Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#11

Post by elliottcarlson » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:32 PM UTC

rabc wrote: post #9

Almost all new technologies (NoSQL, node.js, etcs) are running primarily on Unix, so Mac is better if you don't want/like to deal with Linux style and at the same time need an Unix environment to run and debug systems with this technologies. And a personal opinion: don't ask me exactly why, but I do prefer coding on Mac rather on Windows.

I can accept this to an extent - I have our environment set up with virtual machines running replicas of our production environment mostly to ensure that code will work once moved in to production - this let's my dev team work platform agnostic while maintaining the reliability of code consistency.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#12

Post by elliottcarlson » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:35 PM UTC

geophile wrote: post #3

Of course it doesn't matter. That's a job perk. It also helps shape the applicant pool in desirable ways, I think. If I'm doing the hiring, and you really prefer developing code in a Windows environment over any kind of Unix (which includes Mac), then that's one strike against you.

I would never hold an environment against a developer - the talent is what matters most to me, and turning someone down because of that seems foolish to me.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#13

Post by jdietrich » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 4:58 PM UTC

"Mac of your choice" is perhaps shorthand for "we give developers good hardware", but I think in the case of Harvest it's a cultural thing.

I'm a Mac fan, in large part because Apple hardware embodies what I consider good design - quality materials, elegance through simplicity and a general drive towards purity of form. Harvest describe themselves as a "design and technology company" and have a clear sense of how their work ought to look and feel. I would be apprehensive about hiring someone who didn't like Macs because it is likely that we would strongly disagree on basic tenets of design. For the same reason that fashion houses judge job applicants based on what they wear, I wouldn't trust the judgement of a developer or designer who would choose to use a Dell or HP machine.

Don't get me wrong, if I'm looking for an admin then I'm hiring the guy with a Lenovo x201s running Ubuntu every day of the week, for exactly the same reasons - your preferences say something about what you consider important. I want to hire front-end designers who can't bear for one second to sit on a bad chair in front of an ugly computer and I want to hire admins that wear utility belts and write device drivers for fun.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#14

Post by rabc » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 5:01 PM UTC

elliottcarlson wrote: post #11

rabc wrote: post #9

Almost all new technologies (NoSQL, node.js, etcs) are running primarily on Unix, so Mac is better if you don't want/like to deal with Linux style and at the same time need an Unix environment to run and debug systems with this technologies. And a personal opinion: don't ask me exactly why, but I do prefer coding on Mac rather on Windows.

I can accept this to an extent - I have our environment set up with virtual machines running replicas of our production environment mostly to ensure that code will work once moved in to production - this let's my dev team work platform agnostic while maintaining the reliability of code consistency.

Yes, this is a good solution.

But once I worked this way, and everyone was using the same VM. It was a mess and painful slow.

I think the better option is have the best of both worlds: a VM to make final tests, when needed, and let your developer choose the best environment.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#15

Post by bendmorris » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 5:19 PM UTC

Tycho wrote: post #8

If we're not talking a large number of machines, then I've always thought Macs would be a good choice simply for the lack of virus/security threats alone. Never really seen that expressed though.

PC doesn't necessarily imply Windows. You could get the same security benefits out of a PC running Linux.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#16

Post by clojurerocks » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 5:32 PM UTC

rabc wrote: post #9

Almost all new technologies (NoSQL, node.js, etcs) are running primarily on Unix, so Mac is better if you don't want/like to deal with Linux style and at the same time need an Unix environment to run and debug systems with this technologies. And a personal opinion: don't ask me exactly why, but I do prefer coding on Mac rather on Windows.

I am a developer and ran linux for many years. Unfortunately my system died a year ago and i ended up going with a windows laptop due to cost. I can definitely say that windows is a pain to develop with for exactly the reason you mention. Many of the most popular tools today are built on unix and windows doesnt support many of them unless you use cygwin which i prefer not to. With Mac you get a nice interface and unix system underneath.

Also ive been getting into mobile development and being that im on windows i cant develop for iphone or ipad which is frustrating. If i had a Mac i could do everything.

Plus Mac does have a style to it that is more developer friendly and designer friendly. Its kind of like how Starbucks used to be or maybe still is. You got Starbucks because it had a vibe to it.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#17

Post by badmash69 » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 5:50 PM UTC

It matters in the context of scaling the enterprise and not individual. A lone wolf programmer could use whatever rig and be productive.

In a large team environment, meetings have to be scheduled ( Outlook+ Exchange), SRS documents have to be changed and tracked ( Word), shared ( dropbox/ sharepoint) etc. etc. Having a PC enables everyone to work well in a large groups without management thinking very hard about issues like systemes integration etc. You could say that individual choice is sacrificed for the greater good --- team productivity.

With VMware , everyone can get their own Linux or Solaris based test environment.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#18

Post by SerpentJoe » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 6:38 PM UTC

bendmorris wrote: post #15

Tycho wrote: post #8

If we're not talking a large number of machines, then I've always thought Macs would be a good choice simply for the lack of virus/security threats alone. Never really seen that expressed though.

PC doesn't necessarily imply Windows. You could get the same security benefits out of a PC running Linux.

What DOES the term PC imply? I don't mean to try to get at a sensible a priori definition of "PC" - I'm aware that as far as the world is concerned they're just branding terms used by Apple. But where the delineation is obvious when we're considering nothing except Windows and Mac OS, it gets greyer when we consider Linux, BSD and so on. Could I have some hardware custom built, and write my own operating system for it, and call it a personal computer that's not a PC, or does only Apple have that power?

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#19

Post by Tycho » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 8:22 PM UTC

SerpentJoe wrote: post #18

bendmorris wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

PC doesn't necessarily imply Windows. You could get the same security benefits out of a PC running Linux.

What DOES the term PC imply? I don't mean to try to get at a sensible a priori definition of "PC" - I'm aware that as far as the world is concerned they're just branding terms used by Apple. But where the delineation is obvious when we're considering nothing except Windows and Mac OS, it gets greyer when we consider Linux, BSD and so on. Could I have some hardware custom built, and write my own operating system for i…

I don't think anybody referred to Acorn Computers as PCs (so, no, not only Apple).

PC means different things according to the context, but the main ones are

a) IBM-compatible PC. Which means Windows/MS-DOS.

b) Personal computer, which means Mac

The 'I'm a PC' advertising campaign, while quite entertaining, seems a bit outdated now IMO. Probably because compatibility issues aren't much of a headache these days for Mac/PC owners, who primarily just go on Facebook and check their email. Seems weird that Windows users would still think of themselves as 'PC' people.

Re: Ask HN: Mac or PC - why does it matter?

#20

Post by NiloParedes » Fri, Jan 21, 2011, 9:35 PM UTC

buro9 wrote: post #5

Hardware and OS choices tend to follow technology choices already made. These can be related to the languages in use, some languages will dictate setup (.Net will be Windows, iOS will be Mac). If language doesn't dictate it, then whatever is most commonly in use already is normally continued. There's not much point in having every developer use their own bespoke setup as you want to spin up dev environments quickly t…

Definitely agree with you. I would add that choice is quite often made by the technology leadership which of course is a corollary to the technology choices already made. One last point, I will make is that cost factors in at some point. The interesting thing about cost, though, is it is often seen through two different prisms: upfront cost (which may may Macs more expensive) and total cost of ownership (which may be the Windows PC.)