Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

nibblestew.blogspot.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

521–530 of 712 posts

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#521

Post by zerkten »

rayiner wrote: post #325
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…

Yes. My 2012 retina MacBook was getting long in the tooth last year, so I got an X1 Carbon with all the bells and whistles. Remarkably, the on board LTE just plain never worked. (It would randomly die after a few uses requiring a hard reboot.) The screen bezel delaminated and has to be replaced. Developed three dead pixels after a few months of use. Recently started rebooting randomly with a full battery. My dad had…

> So many apps are not DPI aware.

This is something that Microsoft were highlighting to Win32 and WinForms developers long before HiDPI screens became commonplace. Unfortunately, it's only recently that the API support has been fleshed out. Compare Windows 10 (https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/hidpi/high-dp...) with Windows XP to Windows 8.1 support (https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/dn469266(v=vs.71)).

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#522

Post by pfranz »

boudewijnrempt wrote: post #420
rjzzleep wrote: post #378

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I still maintain that the problem is the UI toolkits. The mac ecosystem now has _multiple_ viable indesign and photoshop alternatives. AppKit, Cocoa, UIKit and all those frameworks gradually added all the features third party app developers hacked into their own UI libraries. GTK is something developers frequently curse about and theme developers frequently abandon because the gnome team keeps breaking their themes.…

And if you use the Apple toolkits, you lose around 95% of your potential market. For my project, Krita, made with Qt (not QT, Qt...), 90% of downloads are Windows, 7% Linux, 3% macOS. And since Apple seems hell-bent on making people share-croppers in their walled garden with asinine things like Metal, and notarizing and all that, well, in a year or two, it might be 0%, and I'll be fine with that.

I would think that 3% is because there are other viable alternatives. Personally, I've paid for Pixelmator and Acorn on macOS because my needs are more about cropping, adding text, file format, levels, or color space changes--those apps seemed to pop up quickly and had features like hardware acceleration before Photoshop because they leaned on Apple's APIs. My industry is still heavily invested in Photoshop, so I'm already familiar with it and I don't have much of a need for digital painting.

For digital painting I usually suggest people check out something like Krita or Affinity (they are already aware of Photoshop). I just don't have much firsthand experience with them since I felt like my needs were met with other software.

Sidenote: After actually downloading Krita it is more Photoshop-like than expected. I'll check it out as a replacement for myself. There's also been a huge, but very rare, need for Photoshop at my job (we use Linux) which has always been a problem (usually in modifying textures where Nuke isn't a good fit). The current plan was to try and find a CS6 license and either dual-boot Windows or use WINE or to buy Elements. Gimp was always too much to ask of them. I'll see if Krita fits that need.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#524

Post by pfranz »

deltron3030 wrote: post #519
boudewijnrempt wrote: post #420

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And if you use the Apple toolkits, you lose around 95% of your potential market. For my project, Krita, made with Qt (not QT, Qt...), 90% of downloads are Windows, 7% Linux, 3% macOS. And since Apple seems hell-bent on making people share-croppers in their walled garden with asinine things like Metal, and notarizing and all that, well, in a year or two, it might be 0%, and I'll be fine with that.

Many digital painters seem to have moved to the iPad and apps like Procreate which can be had for a few bucks. I also find eInk hardware like the Remarkable tablet and the like interesting, they run on Linux. Have you thought about a standalone tablet that runs only Krita? Even if it's only black/white, having the tools from Krita on a device like that would be killer.

That mirrors my experience with hobbyists. My wife doesn't like using a Wacom and we could never warrant a Cintiq. So she uses Procreate on a tablet. It's also kind of hard to get her to try new stuff because the little time she has to draw she wants to spend time drawing.

For people who do it for their job, they're willing to invest in the hardware and software. I can't speak directly to painting software, but in my industry people really cling to the software they know or the rest of the industry uses. It's an uphill battle even if the software is better or cheaper to get adoption.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#525

Post by fragmede »

darrmit wrote: post #195
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…

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.

What Linux has gotten right (on my hardware), is wake from suspend. That laptop never has problems with that. What's frustrating, is my work MBP laptop, can't seem to reliably wake from sleep (inc using my external monitor).

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#526

Post by furst »

esotericn wrote: post #352
taurath wrote: post #338

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I tend to feel like there’s already enough roadblocks in the way to get things done. I used to tinker around with my OSs but now I want them out of the way to a large extent.

Unfortunately no-one provides what I consider to be a sane default. I'm fairly happy with what I have. I add the odd alias to my dotfiles and a few things I pick up but for the most part I've had my config for half a decade or so now. By contrast I could never figure out how to like, get Windows to fuck off with the telemetry ads bullshit. It always felt like I would disable it and then behind my back some randoservi…

For what it's worth, I've had a lot of success with the Tron script[1] for getting rid of Windows Bloat. It disables a ton of garbage via Registry Keys which windows is much less likely to overwrite. It can be a little aggressive on some stuff like blocking your microphone from working in any app (easily fixable) but I'd rather have it that way than having to uninstall Candy Crush once a week.

[1]https://github.com/bmrf/tron

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#527

Post by computerex »

The_rationalist wrote: post #437
computerex wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sometimes people must be protected from themselves. Still, windows should allow you to delay it many times until forcing you, it's a shame it doesn't.

I was talking about OSX. I think operating systems should make it very clear to the users what critical updates need to be installed, but they shouldn't force users to update against their will and interrupt their workflow. Something like this:

> These critical security updates are essential for continuing safe and secure operation of your computer!

> Critical security update x: allows an attacker to take control of your PC

> Critical security update y: ....

> Critical security update z: ....

In the U.S at least we give people personal liberties over much more serious matters such as allowing people to refuse care in a medical context. The health of someone's personal PC is nothing next to that.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#528

Post by pfranz »

vocatus_gate wrote: post #460
augstein wrote: post #374

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just get a 2015 MBP. These are the last ones with MagSafe and more than Thunderbolt 3 ports.

Why did Apple ever remove MagSafe? Makes no sense to me.

I understand why they did--but I also think keeping magsafe would have been fine, too. When I looked for non-Mac alternatives my criteria was; no proprietary connector, either magsafe-like (like the Surface) or USB-C.

I really really wish they didn't ditch all of the other nice stuff when they ditched magsafe. They got rid of the external battery charge level indicator, the light showing if it's charging, etc. A few times now I've woken up expecting a charged laptop but the cable was loose or not plugged in on the other side (and I missed the sound). It's really awkward to open the lid and wake it up to see how fully charged it is or if it has finished charging. Minor details like those were what I liked about using a Mac.

They do have third-party USB-C cables with LEDs, but since they're passive (just looking at current traveling through the cable) I've heard they're not always correct. I'm curious, but skeptical, of the USB-C cables with the magsafe-like breakoff.

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#529

Post by alexis_fr »

jamesponddotco wrote: post #432
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…

Been using macOS and Ubuntu for years now, and while I try to make Ubuntu my primary operating system so I can ditch my slow MacBook Air 2018, I always end up going back to it. Look, I love Ubuntu. Heck, I am a recognized Ubuntu Member, was the leader of the LoCo Team for my country for a while, helped a few universities in my state switch to Ubuntu from Windows, have a plaque signed by Mark Shuttleworth acknowledgin…

What do you think about PopOS, based on Ubuntu, from System76, seems like they’ve polished it, haven’t they?

Re: Apple of 2019 is the Linux of 2000

#530

Post by SanchoPanda »

The_rationalist wrote: post #437
computerex wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Sometimes people must be protected from themselves. Still, windows should allow you to delay it many times until forcing you, it's a shame it doesn't.

I agree this is the logic behind this situation - but sometimes, I want to use the Hole-Hawg to do the thing I want it to do. I am uncomfortable with losing that freedom.

Further, there have been some updates labelled "security" such as in Windows 7, which were actually telemetry. I think the ability to do mandatory updates skewed the perspective of the team behind them as to what constitutes security (eg: this telemtry will help us catch dangerous work flows which do need a fix of some kind!). IMHO, when you take away users autonomy, you make them into the dumb users you fear.

Post reply on HN