I'll start with things that I'm happy to have in mac that didn't have in Linux :)
- Cannot run a bunch of programs that stay on the topbar, like LINE (https://line.me/en/), Kap (https://getkap.co/), etc. I am a fairly heavy user of Kap and I love the interface, so this is probably the biggest differentiator for me. I can use Gimp, Inkscape, etc. on Mac so this is not really reversible.
- The visual quality of the programs in Mac is generally a lot higher, and humans do like aesthetic visuals. For example the "CPU indicator" (iStat) I have in mac is an order of magnitude better, same as VPN tool, etc.
- Upgrading the OS to a major version without worrying if I'll be able to boot next time.
- (unfair?) 10+ hours of real-world battery usage, in Linux I could often get half of the advertised 5-6h battery life from the PCs if lucky
- A lot more hardware stuff with the M1 Macbook Air, like the amazing touchpad, keyboard (in new models), etc. Some will say it's fair to compare them some won't, so I'll leave that up to you but summarize them all in this point. I want to try Asahi Linux when it comes out stable though!
- Drivers all work very well, it's like they built them on purpose for their hardware (!). No more fighting with pulseaudio.
However overall I've found them to be a lot more similar than dissimilar to my surprise, swapping from one to another as a normal everyday JS dev is fairly trivial. To add on the author's list, the biggest issue I have is with external USBs, I like having them encrypted for backups and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do that with mac. I had no trouble with AndroidUSB, just install it and it behaves just like another filesystem program.
> Drivers all work very well, it's like they built them on purpose for their hardware (!). No more fighting with pulseaudio.
Pulseaudio is not related to drivers, but since you mentioned it, pipewire replaced pulse recently and it's way better than anything macos provides. You just can't operate on audio channels this way on a Mac.
On the other hand, there's lots of drivers which are missing on a Mac or require obnoxious upstream apps. For example Logitech has a 300MB macos app for configuring my mouse, 200MB app for the camera, and printer/scanner comes with ads. They work... sind of. Same settings/devices are exposed in Linux by default, without extra work.
> Upgrading the OS to a major version without worrying if I'll be able to boot next time.
You've been lucky. I've lost the system twice due to updates.
> Upgrading the OS to a major version without worrying if I'll be able to boot next time.
Yeah, well my friend's Intel Mac mini got bricked when he updated from Big Sur to Monterey in the first week after release. Needed to send it to Apple service. IMO Mac updates are almost as broken nowadays as Linux updates were 7+ years ago when I daily driven it.
I also upgraded my Thinkpad X220 from Windows 7 to Windows 10 when the update showed in my system, and everything worked without any reinstall since then.
"A program doent work on another OS" isn't really a fair complaint. If you need a screen recorder widget that can be done.
The visual quality of a well-themed KDE or similar DE is imo above and beyond anything macOS can do.
In 2022, booting a new OS update is not a problem that exists anymore on Linux. If you use a rolling release, you don't even need to worry about major updates, they're not a thing. Meanwhile, update hell on macOS has been a big issue for me in the past.
As far as drivers, ime on dozens of laptops there is no real issue beyond GPUs on laptop (Optimus) and WiFi, also pulseaudio isn't a thing anymore. But it's a "cry once" kind of situation.
I'm not complaining, I'm listing things that I'm happy to have in mac that I don't have in Linux, so def fair to list a specific program that is mac-only.
> the biggest issue I have is with external USBs, I like having them encrypted for backups and there doesn't seem to be an easy way to do that with mac
This is not what I'm saying. Most people install Linux on their Windows-certified laptop and complain that suspend/WiFi/sound doesn't work. If you bought preinstalled, everything would be flawless (it is for me).
And people continue to misunderstand that it is the driver manufacturers not supporting Linux that is usually the issue, not that 'Linux doesn't work with xx hardware' because of some inherent Linux failure.
After a quick scan, that list is full of stuff that either has never been an issue with me (who has been a Linux desktop user since 2002) or is actually an advantage of the ecosystem (and won't be a problem for people not continuously distro-hopping, e.g. "desktop users"). Some even seem like wilful lies (e.g. the one about Windows and Mac allowing you to 'configure everything via the GUI').
In short, it's FUD, and the author is not honest in his assessment. As such, the article is without merit. So, what can you not do on Linux that you can do on Mac?
> Some even seem like wilful lies (e.g. the one about Windows and Mac allowing you to 'configure everything via the GUI').
That's true excluding registry hacks 99.9% of people couldn't care less about.
In Linux on the other hand a TON of things do require using console.
> In short, it's FUD, and the author is not honest in his assessment.
I've heard this assessment from rabid Linux fanatics before.
However "FUD" is more likely your assessment of the article because it's as factual as it can be considering I've been using Linux as my primary OS for 25 years now.
> As such, the article is without merit.
Well, you've spent 10 seconds reading it, so your comment is without merit.
> So, what can you not do on Linux that you can do on Mac?
No clue, I've never used MacOS to a large extent (excluding wasting 3 days trying to install Windows next to it which I succeeded but I hated every second of that experience considering I had to even use BIOS loader hacks to make Windows work), the article is not about an Apple OS either.
There's no way I'll ever do that again. Apple hardware is meant for Apple software, period. Using anything else is a never ending source of pain.
> In Linux on the other hand a TON of things do require using console.
When was the last time you used Linux?
For a 'normal' desktop user, they will see the terminal as much as they would using Windows, basically not at all. Especially across most of the main user-focused distros like Ubuntu, Mint, Pop, MX, Zorin, etc.
> There's no way I'll ever do that again. Apple hardware is meant for Apple software, period. Using anything else is a never ending source of pain.
You accuse DocTomoe of essentially being a Linux fanatic and the use the same rethoric immediately afterwards...
> For a 'normal' desktop user, they will see the terminal as much as they would using Windows, basically not at all. Especially across most of the main user-focused distros like Ubuntu, Mint, Pop, MX, Zorin, etc.
