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Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

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Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#81
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every OS has its own version of 'sysadmin crap' to deal with... While I noted that OS X is easier to get up and running optimally, Ubuntu's package management definitely has it beat as far as maintenance goes. Automated software installation / configuration / upgrades goes a long way.

http://www.macports.org I'm not saying the mac doesn't need any administration -- I'm saying that it's a lot less, and it's less annoying. I haven't ever had to recompile my darwin kernel nor sit around tweaking DMA and PIO settings.

Suggesting macports is like suggesting gentoo as far as administration time goes.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#82
post #79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Every OS has its own version of 'sysadmin crap' to deal with... While I noted that OS X is easier to get up and running optimally, Ubuntu's package management definitely has it beat as far as maintenance goes. Automated software installation / configuration / upgrades goes a long way.

http://www.macports.org I'm not saying the mac doesn't need any administration -- I'm saying that it's a lot less, and it's less annoying. I haven't ever had to recompile my darwin kernel nor sit around tweaking DMA and PIO settings.

neither have I... that's the point I was trying to make regarding apt-get. Kernel updates, dependency installation / removal, (most) drivers, and even entire OS upgrades are 100% automatic. I'm not saying it's perfect, but Linux has come a long way in that regard.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#83
post #69
post #10

Because it's the best desktop unix machine available. Where else can you find true unix with a great user experience and full hardware and software support? I don't use Linux because I no longer enjoy doing sysadmin crap. I also like the MacOS UI.

unless your using gentoo, you no longer have to do that much "sysadmin crap". as if OSX machines were free of "sysadmin crap". i used to use acquamacs on it, and it will constantly break after the monthly updates. from my experience, ubuntu is less work. (this advise is mostly for this crowd. i wouldn't push an ubuntu machine on gradnma. not yet at any rate)

The amount of "sysadmin crap" you have do to on a macintosh is directly proportional to the amount of "sysadmin crap" you do to your macintosh.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#84
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tried this now but it didn't work for me. I must be missing something. Please help. I am running GVIM (I am at work so I am on Windows). I am trying to drag and drop a block of code to Python REPL. It is not happening.

oops. i thought i had done that some times. i'll see if i can come up with any useful mechanisms to compensate for lying

allright. i came up with something but 1) it only works on windows and 2) you need an extra app. it's a really really good app though

the app is AutoHotkey: http://www.autohotkey.com/

and the script is:

  #SingleInstance Force
  
  #Enter::
      SendInput mr^a ;mark current spot in register r and select all
      Sleep 20
      SendInput ^c{Esc}``r ;copy, stop selection, return to spot

      ;if we have a REPL already, use it.  otherwise start a new one
      IfWinExist, Arc REPL
          WinActivate, Arc REPL
      else
          start_arc()

      MouseClick Right, 50, 50 ;open context menu
      SendInput p ;p for paste
  exit

  start_arc()
  {
      Run cmd /k cd "c:\\documents and settings\\blahblah\\desktop\\arc2"
      Sleep 100  ;wait for the cmd window to show before typing
      SendInput mzscheme -m -f "c:/documents and settings/blahblah/desktop/arc2/as.scm"{Enter}

      Sleep 200  ;wait for title to change
      IfWinExist, C:\WINDOWS\system32\cmd.exe - mzscheme
          WinSetTitle Arc REPL
  }

it's pretty simple. as you can see, it's for Arc, and it's setting a script to windows key + Enter. if you're editing some code in Vim, hit the hot key (when you're in command mode) and the script will ctrl+a -> ctrl+c the code in Vim and right-click paste it in the REPL. if there isn't a REPL open it will first open one and then paste it

you can make modifications such as only running what you have selected (would work well with visual modes,) only running the current paragraph (using the parentheses commands in Vim,) running what you have copied (i.e. Run-from-clipboard) and so on and so forth. you can also have a little window pop up where you can type some code and have it execute etc etc

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#85
post #33
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Almost all of my coworkers use Thinkpads. I started off on a T43, and have recently been upagraded to T60. Would never trade it in for a mac.

Good for you. I started out on a T20 (I'm old). Still have it. Still love it. One of these days I'll move up to a T60 or whatever. For now, T42 still kicks a$$.

I started out with a Powerbook 140, and I don't think 26 counts as old here. I have a T20 too - 6th laptop I've owned. I've rebuilt it 3 or 4 times and replaced everything but the screen at some point. It's a good machine aside from having an annoying tendency to corrupt the contents of its CMOS chip.

I've noticed both Apple and IBM/Lenovo dropping in quality over the past 10 years or so. I have a Thinkpad 600X from 1998 or so - it's made mostly of carbon fiber, with a rubber coating. My Z61m is made mostly of cheap plastic, though it does have a metal frame and titanium lid. Apple uses either polycarbonate or aluminum, but seems to have a high rate of logic board failures. I'm not a huge fan of metal on the surfaces of a laptop that come in to contact with my body during use either - it transmits heat.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#86
post #65
post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sure. Two problems with it: 1. Still fairly bad video hardware support. I spent two hours helping a buddy set up a mid-range ATI card recently, and we couldn't get full acceleration to work. The configuration just plain sucked. 2. Fonts in the X environment are so ugly that I can't stare at an editor window full of code. Good fonts are rarely open-source. Ubuntu is nice, but it doesn't come close to the experience of…

1. fair enough. i can see how that could be a deal breaker. You probably know about the sad state of affairs with those vendors, and I guess reasons don't matter much if it doesn't work. all i can say is that it is improving. 2. it's not the fonts. check this out: http://ubuntutips.net/node/10 . in a nutshell, just put hintslight true rgb true true in your ~/.fonts.conf file. you won't believe your eyes. try it. :)

And this is why people like the mac. I can edit an XML file in emacs, I just don't want to have to figure out which file to edit and what to put in there.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#87
post #84
post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

oops. i thought i had done that some times. i'll see if i can come up with any useful mechanisms to compensate for lying

allright. i came up with something but 1) it only works on windows and 2) you need an extra app. it's a really really good app though the app is AutoHotkey: http://www.autohotkey.com/ and the script is: #SingleInstance Force #Enter:: SendInput mr^a ;mark current spot in register r and select all Sleep 20 SendInput ^c{Esc}``r ;copy, stop selection, return to spot ;if we have a REPL already, use it. otherwise start a n…

I do use AHK for other things but never used it for this purpose, so, Thanks! I do my coding in my Linux machine though.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#88
post #28

I tried to switch over to a mac a year ago. It didn't work, so I switched back after three months. I found that a lot of little things were annoying, and made me spend more time than I needed on doing trivial things sucha as resizing of windows. On mac it can only be done from one corner, on windows from all four. There are lots of these little things that mean you have to spend three clicks instead of two. I see why…

Steve jobs hates buttons, I don't know about the other models but the MacBook Pro has two buttons, as does the mighty mouse, you've just got to enable it.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#89
post #56
post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, if I was optimizing on price I would just get a Dell laptop and throw Ubuntu on it. (Although I would make sure that all the hardware is well-supported first. I have spent far too many hours patching kernels and adjusting parameters when using Linux with brand new hardware.)

You can buy Dells with Ubuntu on them: http://www.dell.com/ubuntu It was pretty cool to get it, open it up, and see it boot Ubuntu. I admit I did have to tweak it just a bit (about 15 minutes of googling and config files), but I think it was one of the first ones, hopefully they've gotten even better. I chatted with some of the guys working on it at OSCON last year, and they wrote down a few of the bugs I had found.

I got one of these right after they came out, too. Having had no experience with Linux before then, I've spent more than 15 minutes at a time figuring out how to get things to work. Right away, it was a couple nights on nvidia driver and wpa support. And since then, about once a month, I'll have to spend a whole night or two figuring something else out... last weekend it was something with generic vs rt kernels for ubuntustudio. Anyhoo, looking back, I wouldn't suggest it to any relative novices (like me) who really just want to use their computer to accomplish normal tasks, and who aren't into tinkering for the sake of it. Gnome/KDE in K/Ubuntu are really convenient and slick 29/30 days, but to be honest, I'm getting tired of fighting my computer and I'll likely pick up a Mac when I get a new desktop this summer.

Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?

#90
post #48

i almost bought a macbook pro for the screen. mac makes it easy for you to get a non glossy high def display. you can now even get LED backlit which should give brighter whites, better contrast, and longer backlight life. the rest of the manufactures are behind mac in display tech. i ended up going with a dell precision because of dells support for ubuntu, and i could get better hardware than the mac for $1000 less,…

"the rest of the manufactures are behind mac in display tech."

I was looking at macbooks, but did not see one that had a 15" screen that ran 1920x1200.

I went with a Dell D830, for the 15" WUXGA screen and for the clit mouse (since I find trackpads distracting and less precise than the TrakPoint thingie).

I'm (more or less) happily running Kubuntu on it.

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