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The desktop and the developer

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Re: The desktop and the developer

#131

Post by cycojesus »

collyw wrote: post #126
gooseyard wrote: post #69

I like OSX on a laptop because it's the only portable machine I've ever used where everything works correctly when I am constantly opening and closing the lid of the machine. At work I will leave my desk several times per day for meetings in conference rooms, then I take the machine home and I may open and close it a dozen more times in the evening. I've probably had 50 laptops over the last 20 years, and the only on…

Am I the only person out there who hasn't got a clue what the point in suspend / hibernate are for. Whenever I use them, it seems to take longer to boot than a complete restart, and half of the times it doesn't boot, and if it does, there is a good chance something is not working.

That's hibernating you're describing. Suspend wakes less time than it takes to open the lid and the laptop is directly usable.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#132

Post by jrajav »

pyre wrote: post #92
jrajav wrote: post #53

Missing a killer feature here, at least for me: High-DPI support. No environment on Linux deals with high-DPI adequately yet. Between that and the other big one mentioned in the article, multitouch trackpad support, there is simply no way I can compromise. There isn't really anything else tying me down to OS X, but those two are huge. They're the only major changes I've seen in my workflow and desktop experience in t…

What are you using multitouch for? I've spent the last 6 months with OSX as my main machine (not my first foray into OSX), and I use multitouch for scrolling and sometimes desktop-flipping, but only because OSX is designed that way. I could just as easily scroll with TrackPoint (I love me some TrackPoint) and use keyboard shortcuts to switch desktops (as I have on Linux in the past).

I use gestures for going forward / back in Chrome and for activating Exposé, but there are two main things that differentiate it:

* Natural, responsive scrolling. After two-finger scrolling on OS X where it's so responsive that it's exactly like sliding paper over a table, nothing can really compare. Linux can't get to that point for a long time since it's limited to sending scroll wheel events.

* Palm and thumb detection that work like black magic. I have never once had palming issues on OS X or issues with resting my thumb on the pad and using other fingers to point, click and drag. I've spent days on end trying to tweak the Linux Synaptics drivers to work the same way with no luck.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#133

Post by collyw »

adarshr wrote: post #85
famblycat wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm on Windows 7 and use a Linux VM, where I actually do all the development. I love the command line, but still haven't found a Linux GUI I'm as comfortable in as Windows. Ubuntu was getting close there for a while, but then they went to Unity, which I tried to like, but ended up pretty much loathing.

I think you must try Cinnamon [ http://cinnamon.linuxmint.com/ ]

Cinnamon is a nice mix of pretty, and practical, and not needing to relearn everything. but it has a habit of chewing up lots of CPU for no apparent reason and more recently my work machine would half freeze (the mouse would move, but nothing else would work). Moved to XFCE, and it is great. Not as pretty, but works in a traditional way (windows 98 XP sort of style). Its fast and stable.

In my opinion it shows that most "innovation" in desktops over the last few years have actually been a step backwards.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#134

Post by winter_blue »

sanderjd wrote: post #111
exodust wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it's a myth that macbook hardware is of superhero "unrivalled" quality. I haven't seen links to comparative data backing up the claim. Failure rates, service rates, lifespan, side by side images of components at a microscopic level, data showing resistance to heat, cold, dust, impacts etc. What you will find is a lot of people repeating the claim about Apple hardware and the OS. A belief based it seems on one…

This is so interesting! Your parent said "unrivaled hardware" and went on to give some examples of the types of things meant by that: frequent component updates, nice high-res displays, battery life, support, and form factor. (Left out the trackpad, which really is a huge differentiator.) You replied by questioning things like failure rates, lifespan, side by side component images, and resistance to heat, cold, dust,…

> Please do link me to a $1200 non-Mac laptop with a high-res 15" screen, thin form factor, and nice trackpad.

The cheapest high-res/HiDPI/Retina 15" MacBook costs $1999, not $1200. The baseline 13" rMBP costs $1199 after the education discount though[1].

[1] By the by, if you order from the Apple Online Store in the US, you can get the student discount no matter what. There's no verification of any kind (like to possession of a .edu address and what not): http://store.apple.com/us-hed

Re: The desktop and the developer

#135

Post by equalarrow »

davexunit wrote: post #76
cs02rm0 wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I use a macbook, but agree with you. Unfortunately as a piece of hardware it seems to me virtually unrivalled, the latest internal components are available to new machines promptly, they have great displays with loads of real estate, long battery life, very good manufacturer support and the 13" is a superb, thin form factor for travelling with. I run a cluster of Linux VMs on it using vagrant so it's just my browser,…

I don't really like the trends of laptop hardware these days, so my preference and yours differ greatly. I use hardware that's a few years old and is known to work well with fully free GNU/Linux operating systems. Shiny new tech (which usually requires proprietary firmware/drivers to function) doesn't appeal to me. There's this push to make laptops so unreasonably thin that they have to solder everything to the board…

I spent years with Linux desktops and laptops. Switched to Mac about 10 years ago. Of all my developer friends I know, not only have I had the least amount of problems with my Mac laptops, but - sorry for the cliche - things just work. The latest and greatest is nice and while I'm not obsessed with having the newest, I like using what's new.

I spent a lot of time fighting the proprietary thing. It's a noble effort, but I realized after years of sub-standard drivers, laptops that don't turn on when you open them, cpu fans buzzing out of control, etc, etc, I'd rather spend my time doing things instead of screwing with things.

Linux is great, I love it on the server and pretty much use it exclusively there. But I haven't seen any laptop manufacturer come close to building any laptop that's close to a Mac laptop. When you start off building based on cost vs. based on function & product, then you're always building something sub-standard. It may seem like indulgence, but no one makes unibody laptops but Apple. No one can.

I spend my days working on a beautiful machine that functions how I expect. I fiddle with very little, don't have to worry about upgrading or tearing anything apart and just focus on getting the things done. You can do this on Linux too for sure, but I feel like for me, the Linux desktop on crappy hardware is not fun or satisfying.

I have a Retina MBPro with 16GB of ram (soldered) and I couldn't be happier. In a few years when I want a laptop with 32gb ram, I'll give this one to a friend or family member and buy another one.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#136

Post by Swizec »

levosmetalo wrote: post #109
exodust wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Surely it's a myth that macbook hardware is of superhero "unrivalled" quality. I haven't seen links to comparative data backing up the claim. Failure rates, service rates, lifespan, side by side images of components at a microscopic level, data showing resistance to heat, cold, dust, impacts etc. What you will find is a lot of people repeating the claim about Apple hardware and the OS. A belief based it seems on one…

That's why I have manufacturer logo on the back of my laptop covered by a innocent "no free advertising" sticker all the time, not only when presenting. Even for the clothes, the only logo I occasionally have printed on my clothes is the logo of my employer on a clothes provided by them for free. That much advertising is acceptable for me.

Do you also cover up the logo on your car? What about its distinct and recognisable shape?

Actually, same goes for macs. I always find it funny that in TV shows the logo is covered up even though everyone can clearly see they're using a mac.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#137

Post by xemoka »

collyw wrote: post #118
eyko wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I've got a Macbook Air (OSX Mavericks) and a (Lenovo)Thinkpad (Arch Linux). I'd add to your points that it's not only a software issue, but also a hardware issue. Recently I've found myself tweaking the trackpoint settings and have gone so far as modifying the driver and the syndaemon utility just to be able to get a better user experience. When it comes to Apple's hardware/software combination, I'm so…

The track-pad on the Macbook Air I have is crap. No buttons. You can click, or emulate a double click with two fingers. No third button emulation that I have worked out (and no, using your other hand on the keyboard does not count). As far as I am concerned that is a big disadvantage not having the paste buffer functionality available for the track-pad.

For a third button you can get BetterTouchTool[1] and set up an event for the Tackpad under "Global". I have tapping the top right of the track pad (about a 1cm square) trigger the third mouse button. Perhaps it's not as great as a real middle mouse button (can't middle drag, real pain for GIS and CAD software) but it does handle opening links in new tabs and closing tabs via middle click.

[1]: http://www.boastr.net/

Re: The desktop and the developer

#138

Post by marcosdumay »

p4bl0 wrote: post #6

I'm not sure what to think of this blog post. Do anyone really recognize himself or herself in the described developers? It's not even about Mac OS X vs GNU/Linux, I'm not using any desktop environment on my computers (no Gnome, KDE, XFCE, …), my graphical environment is composed of a minimal windows manager and a small taskbar. I don't need anything else. I just checked and I don't even have a graphical file browser…

My laptop has a full KDE instalation that I use to launch Konsole.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#139

Post by levosmetalo »

Swizec wrote: post #136
levosmetalo wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's why I have manufacturer logo on the back of my laptop covered by a innocent "no free advertising" sticker all the time, not only when presenting. Even for the clothes, the only logo I occasionally have printed on my clothes is the logo of my employer on a clothes provided by them for free. That much advertising is acceptable for me.

Do you also cover up the logo on your car? What about its distinct and recognisable shape? Actually, same goes for macs. I always find it funny that in TV shows the logo is covered up even though everyone can clearly see they're using a mac.

It's not like I'm going out of my way to prevent advertising. Of course I don't cover a logo of my car, but I also don't drive cars on races or other events where I am publicly presenting something. If I were a famous car driver or even running mechanic shop, I would make sure not to show any, eg. tire manufacturer poster unless I have clear financial interest to do so.

But, if I'm presenting something computer related to an audience interesting in computer related stuff, it's perfectly reasonable not to show any unpaid advertising related to computers. I don't want that anyone in the audience get an impression that I recommend any specific laptop brand.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#140

Post by ds9 »

chroma wrote: post #71

Many are baffled that OS X is so popular among developers. Likewise, many OS X users don't understand why someone would deal with Linux on a laptop. Those who do this are committing the typical mind fallacy[1]. Not everyone has the same preferences. One might as well be confused that some people like vanilla more than chocolate. I think many commenters in this thread could benefit from taking a step back and remember…

Thanks for saying that. It's remarkable that so many writers will declare a subjective preference as if it were an objective fact ("$SOME_UI is so ugly!").

Although I also agree with "remembering just how unimportant this arguing is", I'll illustrate by providing a counterexample to the Fine Article's idea that OSX is "an aesthetically pleasing OS". My idea of an esthetically pleasing UI is one with text labels instead of icons, relatively direct access to all information and controls, and a lot less of the shiny accents, animations, forced mousing, and other decorative, annoying or obstructive junk.

I'd also like a laptop with the keyboard in front and the trackpad behind, but apparently I'm a freak or something.

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