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One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

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Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#21
t470s currently but have been using linux and thinkpads since the mid/late 90s.

Battery life isn't great agree. My solution currently is a USB-C portable battery which I get an additional full laptop charge. In the past x220 and t60(p) were favourite models.

Other annoyance (still!) is sleep seems to work on certain kernels and not on others.

Was on ubuntu forever but slowly may move back to debian as I don't like snap packages.

Mouse is Logitech MX Anywhere 2S

Only suggestion currently on getting an laptop is usb-c, ips screen, nvme drive and lots of ram. In fact the CPU doesn't matter much. I used the x series for a decade but now moved to t series and they have gotten lighter and are good value.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#22
post #4

> Can't debug issues in Safari without borrowing a Mac > Can't do iOS development Not legally , no. These can be worked around with a VM, just like with the Windows issue. It sucks, but Apple is never going to support their development toolchain on any other platform. All in all, I think this is a pretty positive review for an "I switched to Linux" blog post. Usually they're more negative about the lack of finish a l…

You can also rent a full Mac mini from MacStadium and access it via VNC/SSH if you need. For ongoing projects though, where you don't need the hosting aspect, it would be cheaper to just buy a used Mac.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#23

Cool. I'm running Linux on a Dell Vostro I purchased during their quarterly business sale as my daily driver -- I can't believe the machine I got for the price, and strongly encourage people to look at these sales.. How big of an issue is it to target iOS as a platform on a PC these days with the rise of Flutter, etc? I'm looking to get into app development, but don't have a Mac, nor would I like to buy one if I can…

A Mac is required to build to an actual device or Simulator. You'll definitely want that to test out any device specific differences.

You can count on the framework to abstract away big significant parts of your app (business logic, UI) but some of the nuances you will probably have to tweak yourself. Launcher icons, handling notches, device specific features, and other weird oddities.

At least in the React Native community, you can often get away with building to the device only once every native dependency change. This becomes a better experience with Expo though

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#24
post #19

I love Thinkpads and I love Linux. My current "daily driver" laptop is an old X220T from 2011, which is a tablet hybrid (including touchscreen and Wacom pen/digitizer). I don't use it because of nostalgia or a love for retro computers, I use it because it's still an excellent experience all these years later. No modern laptop in the current price range can beat it. I don't know if that's because the build quality was…

X220 here; they are great. Battery life, performance (for what I do) etc are lovely almost 11 years after production.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#25

> Touchpad is not close to Mac I'm using l390 and the touchpad feels good for me. Never use mac, does mac's touchpad is considerably better? EDIT: formatting

I love Thinkpads and am not a fan of Apple computers, but nothing beats a Macbook's touchpad.

Except, of course, the track point.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#26
post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, Mac touchpads are light years ahead of any other trackpad. I believe this is because they control both, the hardware and the software side of it. For me this is the only reason holding me from moving too.

I never really got this argument, what exactly is stopping a manufacturer from writing a great trackpad driver?

I have heard and read in reviews that Microsoft has more or less nailed the touchpad in Surface laptops. So definitely there is scope.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#27
I used to use Thinkpads until I decided to switch when the Lenovo Superfish thing happened more-or-less in conjunction with the sharp decline in keyboard quality. In terms of reliability and compatibility they were always very solid, and I got great price/performance results by buying last-year's top of the line models second-hand and then maxing out whatever could be upgraded (memory + disk) from there.

After that I switched to Dell XPS 13s starting with the 9350, buying new. There was an initial issue with the WiFi adapter being unsupported (as I recall the `developer edition` with Ubuntu supported was more expensive but also had a better supported WiFi card) which initially required me to build a custom kernel module (I think? It was a while ago) but support appeared very soon after in mainline Linux. Subsequently I've had no major compatibility issues - except that support for multiple monitors where the laptop is HiDPI but the external monitors aren't is very poor (the Thinkpads I owned weren't HiDPI - I don't think this is a Dell issue). Edit: Battery life is mediocre on all the XPS models I've had.

Just lately I've been using a work-issued Dell Latitude 7490. I'm enjoying this a lot. Support is solid, the screen isn't HiDPI so multi-monitor usage is fine, its battery life is good enough to get me through a working day without plugging in (sometimes I don't even notice I haven't plugged in), and it has plenty of ports (including USB C, HDMI, and Ethernet).

I've used Macs on and off in the workplace but couldn't get used to them. If I needed to do CAD, Graphic Design, or other things where open source software doesn't cut the mustard I guess I'd go for a Mac, but happily I just don't need to these days (the broad move to Web apps helped a LOT, particularly the move to GSuite for a lot of stuff that would previously have required MS Office).

Just my 2¢.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#28
post #4

> Can't debug issues in Safari without borrowing a Mac > Can't do iOS development Not legally , no. These can be worked around with a VM, just like with the Windows issue. It sucks, but Apple is never going to support their development toolchain on any other platform. All in all, I think this is a pretty positive review for an "I switched to Linux" blog post. Usually they're more negative about the lack of finish a l…

For debugging issues in Safari, Browserstack should be good enough.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#29
post #3

I am also running Linux on Thinkpad (Debian unstable on T440s). As to the battery life, this typically requires some work but I found it is generally possible to get good battery life. I am able to get my T440s to run for total 24 hours with the highest option 9-cell, the built in 3-cell and another 3-cell that came original with the laptop. This I did to be able to work on a long yacht cruise with no extra power and…

The T450 touchpad is compatible with the T440s and has real buttons. Should be a few bucks on ebay. See my question in this thread.

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21316263

ps, Love my T440s also.

I would like two-finger horiz scroll to work better however, especially the swipe for "back" gesture. Somewhere a few months back was a comment about the XInput team comprising one overloaded guy needing help. I mess with stuff like "synclient HorizScrollDelta" but it really needs acceleration detection to trigger the gesture, not scroll.

pps: it's libinput: https://bill.harding.blog/2020/06/22/linux-touchpad-project-...

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#30
post #3

I am also running Linux on Thinkpad (Debian unstable on T440s). As to the battery life, this typically requires some work but I found it is generally possible to get good battery life. I am able to get my T440s to run for total 24 hours with the highest option 9-cell, the built in 3-cell and another 3-cell that came original with the laptop. This I did to be able to work on a long yacht cruise with no extra power and…

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