Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

news.ycombinator.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

351–360 of 502 posts

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#351

Post by merb »

yulaow wrote: post #117
tootie wrote: post #87

Not a hardware req, but I've recently become quite enamored with Win 10 + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) after years of using a Mac. WSL lets you run a lightweight Linux shell (Ubuntu, SUSE, Kali are supported atm) without a VM. It's purely for command-line purposes, no X, but that's fine for me. Windows for UI, then I can run all my bash in the Ubuntu shell almost seamlessly. You can run the shell directly from s…

I think that in the most recent versions X runs just fine. At least a collegue of mine is running the whole Kali linux (you now find it in the window store) inside WSL using the full desktop (and indeed just looking in the store right now it is showed with the full desktop active)

well the biggest problem basically is not X, more like systemd.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#352

Post by j88439h84 »

Thriptic wrote: post #196
nickthemagicman wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Had the same experience with Dell XPS and ubuntu 17.02 and earlier versions. Upgrading 17.10 and everything is working perfectly. Still would rather use my MacBook though because of software incompatibilities.

Interesting, so everything works on the xps 15 w/ Ubuntu 17.10? I want to pull the trigger on buying one but I am concerned about the Linux support. Also, do you know if the new XPS 15 support a two hard drive configuration?

Everything works great for me, no problems.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#353

Post by saidmasoud »

thinkmassive wrote: post #210
michaelangerman wrote: post #138

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What version of Linux would people recommend for this machine ? 2018 Thinkpad X1 Carbon (6th gen)

Fedora works well on most hardware I've tried, especially the ThinkPad T & X series. Currently running F26 on a 5th gen X1 Carbon.

+1 for Fedora. I don't have a ThinkPad, but I purchased a Latitude E7470 off Craigslist which already had Windows on it. Sliced the SSD into half and installed F25 on the other partition (Windows comes in handy sometimes). That version had minor issues regarding the headphone jack but haven't had problems since I upgraded to F26.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#354

Post by closeparen »

verbify wrote: post #342
closeparen wrote: post #313

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Friendly reminder that Lenovo made a deliberate choice to ship malware payloads to its customers from the factory [0] by preinstalling an SSL MITM proxy configuration from an adware vendor. This is not some suspicious technology with legitimate uses like Intel Management Engine. This is not concerns about the second-order implications of your voluntary uploads to Facebook and Google. It's not even an agency with a re…

Thinkpads weren't affected [source] ( https://support.lenovo.com/lu/en/product_security/superfish ). You're welcome to boycott the company, but the corporate models are protected.

One might boycott a restaurant because they don't like its political activism, labor and sourcing practices, etc. This is much simpler than that. Lenovo served poisoned food. Not as a food-safety oversight, but as a matter of policy. The fact that they only did it for some menu items is irrelevant.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#355

Post by jhoechtl »

kuschku wrote: post #349
jhoechtl wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did. I recently switched from KDE after more than 15! years to Gnome because KDE on Waykand is broken beyond usability. It comes for a reason that even Neon, which I used back then, doesn't come with Wayland out of the box. And frankly, X is a dead end.

> broken beyond usability Were you using Nvidia? On AMD and Intel it’s been working amazing for me so far, never had any issue. Nvidia is known for disobeying the standards.

It's Intel and its not the pure hraphics but the ecosystem. Wanted to enter diacretics into Emacs? The quick search bar poped up instead an accent egu in Emacs (compose key). It's that sort of things, not directly bad display. The end result was nevertheless unusable though.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#356

Post by nickthemagicman »

lancewiggs wrote: post #314

Consider your use cases - how often do you really need the computer to be portable? Do you work in more than 2 locations? Would a powerful (and cheap) desktop and a skinny (and cheap) laptop, perhaps with a great screen, work for when not at your desk? Laptops command a premium price for portability and desirability, so if you can reduce your need for those then you can get a lot more value for your hard-earned money…

Op may just be able to get a bluetooth keyboard for his phone and be good to go.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#357

Post by me_bx »

My two cents, biased against Mac: Mac is not a reasonable choice for developers. Reasonable choice is an open source system, configured to suit your needs.

As a developer, you want to be in control of the system, not the other way around. Well, at least, with Linux, you're much more in control, and have ways to be more efficient in your work.

Regarding the constraints you mentioned:

* cost: it's often posible to find good deals online on expensive but high quality professional machines like the thinkpad x1 Carbon. Have a look at second-hand sites, auction sites. Some sell refurbished machines, under warranty, as good as new.

* performance: you may want to use a lightweight linux distribution, consuming only a few hundred Megs of RAM, and leaving more to your build system... Oh, and try to use something stable, e.g. debian rather than ubuntu. Focus on your work, not on troubleshooting regressions.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#358

Post by jjoonathan »

jnwatson wrote: post #133

I recent got a 15 inch Dell Precision. I’m running a recent Ubuntu. I don’t recommend. It constantly throttles the CPI. I get lots of PCIe recoverable errors. The USB bus runs out of available throughout. Plugging anything Displaylink is a disaster. The camera/microphone is below the screen, which sucks more than I expected. It takes 2 hands to open the laptop. It is possible to plug in the power supply such that com…

Dell Precision 6800 here. Do not recommend.

I too experience constant erroneous thermal throttling (in Windows).

The docking station has extremely poor construction; any connectivity that travels through it flickers with the slightest mechanical provocation.

External displays don't work at all unless you disable switchable graphics and have severe compositing glitches regardless.

The official ubuntu install is so old that neither Firefox nor Chrome can install latest (without offroading dependencies), a modern ubuntu install without special drivers causes the backlight to turn on and off at 30Hz (hadn't seen that before!), and Dell's instructions for packaging drivers (can't just install them, you need to build an image) have broken in enough places to sink my best efforts.

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#359

Post by saidmasoud »

coredog64 wrote: post #192
tootie wrote: post #87

Not a hardware req, but I've recently become quite enamored with Win 10 + WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux) after years of using a Mac. WSL lets you run a lightweight Linux shell (Ubuntu, SUSE, Kali are supported atm) without a VM. It's purely for command-line purposes, no X, but that's fine for me. Windows for UI, then I can run all my bash in the Ubuntu shell almost seamlessly. You can run the shell directly from s…

I tried this at work. IT doesn't use the latest Win10 build (:rolleyes:), so the WSL experience leaves a lot of room for improvement. Docker for Windows is similarly disappointing. The private network docker uses for containers conflicts with our corporate network. I can set the bip for a Linux daemon, but DfW just hangs and then crashes when doing so.

Have you tried defining a custom network using Docker Compose?

Re: Ask HN: Are there any reasonable alternatives to MacBook Pro for developer?

#360

Post by 52-6F-62 »

alexandercrohde wrote: post #298

As somebody who got later into macbooks, and begrudingly had to admit they were objectively superior, here's what I'd like to know about a competitor. 1. Does the screen ever flicker? 2. Has a key ever come off? 3. Does it ever fail to sleep when you close the lid 4. Would you worry if you drop it from waste height 5 times (closed, but running, onto a hard-wood floor) ? 5. Have you had any driver problems, have you e…

Reading this entire thread has been enlightening. I use a 2015 15" MBPro at work (should be upgrading to a current model around June or July). It's been OK, but it runs into weird quirks on the regular. It also occasionally runs real hot and loud, though that could be entirely due to some [ineffectual and circumventable] corporate malware they force on us to prevent "leaks", etc.

My personal 13" 2013 MBPro has been fantastic. I haven't had an issue. My only complaint would be that it doesn't have some updated physical features but otherwise its great. If I upgrade my laptop, I'll be sure to keep this and go to town modding or whatever with it. It's been indestructible. And frankly I am hooked on the Mac trackpads—nothing else has been better for me yet

Post reply on HN