I started out with windows when it was still good (in my opinion) I supported it for work.
Then I made the switch to Mac and never looked back. Now when I sit behind a windows computer its horrible for me.
Due to apples increasing restrictions on, upgrading and doing maintenance I have decided to move away from apple and join the framework approach to things.
But, I am afraid…
Os options for framework are windows or linux. I hate windows, so all is left is,… linux.
I know its a stable OS but so far my interactions with Linux have been a struggle. Basic features I expect from an OS have proven to be a nightmare to get to work on linux. Every time I try to run linux on something I end up trowing it to the side after a week out of pure frustration. It seems you have to be a linux expert in order to troubleshoot linux when you just started to learn the OS. I am afraid the apps I use now on my mac I wont be able to get on linux or find an alternative.
So my fear boils down to this. Buying a framework laptop, installing linux, failing at making it work for me, end up installing windows on it, getting frustrated and stop using the framework laptop all together.
Did anyone make the transition from mac to linux? what are your experiences in that process? are you happy on linux or do you mis macOS?
It is important to note Linux is not the only alternative OS worth considering.
Specifically, you may wish to explore Haiku, which is not Linux based, has a growing community, and is reported as being compatible with the Framework.
I always find this [sequence] somewhat illogical. To know the worth, you need to first consider it…otherwise, you’re eliminating an option without consideration.
Desktop Linux distros have come a long way in the last 20 years, in terms of stability and the out-of-the-box experience. They “just work” now with all kinds of hardware and peripherals, and the native applications have gotten a lot better while many more applications have just moved to the browser (so they’re OS-agnostic), and you can fall back on things like a Windows virtual machine if absolutely necessary for some application.
However, regardless of the technical progress made, you’ll never find the experience to be as smooth as macOS (or Windows) simply because you’ll be in a tiny minority (like 1%) of users running a desktop Linux distro. So when your employer or school wants you to do something (e.g. install some client to connect to their VPN or WiFi network), they’ll only have instructions for macOS and Windows and iOS and Android. The best case scenario is that they’ll have out-of-date instructions for something like Ubuntu 18.04, which might get you started in the right direction. So you’ll need to have a certain degree of patience and curiosity to go read forum threads and the ArchWiki or the Debian Administrator’s Handbook. Do you have that in you?
i do consider it, and I tried it over and over again.
First thing I tried on linux was getting it to automatically mount to some shares on my freenas server. Worked once, then stopped working (no clue why it worked the first time) and suddenly could not get access anymore. Worked on it for two weeks to get it to work, then gave up.
To me, something like that is a basic function that should not be too hard to get to work. Its very demotivating to continue af something like that. Searching the internet and asking around and not finding a solution, I felt like linux was something like a spoiled child that does not play well with others.
Im willing to experiment again with a virtual box maybe.
Although I have over 20 years of IT experience, Im also dyslexic and hate to read.
I have the patients to learn and it does still interest me. Im fine wil two out of three things I try fail, but so far linux has giving me 20 fails and one success and that one succes took ages to figure out. Thats why its so difficult for me to get a grip on it.
Sure the switch from windows to mac was also different. But after a couple of weeks I was used to it. I could look stuff up to find solutions.
With linux, I have a problem, try and find a solution, try that solution, get a new error, search for that, find a fix, try the fix, get a new error…and on, and on, and on. That starts to get old very fast.
The direct answer to your question is yes. I have moved from MacOS and the Apple “eco system” to Linux (Arch) and a self-hosted eco-system. I’m generally happy with the move. Arch worked well for me because I had the time and the desire to be aware of all the details. The out of the box experience (lack of!) was not an issue for me but the main point.
Unsurprisingly, the less direct answer is more nuanced. Compromises have been made and certain things are less convenient. How you balance and value those things is up to you and I’m not going to pretend to know better than anyone else.
If you want a no-tinkering Linux experience, there are detailed guides here:
for Fedora, Manjaro, Linux Mint, Pop!_OS and Ubuntu. Most of those will work fine “out of the box”.
If you want to do something a little unusual, just like Windows or MacOS, you will have to do a bit of reading. For example, to mount my FreeNAS NFS share, I just put the following into my /etc/fstab. It’s worked fine for almost 10 years.
and adjust permissions (I just do this in the file system GUI, right click on the folder) then the share will get mounted there on boot. Or you could mount it with
sudo mount -a
If you installed FreeNAS, Linux is actually easier.
I guess if you have trouble with FreeNAS there’s only one place to go and generally only one way to do things - same with MacOS and Windows. But with Linux, there’s many ways to do any given thing, and many places to find it. Some are old and obsolete. So it would be best to try one of the better supported, better documented distros like Ubuntu.
DxO PhotoLab. Photo Mechanic plus. I have felt the absence of those two commercial apps more than most. I’m not upset about that or ready to run back to MacOS or Windows. I knew that was going to hurt a bit going in, so expectations set for myself upfront eliminated disappointment later. To a lessor degree the ease of doing shared notes, reminders and the like with my family (we were all in as an Apple family). We do that, but it’s less polished. (struggling with good words for this, maybe a bit more friction ongoing is better?)
What did I gain? Again, this is multi-layered and nuanced. Knowing my underlying platform isn’t built around the idea of surveillance capitalism is a thing for me. Getting out of vendor lock-in (no longer dependent on iCloud) is pleasing to me. Knowing that if things go south it’s on me not Apples sometimes spotty QA.
Edited to add: I can do the harder things, and sometimes very much enjoy the effort. Doesn’t mean I want to. On balance I still landed in a place were things generally work well and I can just get on with using them. It doesn’t have to become a time consuming hobby
I do also know that avoiding the data industrial complex requires going back to tin cans and string. If you don’t want to be tracked stay offline. This isn’t what the OP asked about but it played into the way I approached it and why I took it on to begin with… Part of the equation for me when deciding my pain tolerance.
To be fair, it’s almost always the other way around. Some hardware and software vendors choose not to play well with Linux (again, because desktop Linux users comprise only about 1% of all users, so supporting it is not worthwhile to them). The one exception might be with DRM and non-free drivers that some distros choose not to support, at least not by default.
When the cost of entry (no fiat currency cost, limited time investment) to just try Linux to see if it’s what you want is so low, why hesitate?
It’s been many years since getting Linux to work on a system has been any issue for me – and I’m a humble generally-technical family guy, not an IT whiz. There is zero downside for anyone other than the hard-corest of gamers - and those guys (like me) just need to setup dual boot. I mean, I wouldn’t promise that you’ll never duck-duck-go a configuration issue or something about some new software problem … but if you don’t ever have to do that for Windows or MacOS you’re not using your PC properly.
Well, I guess if you have chosen to use applications not available on an OS then you have committed yourself to another OS, no surprises there. Choosing applications that have tethered themselves to a non-Free operating system is the source of your problem, nothing to do with the OS. If you re-wrote the list as function rather than specific applications would you have any “no” items on there? Maybe that’s the solution.
Well, it’s what was available on my current OS when is started to learn it all. While is was learning those applications I did not have a cross platform option in mind. Also, I wasn’t expecting to have to learn all new applications just so I can switch to another OS.
It certainly is disruptive to change OS. The move from/to Windows and MacOS has it’s own set of Hmmm moments.
It may take a while longer to get past those Hmmm moments when you embrace Linux, once you’re there you can be comforted that you have moved past all the baggage and bs that comes with being tied to a business that will exploit their market position to maximize share holder value. Ya know, the whole Free bit in Free and Open Source Software…
If you stay in the Appleverse, that’s not exactly a bad thing at the moment. The HW roadmap is looking pretty good and AppleCare is a viable (although far from ideal) way to manage the lack of repairability for many.
Don’t go down that route. Judging by the nature of the thread, I believe you don’t want to become an administrator of two OSes…and managing the virtualisation configurations as well. i.e. This path has even more complexity (relatively speaking), and frictions.
I’m not rooting for, or dissing, any OSes, nor am I a fanboy of any OSes. It’s just that the reality is that if you’re after a great user experience with minimal friction…it’s hard to argue with macOS. No OS is perfect, but the likelihood of you having to resort to terminal, command line, registry…etc is typically lowest with macOS. That Apple tax does pay for something…your time and keeping your sanity.
(Background: I use Windows, macOS (m1, and x86 native and opencore), Linux…daily).
macOS is more ‘restrictive’…to keep you on the happy path, well-traveled path.
I have more then just MacOS.
-TrueNAS
-windows (for VR only)
-4 pi’s for small functions
And I do use the mac terminal for small stuff when needed.
Maybe I’ll hook up a pi and try to get Linux to work as practice. Framework laptop will just have to wait till I’m confident I can actually use it. Damn I wish the framework was hackintosh compatible.
