The desktop and the developer • Hacker News Board

Re: The desktop and the developer

#291

Post by sitkack » Wed, May 21, 2014, 5:57 PM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #70

eyko wrote: post #66

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Pray god that I never have to wipe my hard drive though. Getting all the random libraries and whatnot that I've accumulated over the years would be a pain in the arse. Something there doesn't sound right (and brings up questions about how do you even manage so many random libraries and whatnot). Dependency and package management isn't that difficult and when I wipe my hdd/ssd it usually takes me some 30 minutes to…

It's more about superstition. My laptop works right now ... mostly ... I don't want to poke at it unless I have a very good reason. Because something always breaks and then you are in a world of pain as in this XKCD about setting up dual-booting with BSD http://xkcd.com/349/

I am actually the opposite. I have had brittle setups in the past and I found myself trying less and less because the past was becoming more precious.

Now I destroy and recreate as often as feasible. Never go more than a 9 months w/o a rebuild.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#292

Post by AceJohnny2 » Wed, May 21, 2014, 6:07 PM UTC

tragic wrote: post #257

AceJohnny2 wrote: post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> (And I won't be buying Lenovo again, because I do not expect my BIOS to be password protected, and not be provided with the password. :-) ) Are you referring to UEFI? If so, what do you mean about not being provided the password? Doesn't it either provide an interface to put your own keys or at least switch to legacy mode?

I mean: I try to get into the BIOS, and I'm asked to enter a password, which I've not been given. Never had this problem with any other computer company. I thought it might just be the dodgy vendor I got it from, but my girlfriend ordered a Twist from the official Lenovo site, and has the same issue. Which, because she's in the brave new Win8 SecureBoot era, stops her from installing an OS she hates less than Win8. U…

Wow, I couldn't believe this would actually be the case. Thanks for the info!

Re: The desktop and the developer

#293

Post by mreiland » Wed, May 21, 2014, 8:38 PM UTC

collyw wrote: post #120

aerique wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

One of the nice things about Linux desktops is that you're not tied to the default window manager like you are in Windows and OSX. While Linux distros might have a default window manager (like your Unity example for Ubuntu) it is still easy to switch. This allows developers to experiment with different paradigms with regards to the GUI, see for example the popularity of tiling WMs on Linux. (i3 has my preference, oth…

Totally agree. I used to love KDE, then they messed it up with KDE 4. Moved to Ubuntu / Gnome. Then Ubuntu screwed it up when they made it all Unity based. Screw that, I was happy working the way I was without to much shiny. Now using XFCE, and its refreshingly simple.

roughly the same here. I've always been a fan of XFCE, but preferred KDE until KDE4. And I just re-installed KDE 3 days ago, still don't like it.

I switched over to XFCE for a while, until finally settling on i3. I'm perfectly happy with i3, and even if KDE pulled their heads out of their butts, I doubt I would go back.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#294

Post by mreiland » Wed, May 21, 2014, 8:39 PM UTC

platz wrote: post #164

collyw wrote: post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Totally agree. I used to love KDE, then they messed it up with KDE 4. Moved to Ubuntu / Gnome. Then Ubuntu screwed it up when they made it all Unity based. Screw that, I was happy working the way I was without to much shiny. Now using XFCE, and its refreshingly simple.

Fan of i3 as well. People talk about tmux and I just shrug; it's built in!

love me some i3 :)

Re: The desktop and the developer

#295

Post by sanderjd » Wed, May 21, 2014, 8:59 PM UTC

green7ea wrote: post #289

sanderjd wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoops, I did actually mean 13". But also: I did buy last year's 15" model new-in-box for $1200 - there seems to be a pretty fast price drop-off, perhaps because Mac buyers really do have an above average focus on latest-and-greatest. Edit to add: My point is really not about the price but that taking away the "brand status" as a factor or even making it a confounding factor, Mac laptops completely own the "nice-for-…

The Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro comes to mind. Same price, high res screen, thinner than a MBA, better keyboard, does the whole yoga thing.

Neat, looks nice - thanks for the pointer! Wish they had a 15" one without the touchscreen and gimmicky yoga thing.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#296

Post by atweiden » Thu, May 22, 2014, 5:28 AM UTC

ekianjo wrote: post #221

atweiden wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had Arch running on the 53 since ever. The only major gripe I have is with the apparently decreased battery life. There are ways of extending battery life [1], but I'm usually plugged in when I work so I haven't played with it. I also haven't tested Linux support for: - GOBI - GPS - touchscreen - multiple monitors - printers, scanners, fax machines as I don't use those things or they did not come with my particu…

Thanks, this is really helpful. I'm now considering the 53 (for Linux use only). Looks like a great machine indeed. Have you ever tested its solidity ? (i.e. made it fall?). Does the weight (2.7 kg) bother you in any way ?

It's fallen from about 4 feet flat onto a hardwood surface once before without any discernible side effects. That was one of those times I realized if it was any other laptop I'd have a major malfunction on my hands. It's also fallen off the bed numerous times before. It just keeps going like nothing happened.

The bulk definitely takes some getting used to, but the machine has become so indispensable to me that I'm willing to have it weigh me down. I really do consider it the Lamborghini of mobile workstations, very excessive in many ways, but once you've used it there's nothing anyone can say to you to shake your belief that it is the very best workstation computing experience in the world.

What the 53 compromises in form factor it more than makes up for in productivity, enjoyment and peace of mind. It's a clear level up from Macbooks and Thinkpads galore, form factor aside. And it runs Linux real g00t.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#297

Post by gbog » Thu, May 22, 2014, 6:38 AM UTC

Swizec wrote: post #25

davexunit wrote: post #20

I've used OS X at work for the past 2 years and I completely disagree that OS X is nice for developers. I've had a lot of issues that I wouldn't have had if I was using a GNU/Linux distro like Debian. Major issues with GCC after certain updates, outdated GNU software like bash, brew is barely acceptable as a package manager (can't hold a candle to dpkg/apt), and I have to go to websites to get the installers for most…

As someone who's been using OSX full-time for the past two years, and using it in conjuction with a Linux-based desktop computer for the previous ~5. Yes. Linux is insanely better for development. But OSX is just passable enough that the form-factor of an Apple laptop wins out and I can work. I don't want to go back to using two computers and OSX is _much_ better at everyday non-developer stuff than any Linux I've ev…

> Pray god that I never have to wipe my hard drive though.

You will have to, and sooner than you think. Hard drives do not last forever.

That's why instead of hoping to never reinstall an OS again, i decided to embrace OS installation and do it often, from scratch. This means:

- Reducing tweaks to the only necessary ones. - Keeping a "how to install" text file in bitbucket. - Having my home folder under git.

To be honest, everytime I install a new Ubuntu a cry a little, because they are going the wrong way. But I still reinstall regularly (every 6 months) and keep my "how to install" file up to date, so I only have to copy paste some commands and follow some step mechanically.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#298

Post by rdl » Thu, May 22, 2014, 8:00 AM UTC

jyu wrote: post #288

rdl wrote: post #230

Plenty of people moved from Linux and BSD to OSX for a wide variety of reasons, especially for laptops. I'd consider a non-mac workstation for serious desktop use, and OSX for servers is essentially insane (I actually have one mini in colo though, in addition to linux and freebsd servers). I've been using Unix OSes since ~1990, and a laptop since mid 1990s running Linux and FreeBSD. 90% of what I do is in terminal an…

I too yearn for the 32-64GB Mac laptop. Usually I'm in front of an iMac, spinning up AWS instances for parallelizable and time insensitive tasks. What kind of setup do you typically use?

I just use a 16GB Mac laptop and have a 48GB non-mac workstation at home, and bigger RAM stuff in colo. What I really want is an office with 10GE on nLayer to the colo or something.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#299

Post by exodust » Thu, May 22, 2014, 8:20 AM UTC

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.

I wouldn't buy one of those 4WD's with the big TOYOTA lettering on the back. This is comparable to the Apple logo because its going out of its way to be noticed, "look at me, look at me".

Covering up a car's logo with a sticker is obviously not an option, so personally I would avoid those big TOYOTA cars.

Regular car logos aren't so greedy for attention. They don't glow at night, or cover the entire rear panel of the car.

I'm quite surprised that so many people in this industry, and DJs at gigs are happy for the logo to sit there glowing all night on stage. I don't get it, Apple isn't sponsoring your talk or performance.

I guess I'm too optimistic about people caring about keeping a good distance between marketing, capitalism and the expression of ideas and art. To me, those things should remain completely separate.

Re: The desktop and the developer

#300

Post by winter_blue » Thu, May 22, 2014, 9:21 AM UTC

green7ea wrote: post #289

sanderjd wrote: post #144

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Whoops, I did actually mean 13". But also: I did buy last year's 15" model new-in-box for $1200 - there seems to be a pretty fast price drop-off, perhaps because Mac buyers really do have an above average focus on latest-and-greatest. Edit to add: My point is really not about the price but that taking away the "brand status" as a factor or even making it a confounding factor, Mac laptops completely own the "nice-for-…

The Lenovo Yoga 2 Pro comes to mind. Same price, high res screen, thinner than a MBA, better keyboard, does the whole yoga thing.

A friend of mine own a Yoga 2 Pro. He's using Chakra Linux, and he had to go through a great deal of difficulty to adapt KDE to the HiDPI screen. He somehow managed to do it partially (like by setting font sizes to insane numbers, etc). Even still, there UI elements scattered around that still appear as though you're looking at them from space.