Switching from macOS: The Basics • Hacker News Board

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#171

Post by fizzbatter » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:33 PM UTC

goombastic wrote: post #20

anondon wrote: post #12

The software is there, but what about the hardware to go with it? The only laptops comparable to Macbook Pro hardware quality and battery life are the Dell XPS series and the Thinkpad X1. I feel there is a serious shortage of good laptops with linux pre-installed that the non-technical user can pickup and start using.

The other problem is that laptops are being built like mobile phones, with everything soldered to the board and the whole thing either sealed shut or taped down. Upgradeable & portable laptops just dont seem to exist at the price points they used to.

Fwiw, i sort of like that. I understand it really sucks not being able to replace chips, especially something as simple as adding RAM, but i've not really seen a super compact laptop also allow me to replace RAM easily. My Macbook Pro Retina is quite compact, and it's proven to be a really important trait.

If someone makes them as compact and replaceable i'm on board, i just haven't seen it. Not saying it's not possible of course :)

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#172

Post by xd1936 » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:34 PM UTC

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…

Everybody in the FOSS community gets really mad at that decision... I thought it was intuitive.

"How much do you want to pay?"

"0 Dollars."

"Great!"

Why is that so horrible?

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#173

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:35 PM UTC

pjmlp wrote: post #155

deadbunny wrote: post #113

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

> Most just want a window manager for xterms.

Glances at 2nd and 3rd monitors

Well I can't argue there.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#174

Post by vlozko » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:36 PM UTC

annoying_tech wrote: post #79

Void_ wrote: post #39

I'm really hoping this is just a phase. Hoping that Apple will reduce prices of new laptops and we'll be back to normal. Right now everybody is using Macs. Walk into the Bay Area coffee shop, you see Macs everywhere. I love that. I build desktop software for Macs (focuslist.co). My apps are prettier than any others. They are easier and faster to use. This is the reason why people pay me $5 while they can get the job…

> Mac developers don't want to just get the job done. They want to get the job done while winning an Apple Design Award. Well, thats kind of a narcissistic statement. How many people develop for Windows? How many for Linux? How many for Mac? oh. I try to make my software as beautiful as I can, and keep a simple and usable UX. There are developers who don't care about guidelines, or design. That's not a platform fault…

I'm not sure you've done enough macOS/iOS development to know where that feeling comes from. In every Apple developer conference, in much of the UI API, and in input from the community, the idea of creating beautiful apps is something that gets repeated over and over until it is ingrained in us. It has nothing to do with trying to be better looking than other platforms but rather trying to match the aesthetics and quality of other apps on the same platform. People tend to notice when your one utility app stands out as the ugly duckling on macOS/iOS.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#175

Post by dougmwne » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:36 PM UTC

kabdib wrote: post #92

pqdbr wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The new MacBooks are so lackluster that for the first time in 11 years I'm actually considering Windows options, and I also arrived at Razer as the best option out there. They look amazing and performance and connectivity wise blow the new macs out of the water. In the end, its macOS that's still holding me back. Haven't decided yet tough.

Windows is getting better, but it will still make you very angry. The update system makes me howl. The shell is pale shadow of the MacOS terminal (you can kind of fix this with other shells, but the app-restore behavior after a reboot? Gone, and Windows reboots a lot compared to MacOS).

I'm curious if you've tried PowerShell. MS has been pushing it as a command prompt replacement since Windows 7. It's a little annoying to have to relearn the syntax, but it seems about a capable as osx terminal.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#176

Post by [deleted] » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:36 PM UTC

fizzbatter wrote: post #157

INTPenis wrote: post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

[deleted]

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#177

Post by bluedino » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:38 PM UTC

Are there any distributions where the display scaling works at least as good as Windows 10? I don't expect it to be as perfect as the Mac but the current Ubuntu is a mess when you change the scaling factor.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#178

Post by cpursley » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:38 PM UTC

eloisant wrote: post #123

FrankBlack wrote: post #47

Perhaps I am just dense, but the article references, specifically, the "Pro" market. For most pros that I know (and I am among them), our OS choice is often based on our tools, not the other way around. If I need Photoshop, Lightroom, Logic Pro, Visual Studio, etc., switching will be quite a chore. For the average user, this is probably a much more appealing argument.

Yes, even for a developer looking to switch from OSX to Linux, it's much more relevant to discuss how he will be working with his usual tools (git, IDE/editor, installing with apt-get, docker, etc) than whether the dock or the notification bar will behave the same as on OSX.

https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2016/10/29/2240

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#179

Post by deadbunny » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:39 PM UTC

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).

Can't speak for the xps13 but I got a xps15 (Windows, no Linux option) about 6 months ago and everything works as expected.

Re: Switching from macOS: The Basics

#180

Post by nicolas_t » Wed, Nov 02, 2016, 1:39 PM UTC

criddell wrote: post #149

FrankBlack wrote: post #47

Perhaps I am just dense, but the article references, specifically, the "Pro" market. For most pros that I know (and I am among them), our OS choice is often based on our tools, not the other way around. If I need Photoshop, Lightroom, Logic Pro, Visual Studio, etc., switching will be quite a chore. For the average user, this is probably a much more appealing argument.

I think over the past 15 years, lots of Linux users migrated to macOS because it was a pretty, usable Unix. Those users might not be terribly loyal to Apple and will move to back to Linux if it's better for them. If you use macOS because you need to run Mac software, then you probably aren't going anywhere.

That's exactly my case, I went from Gentoo to Mac about 10 years ago. I loved Gentoo when I was a student but getting it to work perfectly on a laptop was a hassle and while I loved customizing fvwm, macOS had great UI right out of the box.