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Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

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Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#71

Post by dkuntz2 »

zzzeek wrote: post #30
eveningcoffee wrote: post #8

I am already using the Linux on laptop better than Mac. It is called Thinkpad (an older model). Now the problem is that Lenovo is trying to be more like Apple and this does not go well with them. You can ask how much people are pleased with the new single button touchpads or how they like 16:9 screens instead of 16:10 screens or how they like the lack of Delete button. So yes, I would buy a laptop (I would not buy a…

> Now the problem is that Lenovo is trying to be more like Apple and this does not go well with them. You can ask how much people are pleased with the new single button touchpads or how they like 16:9 screens instead of 16:10 screens or how they like the lack of Delete button. I have one of those newer lenovos, and if the trackpad is their attempt to "be more like" Apple, they really have a very long way to go in ter…

I'm pretty sure the buttons on the top are meant for people using the trackpoint nub. My last computer was a W520, and it had two sets of buttons, one for the trackpoint, one for the trackpad.

And, quite honestly, I wouldn't switch back to a thinkpad from my macbook, at least with what they're offering now. Build quality alone would make it for me, but also having my computer come with a POSIX compliant operating system that's well integrated with the hardware, as opposed to installing Arch and hoping for the best are huge pluses for me.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#72

Post by zanny »

dman wrote: post #16
valarauca1 wrote: post #3

Honestly no. The crowd who uses Linux primarily currently is well versed with installing it on a Mac, or any laptop really. Linux is built on the notion of self-reliance, self-development, do it yourself, laugh in the face of danger [1]. So marketing to people who hold these principles is challenging. On top of that MacOSX is a full Unix w/ Bash + GNU utils. So functionally from a developers perspective you don't gai…

My experience installing Linux on a recent macbook pro was not very good. It picks the nvidia card as the gpu and does not give me an option to switch to using the intel gpu. It is true that OSX is a full unix, but it does not come with a package manager resulting in a subpar developer workstation experience out of the box. In practice I have never found homebrew / fink / macports to ever be as reliable as yum / apt…

Wow, I just realized I cannot imagine how anyone can develop software on a Mac considering the lack of package management outside Homebrew. I never even though of that, I just didn't use Macs because the UI looks like shit and the whole display manager and up is proprietary.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#73

Post by sfilipov »

dman wrote: post #11

Unequivocally yes. As a developer having an identical setup on my local machine that I do on my server saves so much time. Besides none of the commercial OS's have a package manager that comes close to the package managers on linux / bsd.

The thing is - it is rarely identical. Let's say you run Ubuntu LTS both on your local machine and your servers. Chances are there will be the occasional build dependency, library, conf setting that you have installed/configured locally but not on your servers. Or you did install in both places but forgot about it. A new team member comes and "it works on your machine but it doesn't work on his/her".

I don't think identical setup on local and remote machines is the solution. Something like Vagrant + a provisioner (Ansible, Chef Solo, just a bash script) is miles better in my experience. And is not host OS dependent, you can run your dev VM on Mac or Windows too.

I agree about the package manager. Using a workstation without a proper package manager is a bit annoying once you get used to pacman/apt/yum.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#74

Post by keithpeter »

"Does the idea of a computer that bundles a linux distro into one amazing piece of tech like d mac, at a lesser cost, appeal to you?"

I'd want replaceable battery, replaceable hard drive/ssd and would put up with a thicker case, the X classic series Thinkpad form factor or a tad thinner would be OK. A decent keyboard (agnostic as to chicklet/traditional but with sensible key sizes) would be needed.

Warning: I'd expect Trisquel or gNewSense to 'just work'. No proprietary anything. De-blobbed kernel.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#76

Post by eveningcoffee »

overgard wrote: post #52

So I'll say this as a mac user for the last 5 years: I'm mostly buying the hardware, not the software. I'm actually not really that fond of OS-X. I feel like in theory I should like it (a nice unix with great graphics?), but it finds a lot of subtle ways to annoy the hell out of me. Apple is great at beautiful UI's, but I think they kind of suck at UX. The only reason I haven't switched to linux is I find most of the…

Interestingly I find the Ubuntu Unity UI the best that is there for wide screen laptops as it does not waste the vertical screen estate with unnecessary UI elements - when windows are maximized then menu, title and the information bar are integrated into one area.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#78

Post by NateDad »

I have the 2013 XPS 15. Side by side with a macbook pro and they're almost identical. The touch pad is a bit better on the Macbook, but it's not a huge difference. Keyboard layouts are basically identical, and I like the tactile feel of both. Build quality on the XPS 15 is excellent. The only problems I've run into were driver problems that have been resolved. It's pretty amazing for a dev machine on ubuntu. The one major advantage of the Macbook is battery life. I only get 3.5 hrs with the 6 cell battery. Apple definitely has some great battery voodoo.

Anyway, I'm super happy with it as a high end Linux laptop.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#79

Post by overgard »

eveningcoffee wrote: post #76
overgard wrote: post #52

So I'll say this as a mac user for the last 5 years: I'm mostly buying the hardware, not the software. I'm actually not really that fond of OS-X. I feel like in theory I should like it (a nice unix with great graphics?), but it finds a lot of subtle ways to annoy the hell out of me. Apple is great at beautiful UI's, but I think they kind of suck at UX. The only reason I haven't switched to linux is I find most of the…

Interestingly I find the Ubuntu Unity UI the best that is there for wide screen laptops as it does not waste the vertical screen estate with unnecessary UI elements - when windows are maximized then menu, title and the information bar are integrated into one area.

It has its merits. I think it does use space well. It would be silly if I said it was bad, because it works for some people, obviously.

My main criticism was that it relied a lot on search (which I basically never want to use), and it had an annoying habit of hiding things. I really hate it when UI's get super clever and try to guess what's useful to me, I'd rather things just stay in one place and I'll remember where it is. Whenever UI's try to "adapt" to users, I just find it makes them unpredictable, and efficiency is more about predictability than anything else.

Re: Would you use a Linux based computer, better or equal to a mac in quality?

#80

Post by thrill »

eveningcoffee wrote: post #76
overgard wrote: post #52

So I'll say this as a mac user for the last 5 years: I'm mostly buying the hardware, not the software. I'm actually not really that fond of OS-X. I feel like in theory I should like it (a nice unix with great graphics?), but it finds a lot of subtle ways to annoy the hell out of me. Apple is great at beautiful UI's, but I think they kind of suck at UX. The only reason I haven't switched to linux is I find most of the…

Interestingly I find the Ubuntu Unity UI the best that is there for wide screen laptops as it does not waste the vertical screen estate with unnecessary UI elements - when windows are maximized then menu, title and the information bar are integrated into one area.

I have to agree on the current version of Ubuntu Unity, which I use on a Samsung Series 9.
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