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Linux has better hardware support than OS X

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Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#161

Post by virtualwhys »

eLobato wrote: post #69
driverdan wrote: post #21

Valid points but the author highlights one of the original reasons I switched from a ThinkPad running Linux to a MacBook. All high end Linux laptops have driver issues, including ThinkPads. Last thing I knew you still couldn't switch between discreet NVIDIA graphics and the Intel 4000 without a reboot. I've been told some laptops still have issues with sleep / hibernation. Maybe the Dell XPS 13 highlighted in the art…

I've had an Nvidia Optimus + Intel 4000 since Nov 2012 and I never had to reboot, just specify when I wanted to run a particular program with Nvidia (games), everything else would run by default with Intel. Everything worked out of the box, the only minor issue is that bluetooth audio connection with my jambox is sometimes lost, but i could never even get it to work with a Mac.

That sounds unlikely, the switching between integrated and discrete GPU -- which distro are you running?

Definitely not happening in a multi-monitor setup without Bumblebee or other workaround.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#162

Post by virtualwhys »

rsync wrote: post #80

There's another issue here, and I digress, but... When I first switched to OSX, it was because there was finally a UNIX system that would "just work" with a printer, or whatever, just like the author describes. Even more importantly, there was a UNIX system with a web browser that "just worked" - no more days of hacking to get a PDF to show up properly, or a flash animation, etc. Now, in 2013, I am willing to stipula…

That is indeed an odd reason for sticking with OSX.

Check it out: VMware Converter

Can clone Windows and Linux just fine; in fact I have a dual boot system (need bootable Windows for BIOS/Firmware upgrades/(Nvidia)mods) with 2003 server (that's my laptop OS from 2005 sill kicking), Win 7, and OSX VMs.

There is no hacking around things; it's only with OSX where virtualizing it is a bi-atch (as of 2 years ago at any rate)

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#163

Post by petepete »

rubiquity wrote: post #17

It's always been a little mind boggling to me that in Web Development where we deploy to Linux servers nearly 100% of the time so many people, especially in the Ruby community, develop using OS X instead. Personally, I use OS X at work because that's what my employer gave me but at home I use Linux that runs just about perfect with a Dell Vostro laptop. That said, there are some great, modern tools that people have m…

rbenv is 'pretty spotty' on Linux? In my experience it works perfectly.

Linux is my development environment of choice and the beauty of it is I don't need 'better tooling' in order to get my job done quickly and efficiently; everything 'just works'.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#164

Post by epsylon »

shalmanese wrote: post #79

Linux doesn't "just work" on Thinkpads either. Here's a list of all the known linux incompatibilities with Thinkpads: http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Known_Problems

There is no single "Linux", nor there is a single "Thinkpad".

I have Ubuntu 12.04 on my Lenovo W500 and it works flawlessly. Everything worked out of the box — including graphics, wifi and ethernet, touchpad, ACPI keys and power saving options and sleep / hibernation. Conclusion : YMMV.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#165

Post by pjmlp »

virtualwhys wrote: post #160
lyudmil wrote: post #53

> This is a double standard. To have its “great” hardware support, a given release of OS X has to support a few dozen hardware configurations. Agreed. Linux and Windows, as operating systems, are solving a much different and more difficult problem than OS X is. You can get them to run on a wide variety of hardware relatively easily. By that metric, both Windows and Linux have "better hardware support" than OS X. The…

1) go online for project management and responding to emails check 2) call my clients using their preferred VoIP service Skype, GoogleTalk maybe? Go2Meeting crashed like a bi-atch on OSX for me. 3) run text editors, IDEs, and various virtual machines, interpreters, compilers, and servers complete nonsense if you're insinuating that OSX has better support for the above than Linux (you guys just got a non-archaic JDK f…

Where can you use a legal OS X VM?

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#166

Post by kryten »

taeric wrote: post #130
kryten wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I used hibernate regularly until I got an SSD, mainly for convenience. I boot in a few seconds now so it's a non issue.

I guess my question is what makes hibernate better than sleep? I mean, I realize for extended periods it makes sense, but I have not had a time when I would have needed the extra time a full hibernate would have afforded me. Now, I have realized massive increases in battery life by choosing to not live life at full brightness. I have to confess I felt silly the first time I finally lowered the brightness and saw how…

Hibernate is better than sleep because you have a better idea of what your battery capacity is going to be when you wake it up!

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#167

Post by keithpeter »

venomsnake wrote: post #67

My experience consist of few debian installs back in the day, a lot of life boot CD to risque the data from dead windows laptops with dd nc and currently my main is Arch linux desktop. The occasional persistent mint USB flash for remote offices. And the occasional install and config of testing server environments. No issues with hardware support at all. But there is very steep learning curve - I think that is the mai…

Your use cases for Linux would seem to call for a steep learning curve with the exception of the Mint bootable USB.

$ConsumerDistro of your choice on recentish laptop (not Optimus) should require less knowledge.

$ConsumerDistro = [Mint|Ubuntu LTS|Lubuntu] != [Arch|Slackware]

CentOS, Stella, Debian stock and FedoraRecent almost make it to consumer level but not quite in my opinion.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#169

Post by Nursie »

jfarmer wrote: post #68

This is silly. Although I'm sure it's gotten much better since I regularly used Linux on the desktop, you always had to do some amount of due diligence about what hardware worked well with it and what hardware didn't. For example, because I use OS X, I can go to any store, purchase my choice of Lexmark printer, and be on my merry way with a minimal amount of checking. The fact that I have to know that there's a "refe…

For all your nonsense, I've had far less trouble getting devices to work with linux than any other OS over the last few years. Device support on Linux just works more often than it does for Windows or Mac OS these days. And I'm including laptops.

Re: Linux has better hardware support than OS X

#170

Post by logicallee »

jfarmer wrote: post #68

This is silly. Although I'm sure it's gotten much better since I regularly used Linux on the desktop, you always had to do some amount of due diligence about what hardware worked well with it and what hardware didn't. For example, because I use OS X, I can go to any store, purchase my choice of Lexmark printer, and be on my merry way with a minimal amount of checking. The fact that I have to know that there's a "refe…

To be fair, by that argument it's even better to use Windows.
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