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Comment by paol | Hacker News Reader

> It is a truth universally acknowledged that all operating systems suck.

This could be engraved in stone.

I know the title isn't really serious, but not being able to afford a Mac is not a good reason to use Linux. Use what you want/need/feel comfortable in, otherwise the experience will be miserable.

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Frankly, I have a Mac too and I don't like it much. I keep it for the ability to run some pieces of proprietary software like Cubase and Garmin Express and similar tools to keep my gear updated, but OTOH I really dislike the overall software experience. If only it wasn't so painful to dual-boot linux on it, it would probably live running Linux 99% of the time (but when I need to flash some gizmo or import some proprietary music files).

I spent a non-trivial amount of time trying to get Linux to boot on my [intel] Mac and when discussing with someone who had been dual booting for a long time, almost invariably when they realized I was trying to do so on a ~2 year old macbook pro, they would just go "ah, that's why" as if that explained all the issues I was having.

If I didn't already have a windows laptop for work, an M1 mac for work, an intel mac for personal use, and a dedicated gaming desktop, I might buy a system76 just to play around with various distros.

Odd, I recently installed Debian on a "late 2009" 27" iMac without any problems. Everything "just works", no problems with running the latest and greatest of Linux while Apple does not support this thing any more. I did upgrade the Mac-side of the thing to Catalina but that was more as an exercise than anything else given that I hardly ever use MacOS - only to test things in Safari, really.

Which MacBook is this? I was dual booting Arch on my MBA2015 and it ran Linux 99% of the time. Worked fairly well.

It's a Mac Pro 2013 (got it as a gift).

So, your suggestion if you can't afford a Mac is to... buy a Mac?

Used Macs are a thing. Old ones can be quite cheap.

I still run a 2009 MacBook Pro (for my partner) and a 2011 Mac Mini. Both max out at 10.13 but they work 100% fine, run the latest browsers etc., and do all we need.

I think it was probably more that cost alone is not enough reason to choose Linux, and if you can't afford a Mac it's unlikely you actually need the Mac for any Mac-specific purpose.

Well it has been immortalised in song https://youtu.be/YRlPTbKHIPQ

Well that was a blast from the past! Both the voice and the sketch seemed familiar, turns out that guy used to be part of Three Dead Trolls in a Baggie.

I still have mp3s of their sketches stashed away somewhere.

Edit: a classic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LLTsSnGWMI

In my experience Macs are absolutely worth it. An M1 Macbook Air will be a much better experience than a more inexpensive Wintel laptop with the "same" specs. User experience translates directly into productivity.

[Article author here]

> This could be engraved in stone.

Glad you liked it. :-)

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