It allows me to easily and conveniently manage dozens of windows, and it's hard to describe how convenient that is until you get used to it. I usually have around 10 workspaces open: 1. Emacs with personal notes, goals, todo lists. 2. Emacs windows…
Yeah, i3 for 4 years now -- great tiling window manager, straightforward config with performant and powerful set of features.
The whole windowing system (layers upon layers upon layers), Finder, iTunes, spinning beach balls, etc. is just not in any way appealing from the Linux side of the fence. Sure, "It Just Works"; same with Windows, you get a lot of functionality out of the box, but you can't choose, it's the kitchen sink or nothing.
Choose nothing ;-)
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#47You can see the differences between linux and macOS when you consider your environment as a desktop workstation rather than a simple dev machine. I've switched from linux to macOS after 13+ years because, IMHO, the linux desktop overall experience sucks for everyday use.
That's interesting; what challenges did you run into most often?
(I'm not your parent poster.)
I made similar switch from Linux workstation to Mac workstation about 10 years ago. The biggest challenge with Linux workstation were hardware related issues: accelerated graphics / suspend-to-disk / battery life, etc. Too much endless tweaking. Mac offered "ready-to-use" solution with familiar unix tools & DE with virtual desktops.
I guess the driver situation is now somewhat better but I'm now too accustomed to Macs & Apple ecosystem. No other laptop manufacturer can really compete with Apple in objective quality. No Linux DE feels "smooth" or polished enough after using macOS for long time, at least for me.
In the end, almost all open source / "unix-like" software runs fine on Mac. Still it's difficult decision between supporting "the ideogically right choice" and enjoying admirable industrial design.
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#48Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'm using a Hackintosh for 4 years now. It's definitely not true that one is bound to Apple hardware.
Well, from a legal perspective you are bound to their hardware. A Hackintosh is a breach of the EULA, and no company should allow one to be used for their development, as it can create a potentially massive liability for them.
While true, EULAs aren't valid in many countries, regardless what companies wish for.
Having said this, I also don't agree with using Hackintoshs.
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#49Earlier quoted context omitted.
The user interface. The package manager that handles everything. Not being locked to Apple's ecosystem, e.g. needing to install Xcode to get your CLI ecosystem working. Not having yearly updates that change everything. Using an open source operating system and not being bound to Apple hardware.
>Not having yearly updates that change everything Yeah, right. >not being bound to Apple hardware. Not an issue for years already, unless we are talking about some very specific hardware. PS: not trying to advocate for either of systems, worked on both linux (ubuntu, arch, centos) and macOS. Both have their share of pros and cons.
I would likely go mad if I had to use a Mac keyboard without a 'delete' key. Why did they remove that?
Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux
#50To me a huge selling point of linux is i3wm. If you haven't used this thing yet, you absolutely have to try it out! It is the best tool that I have discovered since emacs. It allows me to easily and conveniently manage dozens of windows, and it's hard to describe how convenient that is until you get used to it. I usually have around 10 workspaces open: 1. Emacs with personal notes, goals, todo lists. 2. Emacs windows…
Does Mac have anything comparable to i3? Unfortunately Linux is not an option for me.