Why I'm getting off US tech | Hacker News Reader

Why I'm getting off US tech

disconnect.blog

32 pointsNickDouglas27 comments

> I’m also not getting rid of my Macbook and iPhone, at least for now

I say it far too much on here but it's a right shame that there's still no decent alternative to these devices. No operating system offers the same battery life, stability and power as they do, not to mention the ecosystem that while annoying, forces devs away from the downfalls of modern code (mostly). If the EU really wants sovergnity, they aren't getting it from linux alone, either they work with a tech giant there to bolster a stack or they continue ambling along with Microsoft technicians around their ankles and Amazon around their neck.

Linux alone is good enough, when you choose the hardware it's rock solid. Europe also has 2/3 of the major Linux vendors (Suse and Canonical). Battery life on Gnome is as good as Windows on Intel and AMD, compared to Apple though, there's no good ARM processors for Linux (Qualcomm drivers aren't ready).

The other problem is finding an alternative for Android and Google.

> Battery life on Gnome is as good as Windows

and my e-bike is faster than an overloaded garbage truck, I don't think it's fair to compare anything to th 1-legged horse that is windows

> The other problem is finding an alternative for Android and Google.

why can't we just have total convergence already, like Razer's "Linda" concept¹

> there's no good ARM processors for Linux

maybe this would be all it takes... so ready for that world

[1] https://www.razer.com/concepts/project-linda

My Xperia 1 V is super nice hardware, one of the rare models I could find made in Japan. Haven't put graphene on it yet because I can't decide if I want Google location services or just deal with subpar GPS

but that's just the problem, before my first job I used grapheneos and a very hardened nixos build, then when it came time for work I found that both devices were utterly incompatible with the faster pace of life I had, only Apple has kept up, for how much I hate its inflexibility in any area other than conforming to normality

What Apple offers that nobody else seems to is _consumer-friendly_ high-end hardware. I've been given company-issued Dell laptops (for example) that zipped along beautifully, even with Windows installed. When I asked the IT department where they bought them so I could buy one myself, they weren't even sure where they came from. I'm sure they cost the same as a high-end macbook (and performed comparably) but apparently you have to be a multinational conglomerate in order to procure one.

Dell is easy to find, although they have too many models. Take the model number and search their website with it. Searching the support site with service tag will get information as well.

I was a dell fan for a while, but never realized how bad the keyboard was until I switched, and how jittery the intel processor was, maybe that's changed but the issue of operating system excellence is still completely off the table

Last time i used a phone with GrapheneOS, it was a very good experience.

The Macbook hardware is tough to match, but if you are looking at budget notebooks, Apple has very little to offer.

my first "new" computer in years was a macbook air I got for $1000, $300 less than my worse dell workstation cost 5 years ago.. I'll agree graphene was wonderful, but it offers no desktop of parity (yet.. maybe)

What’s budget notebook mean these days? What’s the price range?

You can get something new that isn‘t awful for 500€. Or you can get a good refurbished Thinkpad for the same price that is in excellent condition.

Trillion dollar companies don’t grow on trees unfortunately.

I wonder how viable Mac + Asahi Linux is right now. While I personally prefer AMD + Linux, for Macbook users perhaps Asahi can help break the dependency on MacOS.

As for smartphones, ironically the best option for to break dependency on Google services is to get a Google Pixel + install GrapheneOS + F-Droid. Google Pixels are some of the very few devices with a fully unlocked bootloader, so it's viable to install alternative operating systems.

Very solid on M2. I've been out of the "try 10 distros" game for a long while and out of the box gnome fedora won me over. I like the GUI to install and update software, I never have to touch a terminal unless I want to. Only setback is no HDMI over USBC, and it didn't like my particular Bluetooth audio device, but a USB DAC does just fine.

I think there are some issues recently with the M4 chips: https://appleinsider.com/articles/25/04/08/asahi-linux-m4-su...

> I wonder how viable Mac + Asahi Linux is right now.

Main dev quit

I don't even know how people can argue this with a straight-laced tone when their header image is a Mac screenshot. On a Substack blog.

It's like selling your "Boycott Amazon" bumper sticker with free Prime shipping.

Did you read the rest of the article? They are openly admitting that they won't be able to get off all US platform. For now at least.

And with the commitment to come back and tell us what they found as alternatives. JFC, TFA wasn't even all that long.

The author's online identify seems to revolve around being critical of tech and Silicon Valley. I guess employees of Silicon Valley companies should be relieved that not even life long critics of our companies seem to be able to escape providing revenue for our services.

Exactly. Their concession doesn't prove that they can meaningfully resist right-wing cronyism, it reinforces the victory it attained over honest competition. It's an own-goal, evidence that their money isn't where their mouth is.

This has the same energy as "You criticize social, but yet you live in a society. Curious."

People can criticize things they belong to or work within

Society can't be replaced in 24 hours. Laptops and a web CRM can. If the author cares enough to define the issue, then he has no excuse.

Forgive me for treating his criticism with the same apathy that he affords it.

tl;dr -- "I'd go protest, but it's so annoooooying. I might drop my latte!"

FFS: getting out of the Apple ecosystem is the easy part.

Avoiding the Windows ecosystem, for me, has been much harder. Generally, there is somebody that will incidentally pull you into it for work.

My condolences, the only thing Windows is actually needed for is playing games and thanks to Valve and SteamOS's work on Proton, Linux is a truly viable alternative now.

Generally specialist software for different industries will make you pick between Apple and Microsoft but I think that's a different beast because having a one-off (cracked) Windows box for say video editing meets the protest bar pretty well.

You may be done with MS products, but they aren't done with you. Like tryin' to quit the mafia.

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