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Switching from macOS: The Basics

blog.elementary.io

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Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#151

Post by toss1941 »

StavrosK wrote: post #105
pmlnr wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Take Mac away and high quality desktop apps will go away. Well... no. Ubuntu, Gnome, KDE, XFCE; they are all high quality desktops. Don't mix the desktop with the applications you're running on it. > We'll have to endure multi-platform Electron stuff. Now that is indeed a real issue, and yes, ugh. Edit: I've misread the original, sorry, so adding a few things: if you're using the default apps or the ones built for…

I don't know why, but MacOS feels more high-quality than the other desktops. I use Unity on all my computers and haven't run MacOS in years, but I think there's more "tearing" in Linux WMs. Things just don't feel like they stick together as much, sometimes the decorations will hang, the menus will disappear, there are blank icons in my notification bar, etc. It looks great in screenshots, but the feeling is much infe…

I know exactly what you mean. Are the technical issues because of X or because of design decisions? I have to think it's because of X because I haven't seen an OS GUI that was as stable and as predictable as Windows/OSX. Edit: Or put another way, I always run into weird graphical/display issues using Linux desktop flavors, whether they've been on a desktop PC or in a VM.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#152

Post by matzipan »

pmlnr wrote: post #72
matthewking wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Along with seemingly everyone else, I had a quick look at my options to migrate away from Apple over the last few days. First thing I looked for was a decent mail app, was immediately put off the whole idea, exactly as you describe.

> a decent mail app This is probably the most painful thing on desktop at the moment, because no one gives a s* to desktop mail apps these days. I recently switched back to evolution from Thunderbird, but where one if great, the other falls short ( in this case, GPG with Evolution is _painful_ ). Geary is... well, not mature, Claws and Sylpheed are a bit too oldschool and mutt is ... well, mutt. I'd love to see somet…

Check my comment above (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=12854312)

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#153

Post by JonnieCache »

vsgxvhdxh wrote: post #139
JonnieCache wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes system76 laptops better than the XPS 13?

It is actually available to buy right now. The Xps 13 developer edition is not available and the Windows edition has different hardware which is not Linux compatible (WiFi).

>different hardware which is not Linux compatible (WiFi).

link? I heard they had crappy broadcom chipsets but would be good to get some specific info.

TBH the sites i looked at last night seemed to say the current hardware that ships with windows is well supported...

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#154

Post by kristopolous »

pjmlp wrote: post #121
kristopolous wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How thorough of a survey have you done?

I have used Gtk+, wxWidgets, Qt, KDeveloper, once upon a time between 1995 and around 2004. Still use GNU/Linux on my travel netbook and of course, some of our servers run it. Last time I used Qt in anger was 5.3, while trying to do a mobile project that I eventually ported to pure native APIs. Do you know of any other frameworks, besides those that cover all of these ones? https://developer.apple.com/reference/

Nope. Desktop application development in Linux is indeed pretty terrible. I was honestly just curious as to your background.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#155

Post by pjmlp »

deadbunny wrote: post #113
pjmlp wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not really. GNU/Linux doesn't have desktop stack capable of matching Objective-C, Swift frameworks both in feature set and related GUI tooling.

Because most people using linux on the desktop (thus the development target) value functionality over aesthetics. Do I like it when things are pretty? Sure. Do I need them to be pretty to get shit done? No

> Because most people using linux on the desktop (thus the development target) value functionality over aesthetics.

I know that is what drove me away.

Most just want a window manager for xterms.

Designers get bashed because they don't know what people want.

Performance on GUIs gets bashed, because what matters is doing xterms over remote X connections.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#156

Post by matzipan »

jordigh wrote: post #145
r3bl wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's kind of difficult to do that when you are talking about the OS, isn't it? First of all, it's a rather large download, so you're probably going to close the website as soon as you click on the download button. Second of all, to consume the product in this case, you have to install it. And yet again, after you do so, if you get greeted with the "donate" window right away, you're going to dismiss it because you sti…

> It's kind of difficult to do that when you are talking about the OS, isn't it? Not necessarily. It's not like you expect the buyer to do a careful analysis of what it's worth before they pay. You can usually decide this sort of thing based on very quick impressions. Also, there's the aspect of it just seeming nicer to ask after the download has happened. Then it's clear that you already have the product, now it's u…

It does seem nicer to ask after, but then again, 99% of us simply close the tab after the download starts. We just do it automatically.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#157

Post by fizzbatter »

INTPenis wrote: post #111
kybernetyk wrote: post #33

So I went to their main page to download an ISO to give it a try in a VM. They hid the download button really well: You have to type in "0" into the "how much you'd like to pay" field for the "Purchase" button to change to "Download". I mean I understand that open source projects need funding. But if you want people to try your niche OS at least make it obvious how to download it. Ask for money later after people had…

I wish I had known that trick. I payed some money for it, which isn't unusual since I often donate money to open source or activism. But this time I regret every cent. Coming from Mac OS, or even Fedora, Elementary seems unpolished and unstable.

I really wish someone would start a paid OS based on Linux and OSS tools. I'd happily pay $100/y (year being, new versions/etc) for a stable and awesome UI/UX.

As it is, my Macbook Pro Retina has been crashing a lot and doing weird things frequently since i upgraded to Sierra. Between that and the latest Macbook Pro notebooks, i just don't like Apple anymore. I'm pretty set on buying a highend laptop _(similar build quality to Apple)_ and putting Linux on it... but that's where the fun stops. Linux UIs tend to lag behind significantly.

I want a for-profit UI company working on a Linux UI. OSS just can't compete with Apple on design it seems.. and in my opinion, users shouldn't have to choose between OSS and pretty design.

It's bad enough that if/when i leave OSX, i lose a lot of my apps due to them not supporting (or not supporting competently) Linux, but losing apps and UX.. well, it's a tough pill to swallow.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#158

Post by [deleted] »

INTPenis wrote: post #111
kybernetyk wrote: post #33

So I went to their main page to download an ISO to give it a try in a VM. They hid the download button really well: You have to type in "0" into the "how much you'd like to pay" field for the "Purchase" button to change to "Download". I mean I understand that open source projects need funding. But if you want people to try your niche OS at least make it obvious how to download it. Ask for money later after people had…

I wish I had known that trick. I payed some money for it, which isn't unusual since I often donate money to open source or activism. But this time I regret every cent. Coming from Mac OS, or even Fedora, Elementary seems unpolished and unstable.

[deleted]

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#159

Post by nsxwolf »

So USB-C is what it takes to get you to switch to Linux?

What are you going to do when all other laptop manufacturers follow suit - switch back?

Mac users who make this threat sound just like people who threaten to move to Canada every election cycle.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#160

Post by [deleted] »

driverdan wrote: post #74

Every few years I investigate switching back to a Linux laptop. Every time I find there are still issues. Last time it was poor GPU support (no fast switching) and buggy sleep. What issues still exist with using Linux on laptops?

[deleted]
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