[deleted]
ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
131–140 of 245 posts
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#132Earlier quoted context omitted.
Some BSD userspace only, and with few of the things most BSD people like about BSD.
What’s it missing?
Open-source, for one, but that's more than just a philosophy in BSD. One of the key design considerations touted by BSD communities is that the kernel and userspace are distributed and built as one cohesive system for which you can get all the source / rebuild on your system. And that's done far more often than in Linux and other more mainstream OSs. But it's not a BSD kernel and what's distributed / used is very far removed from open-source Darwin and anything you could rebuild yourself. On the more subjective side of things, BSDs tend to value simplicity and correctness over new features. OpenBSD takes this to an extreme, but FreeBSD still takes it a lot further than Apple does.
But other than having more claim to the UNIX title than Linux and having some BSD userland, it's really not technically a BSD at all. I'll grant you it's arguably a distant descendant of BSD under the surface or in your shell.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ...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 h…
> 1. docker/containerisation. Sure, Windows containers exist, but have you ever seen one in the wild?
I have. What is done on .NET stays on Windows, for UNIX like OSes we get to use Java.
Yes there is .NET Core, it is the future, not all MS shops are buying into it due to the current limitations, waiting to see how .NET 5 will actually look like.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#134Earlier 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?
Ubuntu did some years ago; it did cause some uproar. Just search for "Ubuntu Amazon"
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
> ...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. :)
Is Android still built on Linux?
It is, but userspace isn't aware of it.
For userspace what matters is ART, ISO C, ISO C++ and Android NDK APIs.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
I have a T495. I highly recommend it. Be warned, the keyboard is a chiclet keyboard, not the traditional Thinkpad keyboard. But having an AMD GPU and an AMD CPU automatically makes this my choice after having dealt with the horrors of NVIDIA on Linux.
The traditional ThinkPad keyboards are long gone (save for the T25 anniversary model). That said, they are still better than most other laptop keyboards I've tried.
After having cycled between HP, Dell, and Asus, bought my first Thinkpad two months ago (T490). Was rather shocked at just how much better the keyboard is compared to the others, and for those others I'd always tested the keyboard at a store first.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#137I also have a t480, mines running Ubuntu but unfortunately I’m giving it up for a new MacBook Air. The touchpads on the thinkpads are beyond horrible after using macs for many years, it’s finally too annoying for me to keep going :(
If you want to stick with Linux, I can vouch for Dell's XPS range. I've been running Ubuntu and Arch on various generations of XPS 13 for about 8 years now with minimal issues. Honestly, my work-issued Macbooks have been more problematic than my XPS laptops. It definitely helps that Dell actively support Ubuntu and provide kernel patches.
However if you don't like the Dell and it's not defective, they can charge a 15% restocking fee. That could be hundreds old dollars for a top of the line xps 15. For me, this is a deal breaker. There is nowhere to test the machine in a physical store. Maybe they will fix their return policy in the future, but for now, it's not customer friendly at all.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#138How about the trackpad? And the power switch? I've been running Ubuntu and Kali on a Dell machine for a few years and the trackpad has always been unusuable and the power switch is always power-down (instead of sleep, standby). Yes, I've messed with the xorg settings for the trackpad and the ACPI settings for the button, but gave up.
Slightly related: I'm running Ubuntu on a Thinkpad and the trackpad is pretty painful to use (after using macOS for years). I went out and bought a mouse a few days ago for this reason.
Switching from xinput to synaptics was a big improvement on the touchpad for me (Ubuntu 18.04 on T490)
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#1394 months ago I wrote up how insane value the T480 is: https://www.reddit.com/r/thinkpad/comments/dd2i3y/can_we_tal... and most of that still stands.
I paid twice as much for mine when it was the latest model (I got few upgrades, though). I'm pretty happy with the T480 overall, but if Lenovo releases another T-series with a significantly better CPU then I'll probably get it. I didn't think that I needed the dedicated graphics card, but now I think that having the additional cooling would help.
Re: ThinkPad T480 is my new main laptop which runs FreeBSD
#140Earlier 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.
FreeBSD dev here — I don't like this line of argument. It is always used to rationalize any defect in FreeBSD. Sometimes we just have defects! That's just the truth of things; we don't need to pretend we're defective on purpose. Many developers run FreeBSD on their daily driver laptops or workstations because it is (perhaps tautologically) one of the best platforms to develop FreeBSD on.
Our wifi support isn't 100% and this is a weakness. I believe that desktop usability is a large part of why Linux is as successful as it is today, and the modern laptop is so similar to the modern server that it's a bit of a moot distinction.