Ask HN: What are the pros/cons for developers leaving Ubuntu/Linux for Mac OS X?

2 points by felipehummel 14 years ago | 3 comments

I'm thinking about leaving my PC notebook and go for a Macbook Pro 13".

I currently use Ubuntu. Any thoughts on the transition from Ubuntu to Mac OS X? Specific annoyances?

pilot_pirx 14 years ago |

I'm using Macs and Linux machines since many years now as a web developer. On the Mac you just have a few tools available (first textmate, now sublime) that for everyday work I would miss on Linux.

Otherwise there are not that many differences. On the Mac getting and installing the newest distributions of some packages can be a tiny bit more difficult. Sometimes you need to google to find some instructions to get some things running that are more easy to install on Linux (sometimes it's the other way), especially if you need to compile something.

That said it may depend on the kind of work you want to do. Both systems may offer advantages in different areas, the Mac may shine for graphics processing and software you have to pay for, while many oss projects target the Linux world.

caw 14 years ago |

Con: *NIX software isn't as easy to install. I mean there's stuff like brew and ports, but it's just not the same. You have to sit there and compile and then oops you have a problem you need to go fix. For instance, postgres9.0 on ports has a bug where you have to specify the hostname, so you're doing psql -h localhost just to bind to the local database. I hear brew is better but there's an opportunity cost to switching and making sure everything installs.

No hibernate option, not that it always works in Linux.

Pro: No Unity interface :). I jest, but some people don't like the UI and that could be a pro for you.

Mac App store is definitely a plus, but apparently Ubuntu has one too.

You can use Xcode and be able to play in the iOS sandbox.

dextorious 14 years ago | |

"""No hibernate option, not that it always works in Linux."""

Actually there is a hibernate option, and it's enabled by default too. It's just that it's used only as a fallback (from normal "sleep" mode which is way better) when the battery dies.

OS X also saves to disk (hibernates) after you close the lid, so if when sleeping the battery dies, you don't loose anything. So, you get the best of both worlds --sleep for normal use PLUS hibernation as a (transparent to you) backup.