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So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

richardmavis.info

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Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#381

Post by kps »

swiftcoder wrote: post #365
kps wrote: post #310

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> it's those newfangled applications that have hijacked ctrl-z Yes. Windows botched this by hijacking the Control key, and the desktop-Linux crowd are unable to do anything but imitate Windows. Pre-Linux GUIs didn't have this problem, and MacOS doesn't have this problem.

How hard would it be to adapt a linux distro to have separate keys for control/command (a la MacOS). This is my single biggest blocker against using Linux as my daily driver - not having consistent keybaord shortcuts that avoid collision with terminal interrupts.

I think a KDE-based system could do it with modest effort. There's a flag deep in QT somewhere, enabled on Mac builds, that makes all the ‘Ctrl’ shortcuts default to ‘Command’ instead, and it would go a long way if that were a user-selectable option.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#382

Post by kingosticks »

PopsiclePete wrote: post #286
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…

Linux is just consistent. When it works, it works. When it doesn't - god help you. There's no rhyme or reason. Sometimes, my wifi is broken. On a different distro, it's not. Right now, under Ubuntu 18.10, my suspend from resume is broken - it wasn't on 18.04. I have the official Linux laptop, basically - a Dell XPS 9350, all 100% Intel hardware, no binary blobs.

I've also found that on my XPS 13 with 18.10. Was fine previously on 16.04. Now I have to open and shut the lid a few times to get it to stop flickering. It's annoying and would otherwise be perfect.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#383

Post by jotm »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #355
jasondclinton wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People forget that subpixel rendering was a thing on CRT's before LCD's were around. Subpixel order is pretty universally standardized. Is there an EDID data element for pixel order?

I didn't know that! How does sub-pixel rendering work on CRT's, which (to my understanding) don't have a set matrix of pixels and subpixels?

It worked like shit, blurring perfectly fine text. At least the last time I had a CRT, which was very early 00's

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#384

Post by cwp »

0az wrote: post #174
mitchty wrote: post #158

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I just use nix on OS X, better package manager than most linux distros have. I have my own copies of py2/3 and the system one, not a huge deal to be honest (outside of the pain of linux side nixos updates breaking derivations for macOS, but thats generally not a fault of the os).

The issue I have with Nix, vs a combined MacPorts+Homebrew is that Nix is a pain to get working. The time investment required for Nix is too high.

It's waaaay better than it used to be. A couple of years ago there were a lot of impurities which would cause everything to break whenever macOS was updated. But these days it just uses libSystem from macOS and the rest is managed by nixpkgs.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#385

Post by war1025 »

zanny wrote: post #268
war1025 wrote: post #176

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How do you like the NUC? I have been toying with the idea of buying a mini computer like that. I don't really want a full-size desktop tower, but I also don't really want to go the route of a laptop in a docking station.

I have a PC business on the side and I love selling people NUCs. Few or no moving parts to break, you can often mount them on the backs of monitors, performance has been good enough for ~4 years for 99% of desktop tasks. If not for the inexplicable price premium they'd be perfect for anyone except if you need a lot of storage, dedicated video, or expansion slots.

Yea, I was surprised how expensive they were. It seems like there should be cheaper options given how little laptops cost these days and them using basically laptop hardware from what I've read.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#387

Post by willtim »

Wowfunhappy wrote: post #348
willtim wrote: post #273

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A loaned machine would be useless to me if they cannot swap the SSD. I wouldn't even be able to connect it to our company network.

How is your company's network configured such that you need to physically swap the hard drive in order to connect? What happens if the hard drive dies?

For our VPN details, I would have to get my IT dept involved. My point is that machines often need a lot of additional software and configuration. If the world ran NixOS then perhaps a loan machine with "backups" would be almost as convenient as an SSD swap.

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#388

Post by cr0sh »

_emacsomancer_ wrote: post #69
dwighttk wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

One can certainly use Linux set up in such a way as to be very similar to a Mac experience. (ElementaryOS seems to me intentionally be Mac-like, for instance. But plenty of other distros are also set up in such a way that the user doesn't have to ever open a terminal if they don't want to.) There's no rule that you ever have to open either emacs or vim on Linux (though, personally I think you're missing out if you've…

I recently updated my Linux desktop at home; I tried a variety of live distros - I don't recall if Elementary was one of them - it might have been in there.

The one I ended up using had the Budgie desktop, which I found to be the most "Mac-like" of all the experiences. The distro I used was Ubuntu Budgie, because I wanted the Debian and Ubuntu software ecosystem, but Budgie is a part of the Solus Linux project (which I enjoyed when I tried it, but I didn't like the package system).

So give Solus and/or Ubuntu Budgie a try on a live USB thumbdrive sometime; you might enjoy it, if you are looking for a "more Mac-like" experience...

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#389

Post by rmavis »

sam0x17 wrote: post #32

All of that said, what's with the bright manila color theme? There are plenty of people using i3 with a particularly awesome looking setup. Now macos and windows people are going to see this manila paper theme and think, that looks like 90's crap, fuck linux. So that's great :/

Well, I did warn people about this:

> You might not be impressed much with my environment—I pretty much just copied the acme colors—but some people have put a lot of work into making their setups look sexy.

https://www.reddit.com/r/unixporn

Re: So Long, Macbook. Hello Again, Linux

#390

Post by Wowfunhappy »

willtim wrote: post #387
Wowfunhappy wrote: post #348

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How is your company's network configured such that you need to physically swap the hard drive in order to connect? What happens if the hard drive dies?

For our VPN details, I would have to get my IT dept involved. My point is that machines often need a lot of additional software and configuration. If the world ran NixOS then perhaps a loan machine with "backups" would be almost as convenient as an SSD swap.

OS X has an incremental, automatic backup system built in called Time Machine, which works pretty well in my experience. You'd just restore your time machine backup to the loaner machine, which would restore the vpn credentials.
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