When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.
I was trying to come up with a response but you're right. It would be easy for Apple and Apple would get so much goodwill from the community in return.
They get more public goodwill from a single ad. The chronically online Linux-using engineer community is too small to matter.
I imagine the real reason is that if they change things they now have an obligation to promptly share technical docs and if they're slow people will whine and bitch online about them. Not worth it. They have zero to gain (and I say this as someone who would love to dual boot Linux on my M4).
so they don't care about users, they care about themself?
I think a more accurate statement is that they don’t want to take on the outsized burden relative to the number of users it would actually affect.
I’d love to dual boot Linux too but I’m under no delusions about being a very small segment of the Mac population.
I'm glad they dropped the ban on HN readers[1]. That was my very first impression of Asahi Linux that I ever encountered and it's unfortunately what I think of every time I see it show up here. [1] https://github.com/AsahiLinux/AsahiLinux.github.io/commit/e0...
Because they got a lot of trolls and Apple fans. The decision was not made lightly.
Honestly, knowing what I know about marcan, the decision was probably the result of an overwhelming/strong emotional reaction.
Not to just shit all over him or anything, but it really sucks to see someone who is genuinely top-ten-on-earth when it comes to "real hacking" struggle so much with socialisation and mental health.
The cynical take is that they make a shit ton of money from services and Linux running on a MacBook won’t help them do that.
This, but also you would be allowing people to learn Linux. Developer with a Mac has to be one of the most common linux defectors. I suspect most people don't realize how doable and comfortable the switch can be.
It’s been my experience that developers running Mac already know how to use Linux and actively choose to use Mac. Unless the company is forcing it at least.
I imagine the real reason is that if they change things they now have an obligation to promptly share technical docs and if they're slow people will whine and bitch online about them. Not worth it. They have zero to gain (and I say this as someone who would love to dual boot Linux on my M4).
so they don't care about users, they care about themself?
Apple's whole thing is hardware + software working together. Endless other options available to Linux users. They'd also need to be prepared for people bringing laptops to stores with hardware problems that aren't running macOS. Again, more burden for Apple for no gain other than winning over a couple of dozen users.
Because they got a lot of trolls and Apple fans. The decision was not made lightly.
Honestly, knowing what I know about marcan, the decision was probably the result of an overwhelming/strong emotional reaction. Not to just shit all over him or anything, but it really sucks to see someone who is genuinely top-ten-on-earth when it comes to "real hacking" struggle so much with socialisation and mental health.
It is weird to blame the victim for reacting to being harassed by a mob. That is a normal thing to have a reaction to. Perhaps rather than blaming people's social skills and mental health, we should instead blame the culture that normalises harassing people on the internet, even to the point of suicide (as happened in byuu's case). You are basically advocating that it is better for individuals to change to accept a shitty society as a given rather than advocating for society to change to be less shitty.
I really hope this project continues to gain momentum. Apple Hardware + Linux is the least fscked OS running on the best hardware. MacOS continues to be a tire fire with endless bugs and churn between versions.
I was trying to come up with a response but you're right. It would be easy for Apple and Apple would get so much goodwill from the community in return.
They get more public goodwill from a single ad. The chronically online Linux-using engineer community is too small to matter.
When I think about it, I don't understand why Apple wouldn't want to help this effort and just provide all the documentation. All the classic reasons ("competitive advantage", "secrets", etc) do not hold water in this day and age.
One of the reasons I can see is it’s much easier to say “we don’t play this game” than get a lot of negative press for selective openness and breaking compatibility of non-public interfaces. Maybe it’s even more important internally, as it enables new kind of internal discussions distracting from priority work.
They are operating under a patchwork of NDAs. It would take some effort to determine what they can disclose.
I was trying to come up with a response but you're right. It would be easy for Apple and Apple would get so much goodwill from the community in return.
They get more public goodwill from a single ad. The chronically online Linux-using engineer community is too small to matter.
Developers build many of the applications that make the platform desirable. Steve Ballmer at least seem to get that part. ;)