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Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

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Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#41

Post by massysett »

codeka wrote: post #20

> The first option I tried was an i3 based desktop. However whilst I wanted to like tiling window managers I decided it wasn’t for me. It took me a week or so to get used to i3, but once I did I can't see myself ever going back. I've been using i3 at work and at home for about year now, and every time I get on my (Mac Book) laptop it's a frustrating experience: I feel like I spend more time trying to figure out how t…

i3 is great, until you try to do something simple like change the time zone for your desktop clock or add some wallpaper. I switched from Linux to Mac because I was too well acquainted with making symlinks to /usr/share/ somewhere just to change my clock when I traveled, and then figuring out just how few processes I had to restart so it would take effect.

Unfortunately the Linux desktops were actually worse than the barebones window managers like i3: there was some sort of glibc bug that screwed up clock display on GNOME for at least a year. GNOME assumed glibc did it right, which was a reasonable assumption...but an incorrect one, but with i3 I could control this.

Now that I'm on Mac I look back in amazement at the time I spent on Linux learning ultimately useless stuff like why a bug in glibc would mess up my GNOME clock but not an i3 clock.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#42

Post by rectangleboy »

codeka wrote: post #20

> The first option I tried was an i3 based desktop. However whilst I wanted to like tiling window managers I decided it wasn’t for me. It took me a week or so to get used to i3, but once I did I can't see myself ever going back. I've been using i3 at work and at home for about year now, and every time I get on my (Mac Book) laptop it's a frustrating experience: I feel like I spend more time trying to figure out how t…

Similarly, I've been using AwesomeWM for a few years. Going back to OS X is frustrating to me because it's so languorous and lacking control. On Arch/AwesomeWM, I can instantly flip to the space I want, but Mission Control forces me to walk through each space, insisting on animating the sequence and taking it's time to swap in the applications as I go along.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#43

Post by wezm »

whyileft wrote: post #37

> The interface is clean and refined. Can we stop using the term "clean" to describe interfaces? Clean doesn't really mean anything in design and also is a one sided term without an opposite term that is not disparaging. Are all other interfaces that are not clean, dirty? Or unsanitary? Or cluttered? It becomes and absolute term like beautiful or professional which are all really just fluff terms for "good".

Good point. I actually paused and tried to come up with something better when I was proofreading the post but failed to do so. I'll keep it mind for future posts.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#44

Post by STRML »

rtnyftxx wrote: post #14

> Removing the Esc key you can switch back to default F1... keys > Removing all legacy ports necessitating the use of dongles for everything Somewhere have to start the transition > Prioritising thinness and weight over everything else Batterylife is the same Worst thing on the new rMBPs: No silent trackpad click option m( I use OS X just as an client.

> Somewhere have to start the transition

By removing every single legacy port long before there's anywhere near ubiquitous USB-C? Even USB-C cables themselves are more commonly sold as USB-A to USB-C. I love having usable DisplayPort/Thunderbolt, HDMI, and USB-A on my 2013 rMBP - I never need a dongle. If I went to a 2016, I'd need at least 3, every day.

> Prioritising thinness and weight over everything else

Battery life is certainly not the same, and the lack of a 16GB option or a faster processor is a well-missed loss.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#45

Post by sudhirj »

wezm wrote: post #24
sudhirj wrote: post #15

Trying to do exactly the same thing - I still have a maxed out rMBP 2013 that works great, so setting up alternatives now before I'm forced to. The Intel Skull Canyon NUC is what I'm using, with Elementary running on Virtualbox in Windows 10 (waiting for the Samsung 960 EVO to sell globally before setting up a native install). The one massive problem for me that keeps me going back to the laptop is that the Mac absol…

Yes I suspect the keyboard shortcuts will bother me too. One of the things I like about Elementary is that there are a bunch of things bound to Command out of the box. They also refer to it as ⌘, which has a nice familiarity about it.

The underlying Ubuntu still refers to it as the Super key, but elementary uses the clover to symbolise it when it can. Still can't get to Mac like setups, though - apparently in Linux it's the applications that intercept the Super key, so it's never going to be possible to get a consistent experience.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#46

Post by wezm »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #30
wezm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Removing the Esc key > you can switch back to default F1... keys Not following... the physical key is gone, replaced by the touch bar?

The key is gone. The touchbar can be set to always show virtual function keys, though. Not the best option if you touch type, of course.

Yeah I touch type. The whole idea of encouraging people to look at their keyboard seems completely off.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#47

Post by rickyc091 »

JohnTHaller wrote: post #30
wezm wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Removing the Esc key > you can switch back to default F1... keys Not following... the physical key is gone, replaced by the touch bar?

The key is gone. The touchbar can be set to always show virtual function keys, though. Not the best option if you touch type, of course.

The ESC key being missing gets blown out of proportion. Every time I hit it, I'm amazed at how it just works. Apple has made it so hitting any where in that vicinity basically triggers the ESC.

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#48

Post by BuckRogers »

I don't understand the ports complaint. Or maybe it's others who don't understand their ports complaint. The USB-C connector is a physical connector, and Apple's implementation of it supports every useful protocol and function available. DisplayPort, USB3.1 and below, Thunderbolt3, charging and HDMI[0]. Just buy USB-C to whatever cables and you're done with it. USB-A to C transition complete. You don't need adapters for those protocols, they're passive cables.

What do people want? A bunch of ports that not everyone needs or wants to waste space when I could have more multipurpose USB-C ports?

Got USB-A mice and keyboards? Ok, buy a docking station or USB-C to USB-A hub and never think about it again. Got a mouse you like to carry around that isn't wireless? Pickup a small adapter[1] to get you through the transition. The only thing I can think of is ethernet but again, not everyone is going to use that. I do want ethernet, but the USB-C Thunderbolt adapter is fine. It certainly isn't the only laptop going without ethernet today. Again, why waste a port when you can have these reversible universal ports. Miss MagSafe[2]?

Either way, the complaints about the ports don't hold much water once properly researched and the change is inevitable. The reason I passed on the new MBP15 is the 24% reduction in battery capacity from 2015[3].

I needed a new machine so I bought an Acer Chromebook[4] to tide me over until Apple gets a form-fitting large capacity battery[5] in the MBPs. My configuration is $3000 and I'm just not going to spend that sort of money unless it's near-perfect. I may build a PC and remote into it as per the article until the next MBP once again matches its high price but I won't hand them 3K for a battery that's 3/4th the size of the 2015 model (66% capacity for the 13").

[0]https://youtu.be/JirCwapScUs?t=4m18s

[1]http://a.co/4zD6Jt3

[2]http://a.co/4WDmyeT

[3]http://arstechnica.com/apple/2016/12/explaining-the-battery-...

[4]https://www.acer.com/ac/en/CA/content/model/NX.GJEAA.002

[5]http://www.theverge.com/2016/12/20/14024322/macbook-pro-batt...

Re: Finding an Alternative to Mac OS X

#49

Post by zachrose »

grhmc wrote: post #25

Not even a mention of NixOS. May I ask why not? Edit: I'm appreciating the feedback for "why not?" and am sending it around to people in the community. :)

I've been running NixOS on a casual home desktop for about a year now.

I'm in love with some of its big ideas, like per-project dependency files that mostly eliminate my need for VMs and container management tools, and being able to read my OS configuration in a single file.

On the other hand, most of my work these days ends up as a Dockerfile and Docker images anyways, and the benefits of Nix package management could be had with Nix alone (not NixOS).

So at the end of the day I'm running a slightly buggy KDE 5 desktop that I haven't invested the time in fixing. I have a cool package manager, but I'm using it with one global nix environment. Packages are not hard to find once I know what I'm looking for, but discovering those packages and their nix-specific names can be tricky at times.

That said I'm new to desktop Linux, and it's hard to fault NixOS for most of the (relative) difficulties I've encountered.

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