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ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

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Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#121

Post by GordonS »

bayindirh wrote: post #8
PrimeDirective wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because you like the tinkering and believe there should be (fringe) alternatives to mainstream OSes?

> ...mainstream OSes? Look how far we've come. Linux was the alternative OS just ~15 years ago. Now it's one of the mainstream OSes . TBH, I'd like to see one of the BSDs to become one of the mainstream OSes too. :) edit: Except macOS ofc. :)

> Now it's one of the mainstream OSes

...on servers. It's still far, far from "mainstream" for desktops.

Still, that's a really big deal. I work for what is firmly a Microsoft shop, and nobody bat's an eyelid now if we use Linux VMs (as long as they're cloud-based).

I think 3 things in particular have driven the rise of Linux as a mainstream server OS:

1. docker/containerisation. Sure, Windows containers exist, but have you ever seen one in the wild?

2. The shift to the cloud, in conjunction with (3)

3. The rise of DevOps, in tandem with (2)

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#122

Post by ngcc_hk »

enjoyyourlife wrote: post #35

Reminds me of Stallman's "How I do my computing" post https://stallman.org/stallman-computing.html

That is one of few pieces of him that is comfortable to read. No feeling of an angry old man shouting at you. Quite a statesman like talking his way of life in fact. Enjoyable read.

And good to hear it is just keyboard causing his hand problem. Feel sorry when a hacker have pain in using keyboard. Good article.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#124

Post by Izkata »

weystrom wrote: post #51
nextos wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it silent? I've found recent Thinkpads to be a hit and miss in terms of good thermal cooling and fan firmware. Sadly fan speed is not adjustable by the user in the last few generations. I'm also curious about their new AMD offerings.

I have one at work and it's not, I ended up using my personal MBP13 instead. Fan seems to struggle to dissipate even 25 watts of heat. Sometimes it would be sitting at 50+ degrees C, just idling. I asked our IT guys if I can repaste it, but they told me it's still on warranty. It might help, but I'll never know I guess.

All the laptops I've had over the years (HP, Dell, 2 Asus, now a Thinkpad, plus like 3 Dells at work) have idled at about 50 C. Is that not supposed to be normal?

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#125

Post by GordonS »

floatboth wrote: post #56
bluedino wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you only have 6Mbs DSL for an internet connection, you won't notice!

Or if you only use the laptop for surfing through Tor and do all the heavy stuff (YouTube 4K) on a desktop

Tor is actually a lot faster than it used to be. I remember when I first tried it several years ago (maybe ~2010?), and it was literally like going back to dialup - just horrible to use.

I tried it again more recently, and was very pleasantly surprised - it's not as fast at the web, but at least for web pages (as opposed to downloading files) the difference was much less noticeable.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#126

Post by Koshkin »

travbrack wrote: post #108
3fe9a03ccd14ca5 wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It lacks 802.11ac. Why in the world would it lack support for one of the most ubiquitous, not to mention fastest, wireless standards? I mean, it’s been out since 2013.

Because running freebsd on a laptop is an edge case. Most people run it on servers. It’s not trying to be everything to everyone like Linux is.

Linux it is, then.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#127

Post by ajford »

Aperocky wrote: post #114
ajford wrote: post #106

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh... I have the exact opposite feeling. I've used a MBPr for work the last two years, and I absolutely hate it. I've pushed to get a good solid Lenovo, but that's been repeatedly rejected as they like the convenience of the whole office using OSX and Apple hardware. I've felt the touchpad wasn't sensitive enough and the click action was way too feeble. Combined with the mushy feeling of the keyboard and the atrocio…

I agree mostly on the hardware complaints ( I have the same and I use a mechanic keyboard and standalone trackpad), but not sure about atrocious user experience of the OS. One of the biggest plus of mac is that it's terminal is posix.

In my opinion, that's the only positive to using OSX. Wish they didn't use an old as hell version of Bash. For my Linux work, I code to Bash 4, and I've been bit a few times when my scripts won't run on my laptop due that.

The need for 3rd party software (spectacles) to allow me to use hot-keys to shift windows around (native feature in Windows, Linux, and iirc even the windows manager in Sun V when I used it for a short time). Same story to alter the behavior of alt-tab.

I also can't prevent windows from stealing focus if some random app decides it wants to pop up something (again native option in every other OS I've used). That's apparently been an active complaint on the internet for somewhere close to a decade from what I've seen during my fruitless searches for a solution.

I've had numerous issues related to the App store randomly signing out, which may not be an issue to normal users, but in my case the office uses a shared app store account to handle App Store purchases, so that was exceedingly irritating but probably a "it's just you" type of complaint.

And none of that even touches the debacle that is Catalina. I ended up completely re-installing the OS, as a vast majority of software I needed wasn't compatible due to the deprecation of 32-bit support.

All in all, I personally hate the OS and can't stand it. I'm currently looking for a new role, and can't deny I'm giddy at the chance to get away from it. And honestly, I'd probably turn down a position if it came with the requirement to use OSX again.

However, I do recognize this is my experience and others really do enjoy OSX. But to each his own.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#128

Post by bayindirh »

FillardMillmore wrote: post #120
swalsh wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think Linux went mainstream when the default installation of one of the distributions came with an icon that opened up "Amazon.com"

Color me ignorant, but which distribution is that?

coughubuntucough

IIRC, they recently discontinued the link and related data sharing though.

Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD

#129

Post by nextos »

adtac wrote: post #89
namirez wrote: post #3

The other good development with Thinkpads is the introduction of AMD processors in their mainstream offerings (T495, T495s, X395, etc.). Unfortunately their screens suck though.

I use a T495s with the 400-nit low power display and it is by far the best screen I've ever seen on a laptop. I have no idea what you're talking about; of course, if you go with the 1366x768 screen that Lenovo seems to continue to offer inexplicably, you're shafted, but the 1920x1080 400-nit screen is incredible. It's matte, thin, extremely low power (powertop tells me it's under 1W right now at 30% brightness, which…

Is it a silent machine?
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