From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux • Hacker News Board

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#101

Post by Latty » Mon, Oct 17, 2016, 7:23 PM UTC

apeacox wrote: post #74

jameskegel wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's interesting; what challenges did you run into most often?

1) overall integration between desktop apps 1b) desktop apps availability/quality 2) drivers and support 3) With mac, I open my laptop and I can use it like a toaster, without thinking how to fix this or that issue after a software update bonus) iphone/appletv/ipad smooth integration PS (especially for downvoters): I've used linux since 1999, I have a sysadmin background, I used to build my desktop/servers from scrat…

It's funny, because I tried going the other way when I picked up a Retina Macbook Pro (because the screen was amazing), which I dropped about 3 years back after chafing on OS X a lot and deciding to switch back as I transitioned to a desktop machine again.

Homebrew felt really clunky (broken/missing/out of date packages, manual intervention needed, etc...) and so dev tools were a pain. The OS X experience also didn't offer me room to change things to suit my needs, and the OS X apps all felt really lacking. I didn't find a file manager that could touch Dolphin, for example.

I also found that any decent OS X tool was going to cost me £20, mostly for really small applications that did specific things, so I'd want tons of them. By contrast, I never had to search hard for the Linux tooling, and it was always FOSS.

More specifically when comparing to Arch Linux, OS X suffered from the same magic problem as Ubuntu, Windows and anything else where the system is set up for you. The back end was all magic, so when something went wrong, I had no idea why or where to fix it. When you use it like a toaster, it's also pretty impenetrable. (Fine when your problem is common, less so when it isn't).

It's probably a difference between how we use our devices (I never needed to try and use bluetooth, for example).

OS X is still, after three years, the only OS that does multi-monitor with different densities well though, I'll give it that. Hoping that will get sorted soon in my Linux environment.

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#102

Post by zumu » Tue, Oct 18, 2016, 6:01 AM UTC

contingencies wrote: post #75

codecurve wrote: post #58

I recently switched to using a Mac (for work) after 5-6 years only using Linux. Again and again the most painful aspect of the Apple ecosystem is that Apple have already decided what is going to be best for me. By default, it's impossible to use workspaces without frequent switches to the trackpad, which wouldn't be so bad, but without installing third party software it's not really possible to create shortcuts or st…

Chromebooks are interesting but the key concern with Linux + mobile hardware is "is it well tested?". The initial chromebooks had virtually no local storage. Has that changed? Another concern with Chrome is DRM. Also, there are so many potential driver hassles... wireless, touch, suspend, weird trackpads, brightness controls, power management efficacy in general, etc. Although an issue with mobile hardware review is…

Totally unsolicited, but relevant anecdote. I develop full time on a chromebook running gallium os--although I used Ubuntu for a good 9 months. Only perceivable differences is gallium has way less bloat and support for chrome keyboards.

A decent chunk of chromebooks have upgradable ssds. I put a 256 in mine. The big bottleneck is unfortunately non-ugradable ram, though this is increasingly a laptop in general gripe.

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#103

Post by pavlik_enemy » Tue, Oct 18, 2016, 12:44 PM UTC

vladimir-y wrote: post #97

pavlik_enemy wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm talking about end result here, developing on Linux requires delving into stuff I don't really care about.

All new dev tools do come from the Linux first, I think it has a reason. I'm personally fine do software development using Linux based laptop. I confirm Linux has some issues with hardware support, but nonetheless I'm still not ready to switch to the glossy Macbook screens.

Of course there's a reason, that's because people deploy production systems on Linux servers. As far as overall experience goes, I'm ok with Linux as DE because I don't really need much - as long as it runs terminal, editor (with not completely horrible fonts) and browser it's fine.

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#104

Post by toxican » Tue, Oct 18, 2016, 1:23 PM UTC

se6 wrote: post #64

toxican wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If Adobe supported linux, I could almost do my entire job without Windows. The only missing piece would be support for Exchange-based email. But for now I've got two machines, 3 monitors, and make great use of Synergy. I feel like a luddite though because I use and love linux, but have never taken the time to learn and use the workspaces feature. It would probably be cheaper to learn it than to keep throwing monitors…

For Exchange-based email you can use DavMail ( http://davmail.sourceforge.net/ ) At work I have the only Linux workstation and DavMail + Thunderbird + Lightning works a treat. I have pretty much all the functionality that my Outlook fellows have. (email, calendars, LDAP corporate address book, etc...)

Ah! That is seriously cool and it only took like 5 minutes to get up and running. I don't suppose there's a way to support Tasks?

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#105

Post by konart » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 3:09 PM UTC

sparrish wrote: post #49

konart wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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?

Then... don't? It's not like you can't use any other keyboard. Mine is still wrapped in plastic somewhere in a box.

Re: From Mac to Linux: Web Development with Linux

#106

Post by konart » Mon, Oct 24, 2016, 3:13 PM UTC

pimeys wrote: post #96

konart wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>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.

> >Not having yearly updates that change everything >Yeah, right. Minimal Arch Linux with a minimal desktop and rolling updates. > >not being bound to Apple hardware. >Not an issue for years already, unless we are talking about some very specific hardware. It is an issue, if you have a budget and you want a fast computer for compiling and so on. Right now I'm having a modern 4GHz i7 with 32 gigabytes of ram, a m.2 SS…

You can install macOS on almost any modern hardwere these days. That's why it is not an issue

>Minimal Arch Linux with a minimal desktop and rolling updates.

I switched to Arch after Ubuntu 10.04 (or 10.10, I don't really remember when they brought Unity up). And yes - it's much better in this regard, but you still see an update on their main page from time to time that will tell you this and that about some big changes and instructions to handle this. OSX\macOS didn't have anything like that in years now.