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Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

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Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#471

Post by bodge5000 »

epapsiou wrote: post #307
bodge5000 wrote: post #159

Seems like the obvious tradeoffs you'd expect, mostly lack of control/ability to change things, which I'd expect of MacOS. In return you get stability, Apples locked down approach means the OS is far more predictable. Linux in my view takes the reverse approach, you lose stability relative to MacOS in exchange for complete control. Historically Windows has sat somewhere in the middle, though in recent years with all…

Stability ???? Ubuntu is far more stable. Have never had issues wrt stability. I have had issues with support as in some software do not work on linux (Turbo Tax , Games etc) but never in stability. Have been using linux desktops since 2010

> Have been using linux desktops since 2010

Thats probably why its so stable for you, you know it well, and that increased control of it allows you to make it as stable as you need.

However, generally speaking, Linux does not specialise in stability

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#472

Post by haneul »

larrik wrote: post #467

I switched from Linux Mint desktop to an M1 Air last year. Performance-wise, the M1 is very impressive, probably feels about 80% as fast as my 6 year old desktop (that sounds like snark, but it isn't). Meanwhile, the battery life is insane (I've never brought the charger anywhere but my desk, and will often use it for a week out and about). I opted for the Magic Keyboard and Magic Touchpad, because I had a lot of tro…

defaults write .GlobalPreferences com.apple.mouse.scaling -1

Works on my M1 Max well enough to be satisfied with my mouse in SC2.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#473

Post by prmoustache »

vladvasiliu wrote: post #372
Macha wrote: post #360

Earlier quoted context omitted.

gvfs-sftp counts as native to me if you're using a gnome desktop. The author is using a fullfat gnome distro like Ubuntu, so it's probably even preinstalled.

I wasn't familiar with that (I don't use gnome). After a quick lookup, it seems it doesn't even use FUSE - but it does have a "fuse bridge" for interoperability with other apps. Apparently this supports a bunch of other "virtual filesystems", like Google Drive, as well. Since it's part of Gnome, I guess it's fair to compare this with MacOS and consider it "woking out of the box".

It is, I have been doing diff of files from different remote machines using meld and gnome gvfs mounting for years. It works out of the box and is really mature.

Only thing app that wasn't working well with gvfs was libreoffice. I don't know if it is still the case but it refused to handle a file gvfs mounted on my NAS regardless of the protocol (ssh, smb, nfs).

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#474

Post by SSLy »

chrisseaton wrote: post #314
sylens wrote: post #306

I'm always amazed at how many little third party utilities or programs people recommend downloading or buying just to bring the desktop experience on macOS up to parity with Linux (or even Windows!). The lack of snapping/tiling at this point is just a deliberately malicious decision. I can't fathom why they will not implement some version of this better than that half-hearted split screen view that requires a separat…

In return, I'm amazed that people don't just use the software as it's designed. Why do people want to tweak like this? Like he wants to move the clock. Oh my god just leave it where it is and get on with your job. Lack of customisability gives us more stable software. And he wants his windows to wobble? What on earth is the point of that?

>What on earth is the point of that?

Monkey brain sees shiny things. Monkey brain releases dopamine. Monke brain happy.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#475

Post by ahepp »

larrik wrote: post #467

I switched from Linux Mint desktop to an M1 Air last year. Performance-wise, the M1 is very impressive, probably feels about 80% as fast as my 6 year old desktop (that sounds like snark, but it isn't). Meanwhile, the battery life is insane (I've never brought the charger anywhere but my desk, and will often use it for a week out and about). I opted for the Magic Keyboard and Magic Touchpad, because I had a lot of tro…

> Also, the fact that everything I want to tweak requires buying an app? I had to pay for an app in order to properly emulate middle clicks on the touchpad! That's bonkers!

Yes I have noticed this too! I love my MacBook, but the idea that I would pay what, $20, for the top tier window snapping app is completely ridiculous. That’s something that should be built in to the shell!

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#476

Post by diffeomorphism »

FredPret wrote: post #346
epapsiou wrote: post #307

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Stability ???? Ubuntu is far more stable. Have never had issues wrt stability. I have had issues with support as in some software do not work on linux (Turbo Tax , Games etc) but never in stability. Have been using linux desktops since 2010

You’re kidding right? Linux as a desktop OS is a dumpster fire in my experience. Many times I’ve had a system working for a couple of months, only to be laid low mysteriously by an update. This happened on everything from Ubuntu to Mint to Arch. The last straw for me (not stability related) was when I needed to scan something. Cue hours spent in the terminal… still no scanning. MacOS will keep working for years for m…

So what sounds more plausible:

- Lots of people happily use "a dumpster fire" where you have "hours spent in the terminal… still no scanning" and are completely unbothered by serious issues you are describing.

- Your exaggeration is absolutely ridiculous.

Criticism is fine, but at least make it sound vaguely plausible.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#477

Post by brimble »

jason0597 wrote: post #317
bodge5000 wrote: post #159

Seems like the obvious tradeoffs you'd expect, mostly lack of control/ability to change things, which I'd expect of MacOS. In return you get stability, Apples locked down approach means the OS is far more predictable. Linux in my view takes the reverse approach, you lose stability relative to MacOS in exchange for complete control. Historically Windows has sat somewhere in the middle, though in recent years with all…

> In return you get stability Does that imply that Linux is not stable? I've had my Arch installation for a full year and it has never broken down on me. No package has ever broken, and updates are always smooth thanks to pacman. Meanwhile, I can recall a handful of instances where bugs slipped into the macOS userspace in the last year (and made it to the front page of Hacker News)

> Does that imply that Linux is not stable?

The desktop environment is not, no. Various applications one is likely to run on it are not, compared to some closed-source alternatives, including those provided on macOS.

Heavy Linux on the Desktop user for about 10 years, here (~2001-2011). I still try it periodically. I see a lot more bad glitches, X/Wayland crashes (may as well be a whole system crash, on a desktop), and application crashes, on Linux than elsewhere. I find it's most stable when I build up from something minimal and hand-configure everything, but I just don't have time for that anymore, and stopped finding it entertaining years ago.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#478

Post by deathanatos »

dotancohen wrote: post #72

I had to use a Mac at work some time ago. Here's my list: * Cannot drag to copy, middle-click to paste. * No way to disable sticky keys lock. * No way to set ESC as Caps Lock. * No way to set a keyboard shortcut for each specific language. (I use five) * Alt-tab to an _Application_, not a _Window_. How many times will I Alt-Tab to.... nothing! * Return from sleep will rearrange the order of the connected monitors, ev…

> * Return from sleep will rearrange the order of the connected monitors, even though they have not been disconnected, if the laptop lid is not opened.*

macOS will, for me, happily rearrange windows even without sleeping it. Just returning to the machine after ~15 minutes (all while on external power) is sufficient to get a "hold on for 15 seconds while I rearrange the windows like a mad OS".

Meanwhile Linux can resume from sleep pretty much instantly, but Linux is the one that has all the trouble, according to folklore.

The lack of Alt+Tab kills me to this day. Cmd+Tab just doesn't work as well.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#479

Post by bodge5000 »

jason0597 wrote: post #317
bodge5000 wrote: post #159

Seems like the obvious tradeoffs you'd expect, mostly lack of control/ability to change things, which I'd expect of MacOS. In return you get stability, Apples locked down approach means the OS is far more predictable. Linux in my view takes the reverse approach, you lose stability relative to MacOS in exchange for complete control. Historically Windows has sat somewhere in the middle, though in recent years with all…

> In return you get stability Does that imply that Linux is not stable? I've had my Arch installation for a full year and it has never broken down on me. No package has ever broken, and updates are always smooth thanks to pacman. Meanwhile, I can recall a handful of instances where bugs slipped into the macOS userspace in the last year (and made it to the front page of Hacker News)

I wouldn't say its not stable, as much as I wouldnt say you have no control of macOS, its just less so, generally speaking.

So many variables (mainly who's using the computer and for what) go into this that its impossible to speak for everyone, but yeh generally speaking macOS is more stable than linux. You might have experienced more stability, whereas someone else might have experienced more control using macOS than on linux.

Re: Things I can’t do on macOS which I can do on Ubuntu (2020)

#480

Post by cpfohl »

erinaceousjones wrote: post #454
whalesalad wrote: post #380

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> if I’m already jumping through hoops to get SSH mounts on macOS to work, why not use Linux already? Jumping through hoops? It's installing a pkg file, takes about a minute and it is a one time operation you will never really need to do again. Have you ever daily driven a linux box? Times have changed but you will jump through hoops far more often than on macOS. - written from my frankenstein arch linux macbook pro

> written from my frankenstein arch linux macbook pro oh... oh you poor soul :P I used to use Arch on a high end gaming laptop when I was younger and had time to waste on things like dotfiles and perfecting my vim config and jumping through hoops like Bonus level Sonic. Now I opt for lovely simple boring functional Dell laptops from my employer and install Fedora on everything. Out of Windows OSX and Ubuntu/Arch/Fedo…

The main reason I switched over to a windows box (after WSL2 was released) was because I hate dealing with obtuse hardware and driver issues.

I am a software engineer, but I work in user space and have zero interest in managing hardware issues. When I plug in a device to a Mac or Windows box it just works 95% of the time or more. I never have to touch textual config files, I never have to adjust DNS settings and routing settings to work with the VPN, when I plug in my headphones it plays audio through them, and my webcam works nicely. I don’t have to use the terminal to get my GPU to kick in at appropriate times.

I have tried to make the switch to Linux so many times, I love the computational model, but I’m too busy to spend my time working out the user experience, and too cheap to use a Mac now that WSL2 gives me a real Unix environment on Windows.

“Cheap, User Friendly, or Dev friendly, pick two” Was my mantra before WSL2 made windows dev friendly too… I’m not a fan boy for Windows, just too lazy to care anymore. I’d be happy to try Fedora…but I have my doubts…

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