I run Arch Linux on my Macbook Pro. I don't like the hardware at all, it feels cheap in comparison to the Thinkpad it replaced.
Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
61–70 of 118 posts
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#62I was a mac user when macs weren't cool. Mac OS 9 was like that edgy indie band that suddenly became an overnight success. Sellouts! :-)
Hey, I remember upgrading from my thoroughly cool //e to my first Mac -- they were VERY cool at the start. Macs were more like a cool band that has a huge first album, kind of loses their way for a couple of records and then gets the mojo back with a monster record that leaves everybody nodding, "I love these guys!"
I got one of the first mac plus machines. A full 1MB of RAM.
People said, "you'll never run out of memory!"
Great machine, though. Hacked some assembly for the 86000.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#63I'm generally a person that values function more than form, but I have to say it is a real daily joy to work on gorgeous hardware like a Macbook Pro. The reason Macs are more expensive because they only offer high-end hardware specs. A similar spec'ed Dell comes roughly at the same price. If you are hacker, always use the best tools there are. This is an invest in yourself. Hardware aside, the real reason you should…
>A similar spec'ed Dell comes roughly at the same price.
I believe that Macs are awesome. I want one! But the same price argument doesn't fly. When I bought a new laptop about a year ago, I ended up with a Dell 'cause the same spec'd MBP was double the price, and I couldn't justify the expense. Having a quick look on the respective web sites, that is still roughly the case today. That makes for a pretty expensive OS.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#64I'm generally a person that values function more than form, but I have to say it is a real daily joy to work on gorgeous hardware like a Macbook Pro. The reason Macs are more expensive because they only offer high-end hardware specs. A similar spec'ed Dell comes roughly at the same price. If you are hacker, always use the best tools there are. This is an invest in yourself. Hardware aside, the real reason you should…
Have you tried the latest Ubuntu?
Sure. Two problems with it:
1. Still fairly bad video hardware support. I spent two hours helping a buddy set up a mid-range ATI card recently, and we couldn't get full acceleration to work. The configuration just plain sucked.
2. Fonts in the X environment are so ugly that I can't stare at an editor window full of code. Good fonts are rarely open-source.
Ubuntu is nice, but it doesn't come close to the experience of opening a box, pushing the "on" button, and being able to start working right away.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#65Earlier quoted context omitted.
Have you tried the latest Ubuntu?
Sure. Two problems with it: 1. Still fairly bad video hardware support. I spent two hours helping a buddy set up a mid-range ATI card recently, and we couldn't get full acceleration to work. The configuration just plain sucked. 2. Fonts in the X environment are so ugly that I can't stare at an editor window full of code. Good fonts are rarely open-source. Ubuntu is nice, but it doesn't come close to the experience of…
1. fair enough. i can see how that could be a deal breaker. You probably know about the sad state of affairs with those vendors, and I guess reasons don't matter much if it doesn't work. all i can say is that it is improving.
2. it's not the fonts. check this out: http://ubuntutips.net/node/10.
in a nutshell, just put hintslight true rgb true true
in your ~/.fonts.conf file.
you won't believe your eyes. try it. :)
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#66I have a macbook which I run linux on. I get the best of both worlds having a great laptop with lots of 3rd party hardware(and now x86). And all the fun of recompiling my kernel.
well there you go. although i don't know how much fun anyone can have recompiling kernels ;)
cheers.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#67I'm generally a person that values function more than form, but I have to say it is a real daily joy to work on gorgeous hardware like a Macbook Pro. The reason Macs are more expensive because they only offer high-end hardware specs. A similar spec'ed Dell comes roughly at the same price. If you are hacker, always use the best tools there are. This is an invest in yourself. Hardware aside, the real reason you should…
>A similar spec'ed Dell comes roughly at the same price. I believe that Macs are awesome. I want one! But the same price argument doesn't fly. When I bought a new laptop about a year ago, I ended up with a Dell 'cause the same spec'd MBP was double the price, and I couldn't justify the expense. Having a quick look on the respective web sites, that is still roughly the case today. That makes for a pretty expensive OS.
don't drink the cool aid and save your money. the last straw for me was a bsd socket problem that used to cause crashes on clisp (if you google it you'll find it. circa 2005) -- went back to debian, and i don't even know whatever became of that problem.
your dell is fine.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#68Once you have started working with a trackpoint, you will never want to go back to a touchpad. It feels like making a step backwards.
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#69Because it's the best desktop unix machine available. Where else can you find true unix with a great user experience and full hardware and software support? I don't use Linux because I no longer enjoy doing sysadmin crap. I also like the MacOS UI.
unless your using gentoo, you no longer have to do that much "sysadmin crap". as if OSX machines were free of "sysadmin crap". i used to use acquamacs on it, and it will constantly break after the monthly updates. from my experience, ubuntu is less work.
(this advise is mostly for this crowd. i wouldn't push an ubuntu machine on gradnma. not yet at any rate)
Re: Ask YC: Why do you recommend a Macbook?
#70Synergy of ... - An apple interface (streamlined and beautiful). - Awesome performance/security/organization of unix.
is this too old to still be considered valid?
http://www.techworld.com/security/news/index.cfm?newsid=1798