Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often? • Hacker News Board

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#101

Post by zimbabwe » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 5:23 AM UTC

jamesbritt wrote: post #66

antirez wrote: post #27

I've two laptops, one with Mac OS X and one with Linux. I use both for development but as a client I prefer Mac OS X that Just Works. It was fun years ago to hack on config files and even to write my own device drivers when it was needed, it was a game with the benefit of learning a lot of stuff, but seriously, I expected Linux to be mature enough after a few years... instead it's the same problems again and again. A…

I have a Mac mini and Linux laptop, and use both for development, but prefer Linux Kubuntu that Just Works. Not sure what your specific issues are, but I've been finding development on Linux to be much more accommodating for me.

What about the Leopard UI is snarky? As an interface geek, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it.

The specific issues the OP mentioned were installing drivers and tweaking system preferences.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#102

Post by jamesbritt » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 5:27 AM UTC

thenduks wrote: post #37

jamesbritt wrote: post #2

What's the HN general consensus on polls? They feel sort of Reddit-ish. :)

Turns out reddit doesn't have polls :P

Well, faux polls then.

:)

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#103

Post by jamesbritt » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 5:38 AM UTC

zimbabwe wrote: post #101

jamesbritt wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have a Mac mini and Linux laptop, and use both for development, but prefer Linux Kubuntu that Just Works. Not sure what your specific issues are, but I've been finding development on Linux to be much more accommodating for me.

What about the Leopard UI is snarky? As an interface geek, I'm curious to hear your thoughts on it. The specific issues the OP mentioned were installing drivers and tweaking system preferences.

"What about the Leopard UI is snarky? "

My typed, then deleted, comments were snarky.

I didn't see any value in making biased, preference-based complaints about how Leopard does things vs. what I like to do (i.e., The Right Way. :) ). But I know that most discussions about UIs tend to be full of such subjective assertions, so my little aside was my meta-comment. Or something like that.

For me (as others have pointed out as well), the ease of apt-get, and the wealth of OSS tools that seem to play better on Linux than on OSX, is the real win.

(Perhaps my biggest complaint about the OSX UI is how much I have to use the mouse to manipulate GUI items. Maybe that's just lack of experience on OSX, but Kubuntu Just Works for me. )

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#104

Post by jamesbritt » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 5:45 AM UTC

duairc wrote: post #85

I use Linux exclusively. I did try OS X before (I have an iBook), but I just couldn't get into it. Linux users trying OS X have already commented on problems with window managers etc, so I won't repeat what they've said. The real thing is that I just can't stand about OS X though isn't about practical like not being able to get a certain application or type of application working or anything like that (I do generally…

" When I start iTunes, and possibly other applications (I just remember iTunes specifically), I have to click "I agree" to a license agreement"

Side question: Is it possible to get and use iTunes without agreeing to let Apple spy on you? The EULA says I have to grant Apple the right collect assorted information, but with no definite restrictions or limits on what I'm allowing them to collect. This is nuts. I pay several hundred dollars for a Mini, and to use the software I have agree to annoying bullshit like that?

OK, rant over.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#105

Post by jamesbritt » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 5:49 AM UTC

Tudisco wrote: post #21

Windows/Linux side by side.. two large monitors and sharing keyboard and mouse with synergy.

I've a Mac, Kubuntu, and Vista, with two 24" monitors and a laptop, via Synergy.

Synergy rules.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#106

Post by kashif » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 7:16 AM UTC

antirez wrote: post #27

I've two laptops, one with Mac OS X and one with Linux. I use both for development but as a client I prefer Mac OS X that Just Works. It was fun years ago to hack on config files and even to write my own device drivers when it was needed, it was a game with the benefit of learning a lot of stuff, but seriously, I expected Linux to be mature enough after a few years... instead it's the same problems again and again. A…

What rubbish, a Mac doesnt 'just work'. Dont't get me wrong - Macs are good but this high ground is BS.

@antirez what device driver did you have to write for linux, can you point me to your source code? And seriously, linux has matured significantly, what distribution have you tried? And how about quoting specific stuff instead of the some general gyaan.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#107

Post by kashif » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 7:23 AM UTC

zimbabwe wrote: post #100

mixmax wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Related question for Mac users: Don't you ever view windows in fullscreen? It seems there's no easy way to get windows to fullscreen, except for laboriously resizing and dragging to make it fit with the screen. This is one of the things that threw me off Mac (I bought one that I used as my main OS for about half a year, but I just never really liked it) So do Mac users simply not like fullscreen windows, do they all…

The reason: Apple designed OS X to focus on using multiple windows at once, and they didn't want developers making single-window apps that ate at the screen. It's why, of their own applications, the only ones that allow full-screen are their video players, the iWork suite, and the pro apps. Those are the only applications Apple thinks ought to be maximized. There's an application called Mega Zoomer that gives all Coc…

Nah, Its not that Mac users don't like full screen - they dont have a choice!

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#108

Post by zimbabwe » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 7:54 AM UTC

kashif wrote: post #107

zimbabwe wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The reason: Apple designed OS X to focus on using multiple windows at once, and they didn't want developers making single-window apps that ate at the screen. It's why, of their own applications, the only ones that allow full-screen are their video players, the iWork suite, and the pro apps. Those are the only applications Apple thinks ought to be maximized. There's an application called Mega Zoomer that gives all Coc…

Nah, Its not that Mac users don't like full screen - they dont have a choice!

But they do have a choice, thanks to the aforementioned app. I have it, yet I'm still using only half my screen for Safari, despite no other apps being open. I like not being forced into this maxed-or-not mentality; on Windows, it was too easy to make every app take up the whole screen, and tab over. On the Mac, I've never gotten into that mindset, which I love.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#109

Post by mixmax » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 9:58 AM UTC

zimbabwe wrote: post #108

kashif wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nah, Its not that Mac users don't like full screen - they dont have a choice!

But they do have a choice, thanks to the aforementioned app. I have it, yet I'm still using only half my screen for Safari, despite no other apps being open. I like not being forced into this maxed-or-not mentality; on Windows, it was too easy to make every app take up the whole screen, and tab over. On the Mac, I've never gotten into that mindset, which I love.

Actually this kind of reasoning was the primary reason I turned away from Mac.

It's pretty obvious that you don't have a choice and that Apple, right or wrong, has mandated that you don't need to have your windows in fullscreen mode. Instead of openly discussing the shortcomings of the OS you come up with this sort of reasoning: I really don't like being forced into maxing my windows, much better not to have the choice. You don't need it. Besides if you really want it it's easy - you just go to site xyz and download the app that makes it possible. To me that just a semi-circular argument, and not a very good solution to a problem that I'm sure a lot of people have.

There are many examples like this, and the reasoning is always the same: You don't need that, it's much better to do it the Mac way. We know much better than you what you want....

Sorry to be harsh, and it's not picking at you Zimbabwe, it's picking at the Mac cult.

Re: Poll: What OS do you use everyday, or most often?

#110

Post by _b8r0 » Sun, Jul 05, 2009, 10:28 AM UTC

All of the above. I use a Windows Vista laptop for most work, A Mac Mini hooked up to the TV for Movies, Music, Photos and syncing my iPhone, a Windows XP VM with Adobe Lightroom for touching up photos, a Linux box upstairs for Music, file serving and number crunching, various Linux VMWare images for development in Django, Perl, Ruby etc., an OpenBSD PC as a Firewall and IDS and an Amiga 1200T for Email (YAM) and Usenet (NewsCoaster).