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Ask HN: should I buy a mbp?

2 points by alecbenzer ↗ HN
I've been a linux guy for the past 3 or so years, but now that I'm heading out to college and finally have some cash from a summer job, I've been thinking of going Mac. I really do think I have a bit of a "linux" mindset in that I value the freedom it offers (not "political" GNU freedom, but "freedom to control your computer" type freedom). For example, it annoys me to no end that I need to buy Xcode just so that I can get a C compiler (actually apparently with Lion Xcode is free now, but the fact that my OS doesn't ship with a c compiler and requires me to download a 3+ GB ide to get one bugs me). Plus, who doesn't love the street-cred?

However, linux has also been getting on my nerves a bit lately. Even more than the software is the fact that my hardware (for both my desktop and my laptop) is slowly dying in various ways, and I kinda just want to go to a company, be like "hey - give me unix", and get a machine that just works. I also like pretty UIs (which keeps me with ubuntu for most of my time with linux), so that's a nice mac plus.

So if anyone has made the linux -> mac switch before, is my skin going to end up crawling as I use my mac if I encounter issues like the xcode thing, or am I going to end up feeling comfortable after the initial hurdle and be happy with the switch? (well, obviously you can't tell me how I'll feel, but I'm looking for advice/suggestions with those issues in mind)

13 comments

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cpr
Xcode has always been free, until it was temporarily paid ($5!) for some odd reason during the 10.6 to 10.7 transition (I think it was a test of the Mac App Store, actually). So don't count that against Mac OS X.

There's also a GCC-for-Mac OS X distribution now at only a few hundred MB.

And the whole Clang suite is available as a separate download as well.

So there are lots of truly OSS solutions for developing on OS X.

alecbenzer
I think I read somewhere that the Xcode compiler is actually clang by default, right, not gcc? (not that I mind, I actually might prefer clang, just curious)

and link for GCC-for-Mac OS X? I looked around a while ago but couldn't find anything that said: "here, do this, and then you'll have gcc w/o having to pay or needing a dev account or anything"

myusuf3
I have been considering the same switch as well, but I definitely wouldn't if I am on my way to school. I would suggest saving your money; custom building a nice boss linux machine, or if you want drop the same amount of cash and get an epic gaming machine dual boot windows.
alecbenzer
I've already got most of a gaming desktop, save a slowly dying video card that I can replace for ~$300. I used to have linux on it but ran into some issues (honestly I don't even remember what broke initially - all I know is that my current ubuntu install won't boot), and ran into some more issues when I tried to install 11.04 on it again. I've also got a laptop with 11.04 on it with a slowly dying hard drive that I need to send it to fix, but I can't atm because that would kind of leave me without a computer as I go into my first week of college.

But in short, I'm tired of dealing with this shit. I'm probably going to keep my desktop around regardless and fix it up for gaming, and probably slab linux on there along with windows, but I want to have a "just works" machine that I can use a little more reliably.

edit: but of course, if that "just works" machine is going to make me twitch every time I use, then I wouldn't go for it.

justinhj
Hi. Yes. Xcode is free (now).
[dead] kleeg
I made the switch to Mac. It's not much of a hurdle. Most of what I do in the terminal remains pretty much the same. I still use vim predominantly. For the most part I'm happy with it.
notaddicted
I bought one 8 months ago, two pieces of advice:

- if you're going for the MBP13 do a feature for feature comparison with the Air13, you can get smaller size, SSD, and higher screen resolution if you sacrifice the processor speed and the 2nd RAM slot.

- I felt comfortable buying a Mac because I told myself if it ever crossed my threshold of annoyance I'd use rEFit to install Ubuntu (http://refit.sourceforge.net/), you may wish to research installing Ubuntu on a Mac laptop in order to reassure yourself.

EDIT: which never happened.

alecbenzer
Took a look at the mba's, and not loving the specs. CPU and the extra RAM feel more important to me then the smaller size, the screen res, and, to a lesser extent, the SSD (ie, an SSD would be nice, but I don't need it - and I might throw it in with an mbp if I'm feeling rich).

briefly looked into getting ubuntu on a mac - I'll do some more research into it if I get serious about a mac

dwc
Perhaps even more geeky / street cred than Linux, I use OpenBSD. But I also have a trusty mbp, and it's pretty nice to have something mainstream enough that it's supported by pretty much everyone, yet still have a shell prompt (for both local and ssh to a real operating system). So to me it's basically a web + terminal appliance, and it's extremely convenient.
zoowar
If you were to buy mbp, you could always install virtualization software to run a linux development instance (virtualbox.org works well).

In general, I wouldn't do it. You are going to pay a $500/$1200 (13"/15") premium for the mbp compared with alternatives. The question for you is what value is apple providing in exchange for this premium? Is this value, if any, of value to you.

My advice, buy an alternative and invest the savings.

alecbenzer
The value is (potentially) that I get works-out-of-the-box UNIX that doubles as (what I imagine is) a pretty nifty desktop experience in general. Your advice, though, would seem to indicate that the value I see isn't really there or isn't really worth it? (but now that I think about it I might be able to milk a mac off of a relative as a graduation gift, since I never really got one #joysofstillbeingakidkinda)
wisty
The MBA is probably better. If you want a laptop, thinness is better than grunt. If you want power, just get a desktop.

As for issues, you will have them. Stuff that was easy will be hard (though home brew is a half decent apt get replacement) and things that were hard will now be easy. But the change will feel sucky, for a while.

If you feel frustrated, there is always virtual box.

Oh, and check out the font rendering. Some people find Apple fonts hard to read. They look better (they are antialiased, not snapped to the nearest pixel) but some people find that less sharp, and hard to read.

alecbenzer
> If you want power, just get a desktop.

The thing is that I already have a desktop that I intend to fix up and run windows and linux on (which I'm kinda already doing/trying to do), so I'd feel silly getting a MacPro or something like that. Plus I feel like I can actually semi-comfortably customize a desktop I'd own, which gives me another reason not to make it a Mac (the desktop I currently have was actually self-built).

> home brew is a half decent apt get replacement

lol, I was following #zedshaw for a bit on twitter getting pissed off at homebrew for being retarded. but actually, is there a checkinstall type thing available for macs (or for homebrew I guess)? most of the time I actually prefer installing fresher versions of things from tars or git repos, but I want to have a way of managing the shit I throw into my filesystem (ie - removing it if I don't want it).

> If you feel frustrated, there is always virtual box.

But I'd kind of feel like an ass if I spent the money for a mbp only to end up running linux on it, and virtually at that. while there is the plus of getting (hopefully) more robust hardware, I want to try and figure out if macs are for me before I buy one

> check out the font rendering.

my bro has a mbp - I'll check it out