"Just works" is too easy when you write the software and manufacture the hardware it will run on. Linux distros face the challenge of hardware compatibility. You can't even compare a heavily modfied BSD kernel with a modern day distro and say it "just works".
Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
111–120 of 157 posts
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#112There is a piece missing. Apple controls its product end-to-end, including HW. If a linux distro would specify a default HW for which the distro is optimized, then they could be at the same level that IOS.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#113Earlier quoted context omitted.
And even then they struggle. macOS has plenty of bugs. It’s nowhere near as stable or reliable as say IOS.
They're pushing too many new features every year and the switch to ARM must have been a huge rewrite on top of that.. Really don't envy the pressure those devs must be under.
90% of new MacOS are in their bundled applications and not in the OS itself.
Arm and x86 is probably a huge pain though.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#114To people commenting how "well if you install Linux the right way on the right hardware like this here purpose-built laptop, it also 'just works'", what the OP is trying to underline isn't just the technical aspect of the OS booting flawlessly and recognizing its periphery, but also the whole experience that comes after. One special part of this, which is easily overseen, is the fact that Apple has poured hundreds of…
> HIG (human interface guidelines) studies, which is something no other vendor has bothered themselves with. Many platforms (including KDE and Gnome) have UI design guidelines. https://usabilitygeek.com/usability-user-experience-user-int... lists some.
Writing a guideline is not quite the same as investing several million in the development and testing of proven-effective design. Back in the day Apple did the right thing and rigorously tested its design hypotheses: there was a specific, fact-based reason behind each important gui design choice beyond “it looks good.”
I say back in the day, because IMO Apple no longer makes purposeful UI design choices. For instance, the iOS browser window-closer in the shrunken-windows view of open tabs, has its close button on the right. Every other close button is on the left. Apple has lost the f’ing plot.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#115I dunno, I'm forced to use Mac OS and I find it a pain in the ass. You might think it "just works" and you "don't have to configure it" but there's a ton of stuff I'd like to be able to configure, but can't. Recently, I wanted to connect multiple VPNs (work, different data centers) and selectively resolve DNS queries / route traffic, but it doesn't seem possible without a lot of work. I'm not crazy on the app-switche…
> Also, why the hell can't I just click on the path and type the path I want?
Dunno about that but you can command-key to get a filepath dialog. Splat-G(oto), iirc.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#116As many are already saying, it pretty much depends on hardware. If you carefully select it, you won't have much issues at all with a distribution like Ubuntu, which actually lists "certified" hardware here: https://ubuntu.com/certified I recently installed Ubuntu on a certified Dell Precision and was impressed how smooth that went, even with stuff like full disc encryption, secure boot, docking station support, NVidi…
It's the same with MacOS. It runs best on carefully selected hardware (i.e., you will have difficulty running MacOS on a Dell)
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#117If you have the right hardware, most Linux distros "just work" out of the box. I've deliberately bought Dell XPS machines for work because of this.
But I've also been helping older neighbours and friends gain or maintain connectivity by installing Linux for them on other hardware, and my experience has been that the "just works" label applies in most cases.
Worst case there will be a single module that requires an additional hardware-specific package, most commonly the wireless card. The problem many moves to Linux encounter is that the device being migrating is the only device on hand apart from a phone, so when the newly migrated machine won't connect to the internet there's no way of easily identifying and downloading the driver or extension needed.
I have migrated laptops which have multiple pain points, and it can be problematic. But, so far, I've not encountered a device where Linux won't "just work" once these initial pain points have been mitigated with the appropriate driver or package.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#118Earlier quoted context omitted.
> HIG (human interface guidelines) studies, which is something no other vendor has bothered themselves with. Many platforms (including KDE and Gnome) have UI design guidelines. https://usabilitygeek.com/usability-user-experience-user-int... lists some.
Writing a guideline is not quite the same as investing several million in the development and testing of proven-effective design. Back in the day Apple did the right thing and rigorously tested its design hypotheses: there was a specific, fact-based reason behind each important gui design choice beyond “it looks good.” I say back in the day, because IMO Apple no longer makes purposeful UI design choices. For instance…
Sun did tons of research on Gnome usability.
Microsoft did tons of research on MS Office, for example to design the ribbon.
I also am not sure having that iOS button on the top right is bad. It’s inconsistent, yes, but when that screen opens, your finger is at the top right of the screen. Putting them in the top right corner moves them closest to your finger. I don’t know whether it is, but Fitt’s law predicts that’s the better choice.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#119To people commenting how "well if you install Linux the right way on the right hardware like this here purpose-built laptop, it also 'just works'", what the OP is trying to underline isn't just the technical aspect of the OS booting flawlessly and recognizing its periphery, but also the whole experience that comes after. One special part of this, which is easily overseen, is the fact that Apple has poured hundreds of…
> HIG (human interface guidelines) studies, which is something no other vendor has bothered themselves with. Many platforms (including KDE and Gnome) have UI design guidelines. https://usabilitygeek.com/usability-user-experience-user-int... lists some.
> HIG (human interface guidelines) studies, which is something no other vendor has bothered themselves with.
Let's not forget that Apple's HIG brought us 'column view' in the Finder, where icons actually slide away from your mouse, when you click on them... Or Preview where, if you select 100 PDFs and double click on them, will now open them as 100 separate documents, rather than as 'pages' within a single document, as used to be the case... or Quicktime [and Preview?] where you sometimes move a document with a conventional open/save dialogue but sometimes have to do it through a popup, accessed by clicking the name in the window titlebar.
Yes, OSX is a hundred times more consistent than any Linux distro --which often feel like the UI was designed by several separate teams who never met or compared notes-- but it's not without its own piss-poor design decisions.
Re: Ask HN: Why is there no Linux distro that “just works” like macOS?
#120Earlier quoted context omitted.
Writing a guideline is not quite the same as investing several million in the development and testing of proven-effective design. Back in the day Apple did the right thing and rigorously tested its design hypotheses: there was a specific, fact-based reason behind each important gui design choice beyond “it looks good.” I say back in the day, because IMO Apple no longer makes purposeful UI design choices. For instance…
Sun did tons of research on Gnome usability. Microsoft did tons of research on MS Office, for example to design the ribbon. I also am not sure having that iOS button on the top right is bad. It’s inconsistent, yes, but when that screen opens, your finger is at the top right of the screen. Putting them in the top right corner moves them closest to your finger. I don’t know whether it is, but Fitt’s law predicts that’s…
I predict that my left thumb is closest to the top left window, which was the one I was viewing and thus most likely to want to close; and that the two-finger action of tapping the top-right show-mini-windows/topish-left close-window buttons - like it used to be — is a better Fitt. I’m confident that this latest UI change was someone’s busywork. Gotta look like your doing something.
Thx for correction re: Gnome & ribbon.