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Why Run Linux On Macs?
jones_supa writes Apple has always had attractive and stylish hardware, but there are always some customers opting to run Linux instead of OS X on their Macs. But why? One might think that a polished commercial desktop offering designed for that specific lineup of computers might have less rough edges than a free open source one. Actually there's plenty of motivations to choose otherwise. A redditor asked about this trend and got some very interesting answers. What are your reasons?
My company buys apple hardware for everybody and I have been working on GNU/Linux for 15 years. I use the operating system where I'm most productive, which is GNU/Linux. Also, nowadays OSX seems to be more prone to problems that were reserved for windows users in the past, like unexplicable slugginesh, tons of crap loading at startup, etc. No thanks.
My other signature is a car
Lighter, thinner, longer time (battery), nicer... Boot on Linux for some work, boot on Mac for the rest.
Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
Typing this on a MackBook Pro, I wholeheartedly agree that the shiny reflective screen thing is a huge annoyance. In complex lighting I'm having to adjust the screen angle as I change my seating position from time to time.
I'm running OSX on this MacBook, but mainly because while I'm a Linux geek first, I work in a Windows/AD shop that formerly was a Netware shop that has had Macintoshes and Linux servers. I can use anything. OSX gives me enough command-line to be functional doing network administration easily and lets me interface to Linux boxes, and with the multitouch touchpad is quite good, the touchpad on my Lenovo Thinkpad Yoga running Windows is *almost* as good, the touchpad on my Alienware 17" running Linux kind of sucks compared all of the others.
To me it doesn't matter, the software I want to use runs on just about everything, and all of the platforms have their strengths and weaknesses.
Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
I run Xubuntu on a Macbook pro laptop because it was cheaper for the wanted hardware.. The requirements i had where:
- Good keyboard (i like it anyway)
- Good screen (1080 pixels high is just bad..)
- Good battery time. (getting 7-8 hours without problem)
- No dual gfx card.. Intel only...
- Good CPU.
- Size/Weight of laptop including AC adapter.. (since i do travel a bit)
When searching around i found a couple of laptops.. but none fit the requirements i had.. Either it had a good cpu and keyboard, but not a good screen or battery time. Or it was good screen/keyboard/battery-time but a slow CPU..
So in the end i found 2 options... Either one that was a bit heavy and price at around 2500EUR or the current macbook that i got for 2000EUR..
It is not perfetct hardware, but it does give back for the buck.. There are several negative things with it like lack of docking, non-replacable battery etc, but none of those are too important for me..
(I'm not an Apple fanboy, I think. Of the 8 computers in my house, only two are Apple hardware, and one of them is > 5 years old.) The rest are either Acer or System76.
A lot of people buy Apple hardware because it's a known quality and (relatively) easy to get fixed. You (probably) know you're going to pay a little extra, but you know the build quality is generally consistently good and if there are hardware issues you can take it into an Apple Store and get it fixed fairly quickly.
It's fine for people that buy PC hardware all the time to say that a particular brand or model is good price and excellent quality. Most people don't want to do that much research for a laptop or desktop. And many have burnt themselves with buying something expensive and had it go bad in a couple years or need to be troubleshooted over the phone or mailed back due to some obscure issue. Better to drag it to the local Apple Store for many.
Help! I'm a slashdot refugee.
You know what? I'm a "lapsed Apple guy"... ran MacBook pros for years, had iPhones... now I'm Android and Windows. Reason? The "Genius Bar". Yeah... I'm going to take 2 hours out of my day to go to the closest Apple store... which is in the mall... which sucks because I hate malls. I have to fight for parking, battle my way past the Starbucks stand where the hipsters are yelling at the Barista because the milk has .01% too much foam on their triple-espresso low fat low carb mocha latte frappucino hot... to finally put my name on the list for the Genius where I'm in a one hour queue to get some just-out-of-college hipster who was probably earlier yelling at that same barista to waggle his waxed moustache ends at my laptop and tell me that it's broken. I freaking know that. Then they tell me how they could fix it there but this is a return-to-base factory warranty and that I now need to go fight my way to the FedEx store in a different freaking mall to ship the tucker to Cupertino and be sans laptop for a fortnight.
You know what? When my Alienware dies, Dell will SEND A FREAKING TECH TO MY HOUSE. On my schedule... not a cable-company "sometime-between-10am-and-2020", but a guy who calls me up and makes an appointment to make sure I'm home. If he doesn't bring the part he'll take it with him and either ship it return-to-base himself or he'll get the part overnighted. I don't need some 20-something hipster telling me it's broken... I have being working in technology since before he was born (most likely) and I can diagnose this shit in my sleep.
Oh, and you know what? Every MacBook Pro I've ever purchased has gone back to base for some warranty repair. All of them. Except my last one which suffered a GPU problem literally the week after the warranty expired (one of the many 2011 model 15" units with cracking solder balls that Apple still won't admit is a problem). That latter was the last straw for me... Apple products are beautiful but every one of them has been fundamentally flawed, and their support is a joke. My Alienwares (I have three) have been rock solid... only a lid replacement on an M11xR1... and again Dell sent a tech to my house to fix it. I have an AW15 on order too to replace the MBP... which is away to get the solder balls repaired AT MY COST and then will find its way to eBay. Thus will end my Apple experience.
Oh, and as much as Apple fanboys like to give Microsoft shit, I am typing this on a first-gen Surface Pro that is my take-everywhere PC, has traveled extensively and has been absolutely rock solid. Five years ago if you had told me I'd EVER say that about a Microsoft product I would've seriously laughed in your face.