Hey, folks,

My laptop broke the other day, and I need a replacement asap. But here’s the rub: I despise windows. I’ve been a full time fedora user on my main device for a decade now, and I run Ubuntu on my desktop that I rarely touch because it’s ooooold. I am not a techy person. At all. I’m an idiot, actually. I use Linux because it’s cheaper, it keeps my aging hardware alive longer, and because politically I align pretty well with the idea of FOSS. And because I absolutely hate windows. I don’t even like KDE, because it reminds me of windows. Cinnamon? Too much like windows! Lol. I love my workflow in gnome, I love that it’s shiny and pretty and looks nice. And for the most part, I’m a browser based user. I rarely have cause to do much outside of the browser, except for sail the seas for some audiobooks. Even my papers for school are written in Google docs.

But also, on my desktop or a secondary device, I don’t mind having to fiddle with things and get them working, I enjoy it. It makes me feel like I have actual tech skills when I absolutely do not. But on the device I use for school I just want something that works and I never have to think about. I feel like a traitor to the cause even considering it, but I think I want to get a used m1 air. I’ve never used a Mac before, though. I used an iPhone once, for about 10-15 minutes, and I hated it. But, like, of course I did. It was completely different, and incapable of doing the thing I wanted it to do.

How painful is the Linux to Mac transition? If I’m using an android phone, an Ubuntu desktop, and a MacBook, how awful is everything going to be to switch between devices? Am I going to regret this purchase, or, worse yet, become an apple fan boy and abandon my glorious FOSS devices forever?

Please assist

  • Kotsune@ani.social
    2·
    10 days ago

    I’m kinda curious too. I don’t really want to replace Linux, but trying out Mac would be fun. The main issue I’m seeing is that a lot of Mac apps are paid, even more than Windows. Using an iPhone I feel like almost everything on the App Store is either paid or free with purchases simply because getting apps onto the App Store takes a lot of effort. Am I right here? Or is that only on iOS but not so much macOS? Or am I completely wrong? I feel like FOSS is close to nonexistent on iOS and much rarer on macOS than Windows or Linux.

  • radiowaffle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    14 days ago

    I think it won’t be terrible as Mac and Linux share a common ancestor. A fair bit will feel familiar, but it is fundamentally different in some regards. The Finder system may confuse you for example. But it sounds like you don’t really use it for much, in which case, I don’t think you will run into issues. It will probably require less tinkering than Linux. But at that point, if all you need is a browser, why not just get a Chromebook? If you really want Apple though, the Neo would be perfect for you. You are the target audience.

    • radiowaffle@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      1·
      14 days ago

      Also, for reference, you won’t really have an issue switching between everything. I work on Windows, have a Linux server, my personal machine is Linux, and I have a Mac for all my on the go work. I have an iPhone because it is convenient for me, and I know how to work with it rather than against it, but I was an android user for many, many years before I got sick of Google everything.

  • db_null@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    1·
    20 days ago

    You can throw Fedora Asahi on the M1 Mac and it will run Gnome, a browser and most regular apps just fine (e.g. VLC, LibreOffice) but you will run into trouble with Steam and lots of other apps. Might be fine for your usecase and Asahi is easy to install. You also keep a small partition with macOS, just in case.

    If you want Apple hardware but full Linux (I get it) you could look for an even older intel based macbook, but beware to not get one with the T2 chip (they put that in from 2017 on or so) because that thing will break your will to exist when it comes to some drivers. Older macs though run most distros really well.

    I used to be a heavy macOS user for decades and also love Gnome because they are very similar and tick all the boxes for OS aesthetics