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One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

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Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#131

Post by fsh »

kitsunesoba wrote: post #105
zdragnar wrote: post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I am glad that you like your macbook, but your experience has been very different from mine. It has the worst WIFI radio in a laptop that i have used; one area of my house is basically off-limits to it despite every other Wi-Fi enabled device i own working there (phones and several laptop brands). The fancy metal case isnt properly grounded- I get occasionally a slight tingling /shock from it when I have it plugged i…

I’ve experienced the grounding thing, but almost always only in houses with dodgy wiring. It never happens in office buildings or newer apartments. I’m not sure that is actually the MacBook’s doing.

USB-C and proprietary laptop chargers are double insulated Class II devices. This means that the metal chassis is essentially floating and can charge up if there is some leakage in the charger circuit. I don't see any way how the wiring of the building can influence this behavior.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#132

Post by zdw »

angio wrote: post #98
FoomFries wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious how you arrived at some of these conclusions. - Sluggish UI -> I've never experienced this in the last three years of using my 2017 MBP. - Inadequate package manager -> Somewhat nebulous, most package managers on Linux are available on Unix. - Slow and large updates -> I honestly don't pay much attention as I have updates install automatically while I'm sleeping, but what size differences have you noticed…

Not OP, but I share some of his views. > Inadequate package manager -> Somewhat nebulous, most package managers on Linux are available on Unix. Here he probably compares homebrew with apt/dnf/zypper. Compared to these three, homebrew is quite primitive and prone to be in a bad state. Luckily now you can use nix on MacOS which is a good package manager. > Can't have a minimal desktop -> Beyond hiding all icons and the…

MacPorts is a better long-term experience than Homebrew.

It takes the BSD ports approach, where all packages are maintained together in a centralized repository. The Homebrew approach is closer to a bunch of PPA's and other independently maintained stuff of questionable integration status.

If all you've tried is Homebrew, then I'm not surprised at the reaction.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#133

Post by nunb »

neng wrote: post #31

The Mac trackpad is very good. Was a key reason I left to Macbook after 10 years of running Linux as on my workstation. I may go back to Linux someday. I miss focus-follows-mouse. Apple sucks at some things, but gets more core capabilities right.

Mac trackpads are unmatched (yay/boo Fingerworks!) but you could always use an external mac touchpad. In any case, shortcut keys are abundant in Linux desktops, and a tiling wm (I like the default one in Pop OS) really changes the game.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#134

Post by TuringNYC »

submeta wrote: post #55

I love the idea of having a Thinkpad running Linux. But there are a dozen apps on my Mac that I would miss terribly. DEVONthink, OmniGraffle, and many more. I was thinking about getting a used ThinkPad for Emacs + Org plus terminal only. A companion for writing in Emacs/org and for doing dev work (Python, Lisp, Bash). This article made me revisit that plan. (Been using ThinkPads from 2006-2015 and loved the experienc…

I've never thought of MacBooks for the apps specifically, but I checked OmniGraffle which looks like a great replacement for Visio. Visio is one of the few things that keeps me occasionally attached to PCs.

Could you please share the other Mac-only apps that you'd miss, i'd love to see!

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#135

Post by mtrovo »

bryanrasmussen wrote: post #96
krooj wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"It just works with external displays" - ಠ_ಠ

one of the most infuriating phrases in tech is the mac "just works" one

"It just works with external displays" using a $80 official Apple USB-C Digital AV Multiport Adapter or to a $180 AppleTV through AirPort, you choose

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#136

Post by tstrimple »

AnthonyMouse wrote: post #44
thebean11 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never really got this argument, what exactly is stopping a manufacturer from writing a great trackpad driver?

I think that argument has become the default claim for whenever Apple does something well, even when it doesn't make any sense. It particularly doesn't make sense in this case because we're talking about Linux, where anybody can make any changes they like to not only the drivers but the entire operating system. OEMs already commonly have their own distributions. Apple have a good trackpad because they developed a goo…

Anyone can make changes, but it's far fewer people who are paid to make changes, and even fewer people paid to polish the experience. Doing the detailed work to make applications "feel good" to use is very difficult, time consuming and the returns aren't immediately obvious. This is not an area of strength for either Windows or Linux. Apple and apps developed for their products tend to be a lot better in this area.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#137

Post by pravus »

FoomFries wrote: post #87
diminish wrote: post #57

What are the cons of mac? for me: - Sluggish UI - Inadequate package manager - Unintuitive ways to install stuff - Slow and large updates - Can't do Linux development - Can't try server tools - Slow boot-to-work time - Hard to add memory and ram - Limited interfaces - Hacker unfriendly - Can't have a minimal desktop - High memory usage of base system

I'm curious how you arrived at some of these conclusions. - Sluggish UI -> I've never experienced this in the last three years of using my 2017 MBP. - Inadequate package manager -> Somewhat nebulous, most package managers on Linux are available on Unix. - Slow and large updates -> I honestly don't pay much attention as I have updates install automatically while I'm sleeping, but what size differences have you noticed…

At least as far as the UI is concerned:

- No focus-follows-mouse options means I can't layer windows in a way that accelerates my workflows. Having to switch between windows constantly is a giant speed bottleneck for me.

- No keybinds for quickly resizing and positioning windows as far as I know. I only use the mouse to quickly position windows and even then just use alt-drag on my Linux desktop.

- Animations. Anything that doesn't just instantly do whatever I told it is wasting my time. I don't need pretty or shiny.

Of course this is my own personal experience, but I am extremely less productive on Mac and Windows compared to Linux due to these and more.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#138

Post by [deleted] »

lmilcin wrote: post #41
jeffbee wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find that I can tune the battery life on a ThinkPad to be pretty amazing, but it is hard to get my change to stick after a reboot or even a suspend/wake cycle. One of the things that seems to make a big impact is PCIe ASPM. But where do you change your config files so it's always on? At least on Ubuntu there are numerous config files that formerly controlled power management settings, are still referenced in Stack…

I have a bunch of scripts that run on every start and wakeup. Some of those scripts do things like configure my machine depending on where I am (for example, detect presence of my home WiFi).

[deleted]

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#139

Post by tstrimple »

actuator wrote: post #26
thebean11 wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I never really got this argument, what exactly is stopping a manufacturer from writing a great trackpad driver?

I have heard and read in reviews that Microsoft has more or less nailed the touchpad in Surface laptops. So definitely there is scope.

They are the second best track pad, but I'd say there is still a significant gap between that and a Macbook Pro trackpad.

Re: One Year with ThinkPad and Linux (From MacBook Pro)

#140

Post by MaxBarraclough »

0xmarcin wrote: post #104
alexktz wrote: post #61

I recently purchased a 16” MBP despite significant personal concerns over the future of MacOS, being a strong open source advocate and Linux paying my mortgage. I did this ultimately for a few reasons. MacOS lets me run Adobe (Photoshop, Lightroom, etc), Fusion360, has a good terminal (iTerm and zsh unix like shell) and Logic. Mac hardware is still some of the best in the business, no other vendors seem to be able to…

When it comes to Bluetooth headphones, I have a totally different experience with iPhone 11. I have Sony WH1000XM3 headphones. I really like them, yet every time I connect them to my iPhone the sound volume jumps to almost 100%. I reported the issue to Apple but got no answer (the headphones are working without any problems with my old android phone - Samsung Galaxy s7). The only solution so far was to enable EU soun…

I have the same headphones. I've had that issue too, but only a few times. It might be relevant that I use them almost exclusively with my iPhone, rarely with other devices.
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