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I Miss BSD/Linux

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1–10 of 251 posts

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#2
This is not identical to my experience, but I definitely have the same problem with hobby computing. My lack of time and energy as I get older is frustrating, but also just the fact that I don't want all the hassle. I want a computer to do work in applications, not because I want to meticulously maintain and configure the operating system for a couple hours every week.

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#5
> Why doesn’t a great MacBook alternative exist?

I really don't get this either. Every laptop I've looked at has some wart somewhere - battery life, webcam, structural integrity, display, CPU, temperatures, speakers, IO, repairability (not that Macbooks are good here either).

Some of these things aren't even hard to get right. It's like laptop manufacturers just don't care.

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#6

This is not identical to my experience, but I definitely have the same problem with hobby computing. My lack of time and energy as I get older is frustrating, but also just the fact that I don't want all the hassle. I want a computer to do work in applications, not because I want to meticulously maintain and configure the operating system for a couple hours every week.

I use nixos - if an application isn't in the repos, I don't even bother anymore. really simplified system admin for me.

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#7
post #5

> Why doesn’t a great MacBook alternative exist? I really don't get this either. Every laptop I've looked at has some wart somewhere - battery life, webcam, structural integrity, display, CPU, temperatures, speakers, IO, repairability (not that Macbooks are good here either). Some of these things aren't even hard to get right. It's like laptop manufacturers just don't care.

macbook like touchpads is what amazed me most, Apple showed their great touchpads around 2006 with the Macbooks (not pro), and to this date no one seems to be able to clone them and deliver the same quality and smoothness.

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#9
(The page isn’t accessible from Turkey. I had to enable VPN to read the article)

As I understand, the author’s main motive to try alternative operating systems is his frustration with mainstream operating systems, a lack of control and understanding so the speak.

The fallacy of that is that instead of encountering a few significant problems with a mainstream OS, now the author has to experience a death by thousand cuts: hundreds of small issues, a missing driver there, a DPI incompatibility here, and now they spend more time fixing these issues than they spend time charging their laptop two more minutes because a weather widget decided to make a web request. I’m not saying those issues are negligible, I already said “significant”, but our perception of an open and hackable OS saves us time might as well be a myth.

If you like hacking, more power to you. But, if you want to get things done, focus on those scenarios. See how well you can do your job and how much you are hindered on each OS.

Not a MacOS fan myself, but I find this kind of hiraeth (missing a place that doesn’t exist[1]) a sign of being distracted.

[1] https://en.m.wiktionary.org/wiki/hiraeth

Re: I Miss BSD/Linux

#10
I suspect my next laptop will be a Framework, and although I wish they came with touchscreens, that is a blessing in disguise because it means I don't have to worry about touch support in a DE and can play with more BSDs or esoteric Linuxes.

I have been tempted by the MacBooks, especially when on sale, but the closed nature and lack of repairability keeps me in check each time.

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