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OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

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Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#11

Post by RaleyField »

Hasknewbie wrote: post #5
gbrown_ wrote: post #2

I'm just happy to see new devices being made with high resolution 3:2 screens.

This. So much this. It boggles my mind that basically 100% of PC business laptops are stuck with productivity-averse 16:9 displays. Corporations are willingly paying the 'enterprise' markup for business laptops, manufacturers should have at least the decency to come up with proper screens. But no. For almost all hardware-related design improvements, they will make a move only after Apple has kicked their asses and hu…

I prefer my 21:9 on desktop, I feel like you'd be stuck with one window on 4:3, but with 16:9 you can make one full window and one smaller one and two full windows on 21:9. 16:9 seems more productive to me.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#12

Post by _jal »

asveikau wrote: post #8
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #7

What would be the draw of OpenBSD on a consumer laptop over, say, FreeBSD, or even Linux?

The "consumer" you're talking about is a very technical user for starters. Something doesn't have to carry all the traits of "consumer" software for it to be useful to someone. I used openbsd on a laptop some years back until that hardware died and my replacement didn't have some driver I wanted. It was a joy to use if you appreciate a light, no-nonsense Unix. Only pain point is that upgrades are very manual. Now a d…

> As for "why not linux", I feel like the BSDs as a desktop have a lot of the "on your own" feel that linux used to in the late 90s. Some people I suspect will loathe this. I like it.

Ditto that. Especially post- (dare I say it) systemd, Linux distros seem intent on going the commercial model of dictating how the "experience" should work, and I find I don't live in any of their target niches. Fedora is probably the closest, but is way too RHEL, and I kinda hate the way they do a lot of things.

The BSDs are by and for unix folks. If you're (for want of a better phrase) "culturally unix", they're a better fit.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#13

Post by gbrown_ »

RaleyField wrote: post #11
Hasknewbie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. So much this. It boggles my mind that basically 100% of PC business laptops are stuck with productivity-averse 16:9 displays. Corporations are willingly paying the 'enterprise' markup for business laptops, manufacturers should have at least the decency to come up with proper screens. But no. For almost all hardware-related design improvements, they will make a move only after Apple has kicked their asses and hu…

I prefer my 21:9 on desktop, I feel like you'd be stuck with one window on 4:3, but with 16:9 you can make one full window and one smaller one and two full windows on 21:9. 16:9 seems more productive to me .

I prefer 16:10 on a 15-inch screen but can live with 16:9. However on anything smaller I find a 16:9 ratio too wide. I'm biased in that I spend most of my work time in a shell or text editor where there is a lot of value in vertical space.

The reason I say I'm happy to see a 3:2 screen is that many manufactures cough Lenovo cough say the market has chosen 16:9 or that taller screens aren't widely available enough for them to put into a product.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#14

Post by djsumdog »

AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #7

What would be the draw of OpenBSD on a consumer laptop over, say, FreeBSD, or even Linux?

Why try Linux? Why try FreeBSD? We try different operating systems to drive development and to try new and different things.

Why climb a mountain? Why cycle a 90km trail? Why travel the world? Because it's there and we can.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#15

Post by djsumdog »

_jal wrote: post #12
asveikau wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The "consumer" you're talking about is a very technical user for starters. Something doesn't have to carry all the traits of "consumer" software for it to be useful to someone. I used openbsd on a laptop some years back until that hardware died and my replacement didn't have some driver I wanted. It was a joy to use if you appreciate a light, no-nonsense Unix. Only pain point is that upgrades are very manual. Now a d…

> As for "why not linux", I feel like the BSDs as a desktop have a lot of the "on your own" feel that linux used to in the late 90s. Some people I suspect will loathe this. I like it. Ditto that. Especially post- (dare I say it) systemd, Linux distros seem intent on going the commercial model of dictating how the "experience" should work, and I find I don't live in any of their target niches. Fedora is probably the c…

and no SystemD. I like that part. :-P

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#16

Post by cwisecarver »

Is anyone else concerned about buying a laptop from a Chinese manufacturer?

I own a number of MacBooks and while they were all assembled in China I don't have any concerns about the firmware. As more of these make it to US markets I'm sure if there is something it will come out but I'm currently taking a wait and see approach.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#17

Post by protomyth »

RaleyField wrote: post #11
Hasknewbie wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This. So much this. It boggles my mind that basically 100% of PC business laptops are stuck with productivity-averse 16:9 displays. Corporations are willingly paying the 'enterprise' markup for business laptops, manufacturers should have at least the decency to come up with proper screens. But no. For almost all hardware-related design improvements, they will make a move only after Apple has kicked their asses and hu…

I prefer my 21:9 on desktop, I feel like you'd be stuck with one window on 4:3, but with 16:9 you can make one full window and one smaller one and two full windows on 21:9. 16:9 seems more productive to me .

I too prefer the 21:9 for my desktop. I do notice that you really should mount it higher than I would normally to make feel more comfortable. About 2x what an iMac has for height.

In laptops, I miss the 4:3, and find 3:2 acceptable. I guess I want more square inches of screen. I keep seeing these laptops with 16:9 with a friggin numeric keypad interferes with proper centering.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#18

Post by oneplane »

While it obviously does run, it's still so broken it's hardly usable. You basically have a 'mobile PC' rather than a laptop/notebook. There is no suspend/resume, hibernation is slow, video not really supported and the touchpad doesn't fully work. Basically, it's fine for when you want a 'mobile server', but for desktop or human interaction via the local console this is just as bad as a cheap windows laptop: things are there, but they don't really work well.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#19

Post by keithpeter »

asveikau wrote: post #8
AdmiralAsshat wrote: post #7

What would be the draw of OpenBSD on a consumer laptop over, say, FreeBSD, or even Linux?

The "consumer" you're talking about is a very technical user for starters. Something doesn't have to carry all the traits of "consumer" software for it to be useful to someone. I used openbsd on a laptop some years back until that hardware died and my replacement didn't have some driver I wanted. It was a joy to use if you appreciate a light, no-nonsense Unix. Only pain point is that upgrades are very manual. Now a d…

Upgrades can be less manual these days if you follow the release (not current): syspatch will apply binary patches for the errata. If you are prepared to trust M:Tier, they provide a script called openup that will also patch packages for the current stable release.

But each to his/her own.

Re: OpenBSD on the Huawei MateBook X

#20

Post by tpolzer »

cwisecarver wrote: post #16

Is anyone else concerned about buying a laptop from a Chinese manufacturer? I own a number of MacBooks and while they were all assembled in China I don't have any concerns about the firmware. As more of these make it to US markets I'm sure if there is something it will come out but I'm currently taking a wait and see approach.

Do you really think your MacBook firmware was not flashed in China?
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