I agree, but we should also make restrictions on smart TVs and gaming consoles illegal too. Both the Xbox and PS5 are 100% commodity hardware, not being able to run our own software on it is a really weird limitation. One that people even on HN have accepted while simultaneously ragging on Apple's "walled garden".
Are you going to bring your Smart TV and PS5 for VSCoding anywhere and anytime?
There are many people who can’t afford to buy both a computer and a PS5 and some of them choose to buy PS5. Would be nice to let those people use the PS5 hardware for what it is really capable of, including being able to run a desktop OS on it.
I agree, but we should also make restrictions on smart TVs and gaming consoles illegal too. Both the Xbox and PS5 are 100% commodity hardware, not being able to run our own software on it is a really weird limitation. One that people even on HN have accepted while simultaneously ragging on Apple's "walled garden".
But you know these restrictions when you buy the device. Same with the Apple ecosystem. So why make it illegal?
Because we want to. Of course the political capital of bunch of nerds isn't enough to make it happen but while the reasoning is different, I can't buy a new car that I can register without seatbelts, so the concept of making things illegal to buy is not entirely foreign. Of course, those are for safety, but I also can't buy a car that won't do at least 55 for the freeway unless I want a golf cart, so suitability for purpose is another concept. We'd just have to define computer in a legal sense, and then categorize the iPad as a computer, and finally make it a requirement that you can run your own code on computers. Of course, carrots are better than sticks, so maybe put a tax on all non-computer electronics, and a rebate for computers. All just to be able to run my own code on an ipad. Which, you can actually do with Pythonista. There's a small ecosystem of apps using that, as well as the official Shortcuts app, which I'd call programming. it's not Xcode on an iPad (though I'm sure there's a lucky engineer at Apple that has one that can do that, but then doesn't get to have any fun with it), and it's not really close either.
Every time I see something like this, I'm a bit sad, that we live in a world where tablets (especially iPad M4) have comparable performance to most laptops, but we still cannot run a general purpose OS (macOS/Linux/Windows) on them. Tablets are surely capable of running VSCode, Docker, VMs, etc. locally, and from UX standpoint, VSCode is basically Chromium, so experience would be the same if these tools ran directly…
Agreed; Apple’s restrictions on the iPad should be illegal, IMO. It’s ridiculous how crippled they are, and all in the name of making sure people feel compelled to also buy a laptop.
I get your point, especially given the enormous power of the hardware and capabilities, but there is no surprise here: their hardware, their software, and you know what you are buying (it's not like it was open then it was remotely locked down) so everyone agreed at the time of purchase.
Blink is also a mosh client, so IMO the combo makes it the best iOS app for a dev/ops :)
Mosh is an essential requirement for any kind of mobile work over ssh, combine it with tmux and iTerm2 tmux integration and you can work on a remote server without even knowing it :D
Another alternative is running ssh over Wireguard. It gives you some of the same benefits, like roaming between different internet connections while transparently maintaining connections that are going through the Wireguard VPN connection.
I’ve been happy running ssh over Wireguard instead. Not just as a replacement for mosh but also because I wanted my own VPN in the first place. I use the VPN for connections between my own computers. I don’t bother routing traffic for the wider internet through my VPN although Wireguard can do that too if you want.
But you know these restrictions when you buy the device. Same with the Apple ecosystem. So why make it illegal?
Because it's an artificial limitation to make the company more money, at the expense of customer experience and the environment (yes, locked-down hardware is also a sustainability issue!). Ideally, companies would exist to serve the public and so such selfish anti-consumer behaviour would be illegal. Unfortunately, they don't and current law seems to affirm that.
I’d also like to be able to run anything on an iPad. But I know I can’t so I don’t buy it.
I find this notion that companies should do what we want ridiculous. You know the features and capabilities upfront or you can at least and then you can decide to buy or not.
Agreed; Apple’s restrictions on the iPad should be illegal, IMO. It’s ridiculous how crippled they are, and all in the name of making sure people feel compelled to also buy a laptop.
Companies should be able to make whatever device they want. I use iPhone/iPad when I want to be fairly confident that nobody's actively screenshotting my every move.
Being able to install any OS onto your hardware would let you avoid running an OS that screenshots your every move in the first place
I agree, but we should also make restrictions on smart TVs and gaming consoles illegal too. Both the Xbox and PS5 are 100% commodity hardware, not being able to run our own software on it is a really weird limitation. One that people even on HN have accepted while simultaneously ragging on Apple's "walled garden".
Actually that is not the case with XBox, you can have your own applications there without rooting it. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/uwp/xbox-apps/devk...
And you can say "Actually that is not the case with iPad, you can have your own applications there without rooting it." have you heard of Xcode? still... you are missing the point, you can't even use an iPad to properly code for iPad
Companies should be able to make whatever device they want. I use iPhone/iPad when I want to be fairly confident that nobody's actively screenshotting my every move.
Being able to install any OS onto your hardware would let you avoid running an OS that screenshots your every move in the first place
The more doors you open intentionally, the more doors become open unintentionally.
If I wanted a device that allows installation of any OS, I would buy one.
Companies like “Honor” are already doing a good job of cloning Apple’s UX. Go right ahead… nobody’s stopping manufacturers from making fully hackable phones.
I agree, but we should also make restrictions on smart TVs and gaming consoles illegal too. Both the Xbox and PS5 are 100% commodity hardware, not being able to run our own software on it is a really weird limitation. One that people even on HN have accepted while simultaneously ragging on Apple's "walled garden".
But you know these restrictions when you buy the device. Same with the Apple ecosystem. So why make it illegal?
Because it's slowing killing the the environment for kids to learn. Parents give kids an iPad, they don't give them a notebook. Kid has hands tied for really exploring programming.
I'd be willing to bet if the same restrictions were in place in the 80s and 90s that 30-50% of the people who are programmers today wouldn't be programmers because they'd never have gotten started.