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Comment by bArray | Hacker News Reader

> Not only are they better built

In this case, but there are plenty of examples of a sub-par performance from Apple. Broken keyboards, display cable issues, shipping with overheating CPU profiles, removing buttons, useless touch bar display, removal of ports - to name a few. As Rossman says: "the only part on a MacBook that doesn't blow are the fuses".

> they also run macOS

Again, not been a fan of their recent work. I can get a very macOS-esque experience in Linux. It's not always a seamless experience granted, but it's really quite acceptable.

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> I can get a very macOS-esque experience in Linux.

The problem is the “can get.” If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software, and troubleshooting issues etc before you’ve spent the savings from buying a non-Mac-native laptop?

If you value your time like that you might as well sleep 2h less and earn 400$ every night.

This is not a fair comparison because there are a lot of benefits of troubleshooting, most of them intangible. If you don't like it fine, just get a Linux "certified" laptop or a Mac.

I responded to a person saying that he could, with enough time, make Linux like Mac OS. I'm saying it's not worth the time for many people, might as well just buy a Mac OS native laptop.

I don't see how buying a Linux "certified" laptop figures into this - they aren't "mac-like." And I agree with you, just buy a Mac if that's what you're looking for.

> with enough time

I wouldn't want to overstate the effort, we're talking a day at most. The reward is a machine that you have a high amount of control over.

How much time have you spent working around MacOS bullshit?

> If you value your time at, say, $200/hr, how long can you spend learning about Linux distros, repos, software,

A lot of software people already understand linux; obviously if you have to learn everything from scratch it's not the ideal productivity choice.

I'm no Linux newbie. I've run Debian servers for many years, and I set up my first Linux box circa 1997.

But if my two options are buying a Mac native laptop or spending the time trying to set up a "mac-like" experience on a Linux distro installed on an Acer laptop designed for Windows (the comment I was replying to), I'm going with the Mac native laptop.

The learning curve really isn't bad from Unix to Unix OSes and any of the additional stuff is really no different from the undertaking for learning about macOS.

You propose it's costing you $200 per hour, but actually you're also gaining real skills too that you may have otherwise paid for. Once you have a decent setup you really don't spend much time learning anything additional.

If you run into issues, there is a wealth of help out there and if you really get stuck you can simply peek under the hood, even make some changes.

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