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So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

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Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#131

Post by bitwize »

dwighttk wrote: post #12
TransAMrit wrote: post #3

> Recently I’ve just found myself disenchanted with Apple in a way similar to how I felt maybe twelve years earlier with Microsoft, when I switched to Linux the first time. This is exactly why I've been switching back to Linux everywhere, including laptops. Apple has done a pretty good job recreating the modern Windows experience.

I feel like I'd be much more open to Linux if I spent most of my time in emacs, but since I've spent like 8 minutes in emacs and about 14hrs in vim and have very little desire to increase either of those numbers, it only takes a small dose of Linux to re-enchant myself with Apple.

I spend most of my time in Emacs even when work makes me use a Mac.

Linux has KDE Plasma.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#132

Post by Tehchops »

naibafo wrote: post #85

There are different issues with OSX though, that colleagues of mine had, that never occur with Linux. E.g. the chore of somehow managing different software versions such as the outdated default one and a second one installed with homebrew. Almost all my colleagues struggled with setting up python 2 und 3 correctly at some point, whereas this just worked for me on Linux. Some struggled with font rendering between a 10…

>Almost all my colleagues struggled with setting up python 2 und 3 correctly at some point, whereas this just worked for me on Linux.

This is one area where I'd have to concede the Apple experience is objectively suboptimal.

However, the Python ecosystem isn't doing anyone any favors here.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#133

Post by fouc »

toyg wrote: post #18

(That color theme is... not for me.) I long for the Linux prairies of old, but I've grown fat and lazy on OSX. Linux is a youngster's game. Apple got it wrong in 2016 but there are signs that we might have passed "iPhone peak"... maybe they will be forced to pay attention again to us old farts.

Yeah, I loved linux but I'm fat and lazy on OSX. I don't want to be sucked into the rabbit hole of being able to configure and tweak everything, and never quite feeling like I found the greenest pastures.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#134

Post by pdpi »

ad_hominem wrote: post #104
jwr wrote: post #48

I so wish the Linux community would get its act together and implement a working usable clipboard. It's the one thing I miss the most whenever I switch from Mac OS to Linux. On a Mac, you can cut/copy/paste using predictable keystrokes in any application, anywhere. And there is a single clipboard. On Linux, you have to deal with a multitude of behaviors (middle mouse button, Ctrl-C, others, and does it paste where th…

> On a Mac, you can cut/copy/paste using predictable keystrokes in any application, anywhere Interesting, because Linux is my daily driver, and when I borrow my spouse's MacBook one of the things I get tripped up on is some programs seem to use Ctrl+C/V and other programs use Command+C/V for copying/pasting

Wait what?

What programs are you using that use Ctrl for clipboard actions? Do they also allow their Cmd equivalents, or are they just using the wrong keys?

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#135

Post by djmobley »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #23

I find the fetish for terminal-based music players a bit odd. I associate terminals with doing work , so the idea of having one whose sole purpose is playing music (presumably in the background while you do other stuff) to feel like a waste of screen real-estate and something I'm likely to accidentally pull up while trying to cycle between my other terminal windows where I'm doing stuff. I much prefer something that…

I use mpd/ncmpcpp and couldn’t be happier.

It’s lightweight, responsive, and makes me feel like I have much more control over my music.

I have it always open in the corner of my sceeen with a tiling window manager.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#136

Post by ptero »

jwr wrote: post #48

I so wish the Linux community would get its act together and implement a working usable clipboard. It's the one thing I miss the most whenever I switch from Mac OS to Linux. On a Mac, you can cut/copy/paste using predictable keystrokes in any application, anywhere. And there is a single clipboard. On Linux, you have to deal with a multitude of behaviors (middle mouse button, Ctrl-C, others, and does it paste where th…

Just as a nitpick: communities can (almost) never "get its act together", as they are comprised of people with different preferences who do not want to abandon their preferences for some abstract common good.

On a more substantive note (globally consistent actions from keystrokes). It would be great, but not going to happen because there are established modes where the same keystrokes lead to well known results. And those actions are different depending on the application. Maybe it would be good if this was not the case, but that ship has sailed a long time ago. MacOS is in sync because its BDFL (Apple) forces it to.

Example: Ctrl-Z. In a terminal, it suspends a process. In most GUI editors it performs undo. Shall we force a global standard? I would pay to watch a user get its editor suspended when he presses Ctrl-Z to undo a typo. Did the program crash? Let me start it again ... what does it mean it is already running?? Where are my edits??? I'll just reboot the machine!

So agreed, global synchronizations that would force this to happen are unlikely. Fortunately. My 2c.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#137

Post by the_duke »

mscasts wrote: post #28
mbreese wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For laptop support, it really helps if you can get ahold of one of these “Linux-first” computers, like the OP. When the components all are supported, the experience is much smoother. But that’s also the downside — often the hardware isn’t supported. Desktop Linux devices just aren’t the top priority for developers. Honestly, if you want to go this route, it’s almost easier to just run Linux in a VM on top of Windows…

Well, I thought about that while ordering. Sent a mail to System76 which was the only company I knew about besides Dells XPS (that wasn't available in my country at the time). They didn't have chargers that fit with the european sockets and their system was still more expensive than the other options anyway. Plus, if something goes wrong, there is no real support available in my country. I would have to ship it half…

Linux is certainly more hassle than Windows/OS X.

Since you mentioned XPS: I've been running Arch Linux on a new Dell XPS13 without any issues. Webcam, microphone, touchpad, etc: all works fine.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#138

Post by zozbot123 »

Tehchops wrote: post #42

End-user Linux has definitely improved in the last few years. It offers a lot of attractive features for what I imagine to be the typical HN demographic. That being said, it's still got rough spots that OSX doesn't. It works great when it works, but when it doesn't.... Font rendering, display/compositor fragmentation etc... Inb4 the anecdotal "well it works for me I just had to download the xf86 font library and comp…

If anything, font rendering in Linux is much better than in OSX. It does way more advanced auto-hinting and LCD-subpixel rendering, supports the newest font standards for things like advanced layouts, colored fonts and emojis, etc. etc. There's also very little display fragmentation other than the choice between Xorg and Wayland, which are largely complementary so far. But you can already be on Wayland-only in many cases.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#139

Post by shmerl »

devereaux wrote: post #118
shmerl wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is wl-copy / wl-paste if you are using Wayland compositor.

I'm using xorg but very interested in Wayland. My main "fear" with wayland is that my scripts to properly handle things like a uniform copy/paste will stop working Would you have some links? I am especially interested in ways to handle shortcuts like with autohotkey on Windows: a context dependent remap (ex: pressing a given physical key may send ctrl-tab in an application, but ctrl-pagedown in another if said other…

Handling shortcuts would be compositor specific. Unlike X, the display server part with Wayland is implemented by the compositors. Wayland itself is just the protocol.

KWin for example allows setting various global shortcuts: https://docs.kde.org/trunk5/en/kde-workspace/kcontrol/keys/i...

For wl-copy / wl-paste, see: https://github.com/bugaevc/wl-clipboard

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#140

Post by jdhawk »

sesteel wrote: post #27

I recently installed Pop!_OS from System 76 on a newly purchased thinkpad x1 extreme and it has been an absolute joy. Pop!_OS's lineage is up the Debian/Ubuntu branch but has a lot of features that make for a practical experience. You can easily switch between Nvidia and Intel embedded graphics for example.

There are still a few rough spots surrounding Docks, external monitors, and HiDPI (if you went 4k).

Additionally, I had to jump through a few more hoops in order to get Thermal Throttling under control, increase the battery life to a usable level, etc..

I'm sure that all these things will eventually get rolled in as more users get X1E's, but overall the Pop!_OS experience has been smooth for the Newness of the hardware

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