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From macOS to Arch Linux

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Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#151

Post by bsnnkv »

extr wrote: post #122

I currently run a dual boot with Arch and Windows 11 on an XPS 13. There are positives to each: * Windows has much better support for handling the Hi/Multi DPI setup that is my laptop + 2 4K screens. Wayland gets there, but unfortunately the font rendering is annoying bad, and the fractional scaling doesn't quite look right. And of course it's a very "just works" experience if you stay on the happy path. The Windows…

Just gonna plug my bspwm-esque tiling windows manager for Windows 10 and 11 here since I know how hard life on Windows is without one: https://github.com/LGUG2Z/komorebi/

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#152

Post by gbrown »

apetresc wrote: post #26
gbrown wrote: post #7

Can an Arch person explain to me why their approach is worth it over something with a more comprehensive package manager like apt or dnf? I don’t mind compiling programs myself when needed, but for most things I’m happy to not have to hand-hold my OS when it comes to updates. From the wiki: > Before upgrading, users are expected to visit the Arch Linux home page to check the latest news, or alternatively subscribe to…

I think you're confusing Arch with Gentoo or something - the Arch package manager is not from-source, it ships binaries just like apt. Perhaps you're thinking of the AUR, which does usually just host the PKGBUILD which you run makepkg on directly to compile, but that's analogous to something like an Ubuntu PPA, not the core package manager. The main thing that people like about it is the rolling release model; new pa…

> I think you're confusing Arch with Gentoo or something - the Arch package manager is not from-source, it ships binaries just like apt. Perhaps you're thinking of the AUR

Sorry, what I meant was: when I need to manage the version of something carefully, I just compile it from source and that's OK with me. My understanding is that people use the AUR for this on Arch, and the pains don't seem worth it.

> The main thing that people like about it is the rolling release model

Fair enough, though I've been pretty happy with the pace of update from, for example, Fedora.

> That's very much a "cover-your-ass" type disclaimer, like a ToS that says you have no right to expect anything to work.

Fair enough

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#153

Post by awill »

For my personal desktop, I use Arch linux, and I'm perfectly happy. However, for a work laptop, I am pretty sure I'd take a new M1 Macbook Pro over a Thinkpad/XPS w/ Arch Linux.

A MBP can get 15+ hours of battery life, supports suspend/resume, and in the case of the Intel models, smooth GPU switching between dedicated and onboard.

Linux does none of that well. On a desktop, none of that matters, but I wouldn't take those tradeoffs on a work laptop.

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#155

Post by [deleted] »

sunaurus wrote: post #10

I just completed my migration in the opposite direction after using Arch Linux as my daily driver for ~10 years. I think Arch Linux is by far the better OS for pretty much all power users, but when using multiple devices, the benefits of the "Apple Ecosystem" outweigh the benefits of an amazing desktop OS for me, which is why I ended up switching to Mac OS. Some key points which I believe are much worse on Mac: * No…

[deleted]

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#156

Post by flippinburgers »

otar wrote: post #4

Haha... I've used Ubuntu and then Arch prior to switching mac. If you have enough time and nerves to do OS/desktop env stuff yourself, then go ahead... In the end I decided to use my time for more effective things and stop geeking around.

Mac can never come close to xmonad + any linux distro.

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#157

Post by lowbloodsugar »

awill wrote: post #153

For my personal desktop, I use Arch linux, and I'm perfectly happy. However, for a work laptop, I am pretty sure I'd take a new M1 Macbook Pro over a Thinkpad/XPS w/ Arch Linux. A MBP can get 15+ hours of battery life, supports suspend/resume, and in the case of the Intel models, smooth GPU switching between dedicated and onboard. Linux does none of that well. On a desktop, none of that matters, but I wouldn't take t…

Yeah, I'm sad we're still seeing comments like this in 2021: "I normally work using an external monitor, so I started looking at my options to configure the external display including the external keyboard and mouse."

Trying to use linux on a laptop is how I ended buying my first Macbook a decade ago.

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#158

Post by kureikain »

I used Fedora/Ubuntu at works and Arch Linux at home exclusively to 2012 when I started to get into Ios dev.

Nowadays I used Mac exclusively for all of my work + personal setup(except Server of course).

And I'm convince that the only reason for me to use it is due to iOS dev. If I can get away with it I will go back to Linux. Some points:

- No more dealing with homebrew and its bizarre upgrade policies. You don't know when a package will be break. You run `brew install python` and every thing broken.

- No more dealing with the weirdo of its disk image and the locked of system volume

- No more dealing with junks stuff in a few place such as `/Library` or `/System/Library` and `~/Library`

- No longer has to run docker in a VM

- Fuse just works

- No more buggy file watchers. For some reasons the file watcher (fsnotify package I belive) on Mac sometime works, sometime not and sometime just had CPU up to 100%

- No more custom syntax to work with fslimit

- No more plist file that also gzip and encrypt

- No more installing software by going to a website and download a stupid xip file.

- No more reverse engineering how a certain thing works and script it out.

But due to iOS works, not just iOS development I also help with CI/CD for mobile app and having access to a mac locally is handy, I have to keep using it.

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#159

Post by TacticalCoder »

lowbloodsugar wrote: post #157
awill wrote: post #153

For my personal desktop, I use Arch linux, and I'm perfectly happy. However, for a work laptop, I am pretty sure I'd take a new M1 Macbook Pro over a Thinkpad/XPS w/ Arch Linux. A MBP can get 15+ hours of battery life, supports suspend/resume, and in the case of the Intel models, smooth GPU switching between dedicated and onboard. Linux does none of that well. On a desktop, none of that matters, but I wouldn't take t…

Yeah, I'm sad we're still seeing comments like this in 2021: "I normally work using an external monitor, so I started looking at my options to configure the external display including the external keyboard and mouse." Trying to use linux on a laptop is how I ended buying my first Macbook a decade ago.

People are having lots of issues too with external monitors and Mac laptops. xrandr on Linux ain't complicated and it works well.

I've got a M1 running on OS X and it's a sweet machine. I've got a beefy LG Gram laptop (24 GB of RAM, wider screen, much lighter than the M1) running Linux and it's a very sweet setup too.

The LG Gram running Linux is for the serious stuff, the M1 running OS X is to watch YouTube vids and overall surf from the couch.

Now of course the real work is done on my desktop/workstation (running Linux too but whatever).

Re: From macOS to Arch Linux

#160

Post by awill »

TacticalCoder wrote: post #159
lowbloodsugar wrote: post #157

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I'm sad we're still seeing comments like this in 2021: "I normally work using an external monitor, so I started looking at my options to configure the external display including the external keyboard and mouse." Trying to use linux on a laptop is how I ended buying my first Macbook a decade ago.

People are having lots of issues too with external monitors and Mac laptops. xrandr on Linux ain't complicated and it works well. I've got a M1 running on OS X and it's a sweet machine. I've got a beefy LG Gram laptop (24 GB of RAM, wider screen, much lighter than the M1) running Linux and it's a very sweet setup too. The LG Gram running Linux is for the serious stuff, the M1 running OS X is to watch YouTube vids and…

What battery life does the LG get? I'm guessing less than half your Mac
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