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Ask HN: Why are Macbook Pros so common in the developer/hacker community?

6 points by ameen ↗ HN
I've been baffled by the omnipresence of MBPs in leading tech companies(Facebook, Twitter, Google, etc), and also with Independent developers. Is there any reason most programmers prefer MBPs over other Windows/Linux Notebooks?

P.S. Even people who have no intentions of developing for the Apple iOS/Mac platforms use MBPs as their primary hackbox.

31 comments

[ 3.3 ms ] story [ 209 ms ] thread
_pius
POSIX-compliant OS combined with Apple's software and hardware design sense.
samarudge
99.999% of the software we can run on our servers can be run on a Mac, it's (arguably) more user friendly than Linux. They're also pretty decent spec'd computers that take a while to go out of date (My 4 year old MBP runs Lion with no problems).
ameen
I heard that Lion was shipped with a few issues and have heard a few people wishing to go back to Snow Leopard. Is Lion a step backwards?
igor_evsukov
New software will always be shipped with bugs. If You haven't urgent need for Lion I encourage You to wait until 10.7.2
samarudge
There are a few issues, particularly with LDAP, but that wasn't what I meant. Lion is the latest version and it's running fine (minus the bugs present on every system) on 4 year old hardware.
bbgm
You have a shell, you have access to some great apps like Keynote, OmniFocus and Papers2, and great hardware.
zimpenfish
Close the lid, it goes to sleep. Open the lid, it wakes up. Windows and Linux have yet to master this simple task.
pestaa
Sorry to disagree, but it was already available in Windows ages ago. Furthermore, not all notebook cases support this functionality.

Update: Dear downvoter, please have a look at this evidence: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/144454/lid.png

kitsune_
This not only works with Windows, but also with most Linux distros.
rbanffy
The late 90's want their Linux back.

Seriously, I never had this kind of problem with Linux. I am having them now, but I have nobody to blame but myself for running a beta OS (Ubuntu 11.10)

sixtofour
I almost consider 11.04 to be beta. Alt-tab to switch between windows is driving me nuts (I'm using the classic interface), the new window gets some kind of focus (titlebar changes) but the keyboard focus doesn't reliably follow. And Ubuntu has jumped on the minimalist, hide previously easily found configuration settings bandwagon.

Harumph!

(But I still like Ubuntu, overall.)

rbanffy
I have been using 11.04 on my home machine and it feels very solid if rough around the edges. Only problem I had was with FontForge crashing under Unity and working fine with Gnome classic.
sixtofour
I bit the bullet and spent some time yesterday installing XFCE and fiddling with it. And now it feels solid to me again too (it was never really shaky, just irritating in my use case). Focus reliably follows whatever window I alt-tab to, and I'm happy again.

I actually don't care what DE or window manager I use, my computer is just a place to hold a browser, a terminal window, and some development tools. All I require is that it stay out of my way and not make me notice it.

ameen
I think Windows Sleep/Hibernate works good provided the h/w support exists (I've seen a few windows boxes without the hibernate option, wonder why that is though)
jfb
They're brilliantly designed, well made, price competitive, and offer the opportunity to run OS/X along with Windows and Linux. Also, there's a point at which spec'ing out machines is an exercise in tedium, and with Apple, you pick the screen size, RAM, HDD/SSD, and sometimes processor, and you're done. That's really nice.
deskamess
I do not have a MBP, but the multi OS capability is what makes it a candidate for my next purchase. You can develop iphone/ipad/OSX apps, android apps, windows apps (via VMWare) without having to buy another machine.
ameen
That is a major reason why I'm considering it (or the Macbook Air) for my next notebook. Also, I believe Windows can be natively installed on Macs.
jfb
OS/X ships with very good support for repartitioning and installing Windows, if that's the way you swing.
DrScorpion
actually, the answer to your question is "Baaa Baa"--the sound of sheep following other sheep. i am going to offer a dissent here. there is no intellectual rationale for the mac worship.i think linux as as easy to work with as any mac os (and are we talking dvlpr or enduser?). & um, when was the last time you built an Apple machine customized to your needs? last i checked steve jobs didn't know--or understand--what my needs were(the guy thought aluminum was a non-conductor--genius to you, maybe...). apple products are not designed for pros(ask an apple marketing person about their swim lanes). and i think many ntwrk adms will have many unpleasant stories about mac problems on corporate networks. there was a time when apple hardware was better but june 2006 changed all that. there was a time when apple's software more closely mirrored the hacker community's push toward quality and innovation (and not just with FreeBSD) but those times are over, too. i'm going to quote a very ordinary man, who once said, "Apple is not a computer company anymore." That was Steve Jobs; and he's right. dr. jrrodriguez
ameen
I'm talking developer usage. And which distro do you suggest to a developer who is starting out.
sixtofour
"a developer who is starting out."

Lots of people will say "this distro for that reason," etc. None are hands down better than all the rest, and all of them are reasonable.

Ubuntu is very popular, and it doesn't require too much knowledge to get started. After you've used Linux for awhile, you'll develop your own preferences and you can switch to whatever you prefer. If you want a slightly easier way to enable media, you could go with Mint, which is based on Ubuntu.

http://distrowatch.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Linux_distribution#Popular_dist...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Linux_distributions

The timeline graphic of that last one is interesting, it shows how each distro is derived from its parents.

EDIT: It doesn't matter overly much, just start somewhere.

ameen
Thank you. I've tried Ubuntu before, so I guess I'll have to check out Mint as well. It was recommended by a few of my friends as well.
seb_z_lite
the new Mint Debian with Xfce is awesome and really user friendly.
georgespencer
Best engineered machines on the market. POSIX-compliant. Simple to spec. Great OS and easy to add others. Outstanding battery life. High quality components (trackpad, screen, keyboards).
kitsune_
I guess the main reason is that it gives you access to the Linux development stack without having to use Linux :)

I personally use a Lenovo x220 with Linux on it.

ameen
Which distro do you use? I'm looking to sink myself fully into Linux.
kitsune_
I use Arch on this laptop... if you're a beginner I wouldn't recommend it however. Ubuntu, even with Unity, is a good choice in my opinion.
todojunkie
For me, it's so very nice to have the full power of a unix shell underneath a very elegant GUI.

I know some people will argue they can get the same GUI (or even better) in other environments, and I also know some people will argue they can get the full power of unix in other environments (ex: cygwin). For me, Apple comes with this setup out of the box, I don't waste copious amounts of time configuring it, it just works (for the most part).

tmckd
It runs pretty much whatever you want to run. Unixy underpinnings along with MS Office, Adobe Creative Suite and you can run Windows/Linux in VMs if you want. The MBP will run pretty much any tool you need for whatever job you have. Also the hardware is attractive. What's not to like other than the price?
13rules
It's cliche, but mainly it's because they just work. The notebook itself is well designed, things rarely crash and if they do it is normally just that application, not the entire system.

Hook up a monitor and it just works. Plug in a printer and it's recognized and you'll be printing in minutes. Same thing with keyboards and mice, etc. No configuration, diagnostics, downloading drivers from all sorts of different sites.

With VMWare (or Parallels if you prefer) you can run anything you need to in Windows ... with my SSD it now feels like Windows is native - it's super fast. Great for testing web development.

I switched 5-6 years ago and started to get my family and friends to switch. My mom and dad and sister are converts ... bonus there is that I NEVER have to give them tech support. It just works like it's supposed to -- and those that never want to access a command line don't have to, but for those that do it's there when you want it.

chrisbennet
One reason I haven't seen mentioned yet is the quality of the screens. Back when I was consulting, I was always showing clients whatever I was working on for them. A nice bright screen makes GUI's and graphics look their best.