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Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

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Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#141

Post by rwmj »

stuaxo wrote: post #22
rwmj wrote: post #9

My recollection of Linux in year 2000 was it was very easy to understand how everything worked. If you were searching for "terminal commands from discussion forums, type them in and hope for the best" then you were definitely doing it wrong (in 2000 and now).

Mine, is that my using my soundcard could randomly freeze my machine needing a reset.

Most likely to be a driver (or even hardware) bug. I had a SB AWE32 card which would do that, and I even hacked on the driver for a while to try to diagnose it before concluding the soundcard was probably taking PCI bus master and never releasing it, not really something that Linux could do anything about.

It's possible that the equivalent Windows driver - which didn't crash - had a secret workaround to prevent it from tickling the hardware bug. I used to work on OS-9 drivers for custom hardware at my first job, and we usually ended up bodging the driver to fix hardware bugs, because respinning the hardware was terribly expensive or even not possible in the time available.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#142

Post by whywhywhywhy »

tolqen wrote: post #67
pushpop wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 4. MacBook Pro has 4 USB-C ports. Only if you get one with a Touch Bar - which are the more expensive end of the MBP range. However many users don’t like the Touch Bar. For myself, I used escape and the F-keys a lot and the idea of remapping caps lock is really more of a kludge than a proper fix (not least of all because I do frequently hope between USB keyboards and Linux laptops as well - so pressing caps lock is…

All current MPBs have a Touch Bar. Apple no longer sells any without one.

Doesn't matter, the $1299 base model and $1499 mid model still only have 2 USB-Cs even with the Touch Bar. The $1799 model upwards have 4.

All MBPs in my company have 2 USB-C ports because my company (like many others) only buys the cheapest model of laptops.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#143

Post by spodek »

GNU/Linux is distributed under the GPL and other Free licenses. Apple is proprietary. Other differences stem from this difference or are cosmetic.

Until Apple releases all its software under Free licenses, the adversarial parts of its relationship with its users will hold it back.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#145

Post by disiplus »

randallsquared wrote: post #134
threeseed wrote: post #20

1. Never once seen an issue with USB-C to HDMI or VGA connections. It doesn't even make any sense since MacBook Pro users with external, third party monitors are an extremely common combination. 2. I just downloaded Caret (Markdown editor) from their website and used Homebrew to install a CLI tool. Nothing has changed between the current OSX and previous ones. 3. If you have a tech support issue go into the Apple Sto…

> 1. Never once seen an issue with USB-C to HDMI or VGA connections. It doesn't even make any sense since MacBook Pro users with external, third party monitors are an extremely common combination. Last year I had a lot of problems with this. It was pretty common[1] that USB-C to HDMI cables would work at first and then stop working in a particular port. Sometimes rebooting helped. Sometimes swapping the cable for ano…

i have those problems still, sometimes after waking up, so i play the game have i tried this usb-c port or not. it usualy works after one two times. thank god i have 4 of them. i have a 2 external monitors and usually close the macbook.

but hey at least it works. on my linux laptop it allways forgets the layout that i had and resorts to puting the external monitor right, and dont ger me started on X and fractional scalling.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#146

Post by iwalton3 »

bluegreyred wrote: post #132
esotericn wrote: post #120

Well, no, it's not the Linux of 2000, it's worse than that, because it's closed source. The GNU/Linux (e.g. the ecosystem) of 2019 is really fantastic. It keeps on getting better, and better, and better. There may be a few missteps, maybe you don't like GNOME 3, but you can still use Xfce, or KDE, or LXDE, or i3 or whatever else if you want, no-one is stopping you. By contrast, if Apple or Microsoft update the OS and…

As somebody on a 2015 15" MBP looking to make the switch, how do you deal with things like Word/Excel documents or updating the firmware of IOT things (not mine but those of relatives) that only offer proprietary Windows and Mac updaters/installers? Do you just spin up a KVM and pass through USB, or use a separate computer? These edge cases (and the uneasy feeling that there are many others that I won't discover unti…

Im my case, I use Crossover and a VM. They work well for my use cases.

> Word/Excel documents

I run Office 2010 in Crossover, which works very well. (I have a copy of 2016 as well, but it is slower.) You can also try WPS office, which does a decent job of handling Office documents.

> updating the firmware of IOT things

I have a Windows VM and I use USB passthrough for things like iTunes. I usually use it less than once a month.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#147

Post by Koshkin »

jwr wrote: post #131
threeseed wrote: post #20

1. Never once seen an issue with USB-C to HDMI or VGA connections. It doesn't even make any sense since MacBook Pro users with external, third party monitors are an extremely common combination. 2. I just downloaded Caret (Markdown editor) from their website and used Homebrew to install a CLI tool. Nothing has changed between the current OSX and previous ones. 3. If you have a tech support issue go into the Apple Sto…

Though I am not a "condescending elitist hipster latte drinker" (or at least I hope I am not), I agree with most of OPs sentiments. I would like to see Apple invest more into making sure their stuff "just works", because that's why I use their systems: they are the least-crappy of anything that is out there today.

> least-crappy

In the meantime, Windows "just works."

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#148

Post by webjac »

Apple 2019: Siri remind me to call mom when I get home Linux 2000: …

Apple 2019: Use my iPad as a secondary screen wirelessly Linux 2000: …

Apple 2019: AirPlay to my TV this content Linux 2000: …

Apple 2019: Sync my contacts, notes, calendars, wirelessly with all my devices Linux 2000: …

Can we stop being ridiculous now or do I have to keep lowering myslef to the stupidity of the writer of this?

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#150

Post by least »

laumars wrote: post #119
least wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would encourage you to reconsider rebinding the caps lock key, unless you have a good reason to keep it (perhaps you're a COBOL programmer?). You can change it to behave that way for all usb keyboards and you can also use xmodmap or a program called xcape to add dual functionality to the key in linux.

Not the OP but I too switch between lots of systems. The idea of reconfiguring each and every one of them, including work colleagues machines, physical terminals for on-prem systems, my wife Windows laptop and so on and so forth, just to fix a bad design on a singular work laptop, seems like insanely bad advice. Instead I'm going to order myself a Linux machine for my next upgrade and have my hardware function the wa…

It's your prerogative to do what you want with your machine.

Caps lock being on the home row is a bad design in my opinion. Remapping it to something useful is making your hardware work for you, not against you. You obviously can't make your coworkers change their behavior but you're completely in control of your own, where most of your work is likely being done.

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