Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop • Hacker News Board

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#381

Post by antod » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:26 AM UTC

galkk wrote: post #176

jeswin wrote: post #142

If you're complaining about Linux drivers please do so after using a Laptop that supports Linux (Thinkpads for example). Just like it wouldn't be fair to complain about macOS on a Hackintosh - sound didn't work well and had to patch the DSDT. > but there are rough edges for the power user. > I am an extreme power user, ... > In the end, I was able to replicate most of my macOS power tools setup via input hooks and sh…

I own Thinkpad X1 extreme, that I bought with my own money, and chose as working laptop Thinkpad Carbon. Both are not working well with linux. 1. Carbon, due to it's intel chip, can not drive 4K and 2K external monitors via thunderbolt adapter. 2. I need to authorize dock (Lenovo's thunderbolt dock) after every reboot. 3. The screen tearing sucks. 4. I need to have pulse audio volume control window opened all the tim…

I was having huge flaky thunderbolt problems on my Linux T490 - even updating the laptop firmware didn't fix it despite Lenovo changelogs indicating a bunch of thunderbolt dock bugs fixed.

Then I swapped the Lenovo thunderbolt dock with another one at work and everything just worked fine. I run 3 monitors (2 external 2560x1440) at once, but no 4k.

Maybe it was dock firmware versions - the Lenovo dock updater software was Windows only, so I had never tried it.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#382

Post by freebuju » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

watermelon0 wrote: post #363

shaan7 wrote: post #269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Either provide a list so people know exactly what to buy, or all complaints are valid. Sure, these are two devices I have recently used with Linux that work out of the box: Dell XPS 13 ThinkPad T14s Or more generally, you can extend that to any ThinkPad or Dell device without a dedicated graphics card and you will have a good Linux experience. OP somehow has issues on XPS 13, probably due to meddling with too many…

I have XPS 9380, and it's far from ideal: - when using external display, video tearing would be visible either on internal or external display - Xorg doesn't really support different scaling for different displays, and Wayland has other issues - battery life is shorter than on Windows - graphics performance is worse, at least in Firefox/Chrome (smooth animations on Windows would be choppy on Linux) - touchpad is not…

Video tearing could be because of xorg. Try Wayland with HW decode, you have to manually enable it. Both chrome & Firefox support this now.

My experience is different from yours. With Wayland I had smoother graphics than xorg.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#383

Post by _9rq6 » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

jek0 wrote: post #125

akra wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People state consistent shortcut mapping is an advantage of using Mac but after 2 years of being required to use a Macbook Pro I'm not really sure about that - often they are more complicated IMO. I still miss built in Linux and Windows key mappings. For example Windows + Left to move the window on the left side of screen for side by side apps on the same screen. Great for remote demo's and coding sessions. Ctrl + Sh…

On a mac I can't live without "Magnet" [1]. It lets you do organize your windows in half/thirds of screens with simple keystrokes. That should be part of the OS. [1] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/magnet/id441258766?mt=12

I used Magnet extensively when I used a mac. There is no linux equivalent.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#384

Post by fallingknife » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:27 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #368

From someone who tends to try this switch about once a year (because the lack of TLC the Mac was getting in the last 5 or so years was getting very very worrying - M1 feels like Apple actually care about the Mac again), I agree with a lot of these pain points. My biggest personal issues end up being (and these are super subjective!): - Preview on macOS is great and no other OS has anything remotely equivalent. First…

Preview is awesome! My favorite feature is splitting up and combining PDF's by dragging and dropping the pages.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#385

Post by kaba0 » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:28 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #328

tumblewit wrote: post #321

As someone who is comfortable with linux and macOS and also someone who used an M1 MBA here is my take because this article does not do justice to each of the platform pros and cons: 1. The M1 Macs are amazing. If you are the kind of person who needs a GUI and involves lot of app related work go for it. (this person seems more interested in stuff like that so linux ain’t gonna cut it for him). The cons? A super restr…

for 1. The cons? A super restrictive platform (even more than it was under intel) You can still boot arbitrary unsigned OSes - Apple still allows this, but it is obviously going to take time for other OSes to grow support for apple's custom hardware. So it's still a computer you can control if you want. for 2., wayland is still a very rough experience imo (I periodically try it on an all-intel system, which ought to…

What compositor did you try for wayland?

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#386

Post by akra » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:30 AM UTC

dmitriid wrote: post #136

Fire-Dragon-DoL wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used a macbook for 2 years and the key binding is definitely less consistent than windows or linux. If nothing something as important as word navigation and word selection (ctrl+arrows and ctrl+shift+ arrows on linux and windows), is located in different modifiers (can't remember which), something along the lines of: move with command+arrow and select with option+shift+arrows. Drives me crazy every time, given that…

Option + arrows: move by word Option + Shift + arrows: select by word Cmd + arrows: move to the end of the line Cmd + Shift + arrows: select to the end of the line Additionally you can still use the decades old Ctrl+A/Ctrl+E shortcuts almost everywhere (some custom text input reimplementations ignore this).

But of course on a Win/Linux system you rarely need to use three fingers at once. On mac this is all too common for even the basic tasks you state.

Shift + End: Select to the end of the line Home + End: Select to the beginning of the line Home or End: Move to beginning or end of line respectively.

What's worse is when I plug in a keyboard with Home and End buttons on a recent Macbook Pro they still don't work. Do I need another plugin for that? Even if I do personally I don't find the Mac keyboard shortcuts better than Linux/Windows. Tbh after using Mac for 2 years running now every day at work I still don't quite get how people find it easier - I still wish personally for a Linux or even Windows machine to speed up my productivity.

And that's because people prefer what they are familiar with them - the mental leap to jump to another way of working for most people isn't pleasant and isn't really worth the investment. Mac still feels like a "second language" to me just as Linux must feel to mac users - I'm always translating it back to "how do I do this Linux/Windows thing" in Mac. In the end Linux, Windows, and Mac are perfectly capable OS'es and the differences is marginal between them which makes switching difficult. But I do prefer my Linux machine these days - more just comes out of the box.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#387

Post by freebuju » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:31 AM UTC

caslon wrote: post #221

2muchcoffeeman wrote: post #167

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're complaining about Linux drivers please do so after using a Laptop that supports Linux (Thinkpads for example). So I Googled “laptops supported by Linux”. There is no official site. Ubuntu has a page. But it’s not on the first page of results. I only know about it because I’m familiar with it. Supporters keeps arguing people should jump through hoops. I’m on Linux right now, but people have better things to…

Not to give an argument along the lines of "You're holding it wrong," but...okay, yeah, I'm going to do that. You hold a gun in one way. If you mess that up in any fashion, you probably won't hit what you're trying to, and, worse, might shoot yourself. Saying things like "There is no official site" is holding Linux wrong. Linux isn't an operating system. Linux is just a kernel. So phrase your search the right way: "l…

> I don't normally use Google, but just for you, I checked on it: It even has an easy-answers page.

It was at this point that this troll immediately turned tasteless like chewed up sugarcane.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#388

Post by masswerk » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:32 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #368

From someone who tends to try this switch about once a year (because the lack of TLC the Mac was getting in the last 5 or so years was getting very very worrying - M1 feels like Apple actually care about the Mac again), I agree with a lot of these pain points. My biggest personal issues end up being (and these are super subjective!): - Preview on macOS is great and no other OS has anything remotely equivalent. First…

> I'm far too used to the macOS touchpad gestures

It's a bit ironic that the Mac is now the epicenter of multi-touch, while its use on mobile platforms has seen some of a decline.

Also, I full-heartedly consent to the praise of Preview.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#389

Post by popeathlete » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:36 AM UTC

minimaul wrote: post #368

From someone who tends to try this switch about once a year (because the lack of TLC the Mac was getting in the last 5 or so years was getting very very worrying - M1 feels like Apple actually care about the Mac again), I agree with a lot of these pain points. My biggest personal issues end up being (and these are super subjective!): - Preview on macOS is great and no other OS has anything remotely equivalent. First…

No offense, but this largely reads to me like "I don't wanna use Linux because I wanna use Mac". If you want to move to a different system, you can't expect to get the same thing. Really, the only complaints I can agree with now are 2 and 3, the rest is just invalid. You've got kdeconnect gsconnect nextcloud keepassxc many, many configurable mail clients, especially the beatiful, integrated kmail and their whole PIM suite, Okular has all three features you mentioned. You just have to put in a bit of work, it's a DIY system after all.

Re: Fed up with the Mac, I spent six months with a Linux laptop

#390

Post by freebuju » Sat, Apr 03, 2021, 10:37 AM UTC

shp0ngle wrote: post #379

jeswin wrote: post #142

If you're complaining about Linux drivers please do so after using a Laptop that supports Linux (Thinkpads for example). Just like it wouldn't be fair to complain about macOS on a Hackintosh - sound didn't work well and had to patch the DSDT. > but there are rough edges for the power user. > I am an extreme power user, ... > In the end, I was able to replicate most of my macOS power tools setup via input hooks and sh…

I still remember when I bought a laptop officially preloaded with Ubuntu. And the minute I did software update there, everything broke. (Because it was using some binary graphic driver that broke with newer kernel.) I could not even use the computer after that, only the console. I needed to reinstall old ubuntu in order to get my data. Never again

Blame the vendor who shipped you proprietary graphics drivers.