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Comment by banachtarski | Hacker News Reader

Why do people buy chastity belts instead of phones and laptops.

Because it’s 2020 and there’s still no Linux distribution that doesn’t have some terrible pain point (whether it’s driver support, UI roughness, randomly not being able to boot to GRUB, etc). Also, as far as I can tell there isn’t really a laptop/distribution pair that has a support experience like Apple or Microsoft hardware either.

Ubuntu or Arch on a thinkpad is pretty close, but trackpad support still isn’t close to apple or surfaces and if the OS becomes unstable you’re on your own.

I’d definitely consider a Linux laptop if it had a Retina-comparable display, aluminum body, excellent trackpad, weighed less than 5 lbs, half-decent speakers, and commercial support where I could walk in same-day and have my OS problems fixed.

I was wondering this myself. The common criticism you’ll see in these Apple threads is that people don’t care to configure their device/software as required in Linux. Or desktop OS is rough around the edges.

However anyone wanting to avoid these issues is now required to configure their Apple device. Anyone want to shift to Apple silicon will also experience a rough around the edges situation. In the previous days, Apple documentation for building on their no-config required platform is rough all around, not just the edges.

People are allowed to have criticisms and be hypocritical but it’s sometimes astounding how much Apple gets away with their choices because of marketing.

Linux doesn't run the software I need it to run, so it's not fit for my purposes and Windows is someone's idea of a sick joke. I also value aesthetics and UX in a computer, Linux and Windows are actually offensive to me in those two areas.

I don't feel there's an alternative for users like me and Apple know it.

Edit: This news story has annoyed me, I think Apple have crossed the line, but I need to buy a new personal computer in March and a MacBook seems to be my only option.

> Linux doesn't run the software I need it to run

Fair enough. Lots of software either doesn't exist for Linux or doesn't run well. Also, I don't want to have to deal with all the smaller bugs that exist on Linux. At least the bugs with macOS are widespread and well-documented.

> I also value aesthetics and UX in a computer

Yes, Windows is bad in this aspect. Have you seen r/unixporn (safe for work) though? Many of the posts look pretty good.

Linux can be made to look okay I guess, I'd take it over Windows any day of the week and is always me preference on a server.

> Edit: This news story has annoyed me, I think Apple have crossed the line, but I need to buy a new personal computer in March and a MacBook seems to be my only option.

If people keep buying Apple products, what is Apple's incentive to change?

shrugs, I mean fair play to anyone taking a principled stand on the matter, I'm just not that person.

I use Linux and Windows. If Windows is an idea of a "sick joke," consider how much processing power and capability you're leaving on the table. Just losing the first-party GPU driver alone costs you. It costs you more for RAM, for more SSD storage, for higher memory bandwidth. If that's worth it for you, great. I'll enjoy 128 gb of ram, photoshop loading instantly, and fast compile times thanks.

Don't get so defensive about it, I'm not trying to stop you choosing whatever gear you like. We're allowed to want different things.

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