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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

#401

Post by fortran77 »

nkoren wrote: post #190

Meh. I bailed out of the Mac ecosystem last year, as my mid-2012 retina Macbook was finally getting too creaky, and the latest Mac hardware was a regression in many respects, while simultaneously utterly unaffordable. I'm now dual-booting Ubuntu/Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 15". What this experience has taught me is that computing in 2019 basically sucks. The problems with 2000-era Linux, as described in the article, are…

Windows 10 on the "happy path" (the right hardware) works very well.

My desktop machine is a box by ThinkMate (dual Xeon, 256 GB Ram, Dual 2080 video cards, dual 5K monitors). It "just works" -- including all the power management functions sleep, hibernate, monitor sleep, wake on ethernet, fan control, etc. Super quiet unless all the GPUs are running full blast.

My laptop is a Surface Book. Again, it "just works". Plug in a monitor, share the desktop, sleep and wake.

And other vendors are getting better at not putting in crapware that breaks windows, like hard-to-uninstall 30-day trial versions that nag you, or silly "extra keys" or help software (IBM used to have a key that brought up an IBM help system that was completely useless--and it used to get pressed accidentally.)

I switched from Mac to Windows when Windows 10 came out and haven't looked back. It "just works."

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#402

Post by nickflood »

mikestew wrote: post #357
nkoren wrote: post #190

Meh. I bailed out of the Mac ecosystem last year, as my mid-2012 retina Macbook was finally getting too creaky, and the latest Mac hardware was a regression in many respects, while simultaneously utterly unaffordable. I'm now dual-booting Ubuntu/Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 15". What this experience has taught me is that computing in 2019 basically sucks. The problems with 2000-era Linux, as described in the article, are…

Windows 10 works marginally better. Both remain vastly inferior to MacOs. That's where I'm stuck. We're all-in at our house on Apple stuff. I'm no Windows hater per se, hell, I used to work at Microsoft and my wife still does. And there was a time that I'd say about Mac OS: "this is what an operating system should be". Oh, you most certainly disagree, but bear with me. I don't say that anymore. Too much half-assed sh…

If you'll decide to go with pre-2016 MacBook, find a Louis Rossmann video about what mac to buy. He repairs MacBooks for a long time and thus has a good idea about which model will serve you the longest. As I recall, his recommendation was to go with some 2014 model instead of 2015 because of some faults 2015s had. Of course, you'll need to weigh it against the performance differences between the two.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#403

Post by The_rationalist »

computerex wrote: post #355
newscracker wrote: post #337

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had a somewhat similar experience with Linux on an old Mac mini a few years ago. Too many things had to be fiddled with using config files and scripts. I had to resort to using a Magic Trackpad like a regular mouse. There was quite a bit missing "out of the box". I will admit that Linux has improved a lot over the years. But I find that macOS seems to be the one with a "batteries included" experience and is the lea…

I think the one annoying thing about Windows is the forced updates. Apple has started taking a leaf from Windows. A few weeks ago my system updated and asked to restart without giving me any choice of saying no.

This is necessary for security. Still you can trivially disable updates for a week or report them again and again.

What would be nice though is if they developed a live patching system like the modern Linux kernel allow which means: Windows partial updates without rebooting.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#404

Post by gimboland »

yawgmoth wrote: post #128
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…

Earlier this year I purchased a fairly pricey Asus laptop. A few months in the wireless card appeared to commit seppuku so I reinstalled the drivers, no dice, reinstalled windows, no dice and now my touchpad was broken. Every driver failed to affect any device, so I installed the latest Ubuntu and it all 'just worked', including the keyboard backlight. When I explained this to ASUS support they said the hardware must…

"Ostensibly" doesn't mean what you think it means here.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#405

Post by xtracto »

computerex wrote: post #212
darrmit wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I came here to say the same. I do have more issues with macOS than I did, say, 5 years ago. However, the constant Windows update cycle is a nightmare and Linux still can't seem to get battery life and things like Bluetooth (audio inputs, etc.) quite right, so I'm left with hoping that Apple gets their stuff back together. Operating system stability just seems to have declined in general in the last 3-5 years.

Have you tried using tlp/powertop? I'd say my battery life is pretty comparable to Windows after having done some optimizations using aforementioned tools.

As with the other comment saying "have you used X/Y command" it is funny, given the original article.

Someone should setup a list of all these "tricks" and non-standard "patches" that people have to use in Linux after installing it so that it works decently.

Nowadays my desktop PC is a Linux (Mint) one. I like it, and I use it for several things, including gaming. But I don't kid me, the usability is utter crap, and coming from a 25 year yourny with Linux, it is still playing catchup with regards to hardware control (audio, bluetooth, wifi, etc).

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#406

Post by vitaflo »

mikestew wrote: post #357
nkoren wrote: post #190

Meh. I bailed out of the Mac ecosystem last year, as my mid-2012 retina Macbook was finally getting too creaky, and the latest Mac hardware was a regression in many respects, while simultaneously utterly unaffordable. I'm now dual-booting Ubuntu/Windows 10 on a Dell XPS 15". What this experience has taught me is that computing in 2019 basically sucks. The problems with 2000-era Linux, as described in the article, are…

Windows 10 works marginally better. Both remain vastly inferior to MacOs. That's where I'm stuck. We're all-in at our house on Apple stuff. I'm no Windows hater per se, hell, I used to work at Microsoft and my wife still does. And there was a time that I'd say about Mac OS: "this is what an operating system should be". Oh, you most certainly disagree, but bear with me. I don't say that anymore. Too much half-assed sh…

To echo the others, I had a similar problem though I was on a 2011 MBP. Didn't want the new MBP so I bought the most pimped out 2015 model you could get, the one with the 2.8Ghz i7 CPU, AMD GPU and 1TB SSD. Also had a low battery cycle count (Plan to use this one for at least another 5 years. It's still plenty fast.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#407

Post by mikestew »

newscracker wrote: post #345
jonwinstanley wrote: post #264

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I grew up using Windows and after 20 years switched to Mac and could not believe I had waited for so long. What parts of Windows do you prefer over MacOS?

I prefer macOS over Windows, having used both for a long time. But one area where Windows has beaten macOS is keyboard shortcut support. I can use a Windows system and applications without a mouse and get many things done (including using a program like Paint.Net for image editing/manipulation). But macOS is inferior on this front, and it's quite difficult to use it if a trackpad or mouse isn't available. I know that…

While at Microsoft, I did a stint as an accessibility lead. No better way to find some accessibility bugs than to hide the mouse in a drawer for a few days. And you can do it, because if you can't, then you need file a bug. So I got pretty darned good at Windows keyboard shortcuts. As an aside, if you do public presentations, people will comment on the fact that you rarely touch the mouse. :-)

When I flipped to Mac, I tried the same thing: get those shortcuts down until the mouse isn't necessary. I've since given up, but IIRC, it can be done but it is a lot harder. For starters, it's broken out of the box because you have to set $SETTING to be able to Tab to some controls. The menu is accessed on Windows with the Alt key. On Mac, Cmd-Opt-F2. Screenshot? PrtScn versus Cmd-Opt-Shift...something, I never can remember.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#408

Post by nkoren »

geerlingguy wrote: post #249
mattigames wrote: post #222

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Opinions are a funny thing, I find MacOs vastly inferior to Windows, but I grew up with Windows so I'm biased that way; I'm betting you and people claiming 'the good old days of mac' are biased too.

There were periods where the outlook and software quality was bleak... and there were periods where the outlook and software quality was amazing. Right now is not anywhere near as bad as it’s been a few times in the past (pre-OS X, early OS X days especially)... but if someone doesn’t turn around the ship things are headed that way currently.

Ironically, in those days I was at my OS happiest. I'd built a multi-core BeOS monster, and felt like I was a decade ahead of the rest of the world.

Two decades later, and I still can't find as performant or useable a system as that.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#409

Post by tasogare »

AsyncAwait wrote: post #129
tasogare wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I installed Catalina for Sidecar, only to discover the feature wasn’t supported on the 2015 MBP.

Not ideal, but http://dev.zeppel.eu/luca/SidecarCorePatch might help, apparently it works on the release version too.

I tried already. The image quality is not worth using the feature.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#410

Post by computerex »

The_rationalist wrote: post #403
computerex wrote: post #355

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the one annoying thing about Windows is the forced updates. Apple has started taking a leaf from Windows. A few weeks ago my system updated and asked to restart without giving me any choice of saying no.

This is necessary for security. Still you can trivially disable updates for a week or report them again and again. What would be nice though is if they developed a live patching system like the modern Linux kernel allow which means: Windows partial updates without rebooting.

No operating system should update against the user's wishes. And this time the system didn't give me an option to delay, it simply let me know that it's about to restart and that I better save my work.
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