It's not Apple's great software. Most of Apple's software is shit (as opposed to 3rd parties who write OSX apps).

It's the fact that it's mostly-decent hardware running a mostly-compliant POSIX OS that looks enough like GNU to make it usable (and compatible with web servers).

If someone, ffs anyone, made a decent, reliable Linux laptop, Apple would lose the dev market in a month.

This is called a Thinkpad.

I'm running Debian on a Thinkpad at work, this work great... except for a few points.

It's always a bit harder to integrate with the rest of the internal infrastructure: * AD integration in your favorite email client to have auto-completion on emails is a bit tedious * Exchange calendars are also annoying * Mounting (and, first, finding) the windows shares can a bit tedious * Password renewal is not integrated that well

It works, but it takes a few hours to figure out and configure.

And sometimes you are just stuck with Windows/OS X because of a specific piece of software (for example in my case, the video conferencing tool we are using). I never used a truly Linux only environment in professional context, I always had a Windows VM also.

> This is called a Thinkpad.

Indeed! The keyboard is amazing. The latest thinkpad x1 carbon is pure bliss, and Linux works out of the box for everything without any problems.

The latter point is not really true. There are plenty in web dev that need Adobe tools to open files. There are plenty in corporate environments that need Office to edit docs (Open/Libre doesn't really cut it for heavier stuff).

I share the frustration, mainly because both OS X and Windows are getting progressively worse over time as opposed to better, and the lack of a decent alternative is hugely frustrating.

You can't use Apple's great software if the hardware keeps crapping out and costing $X00 to fix.

>> (I disagree with the level of his vitriol against Apple, but I appreciate his deep teardowns and clear explanations. He just doesn't seem to understand how valuable the Apple software is vs. Windows to those who need or appreciate osx.)

IIRC, he said in one of his videos that he's a basically Windows guy who repairs Apple products because that's where the money is.

Because his channel is on YouTube, it's quite possible he's amping up his vitriol a little to get views. On the other hand - I watch a lot of his videos (I discovered his channel when I had one of those overheating 2011 MBPs and was looking for a fix), and his vitriol for the most part is all related to repairability and how Apple prefers to replace entire logic boards instead of fixing what's wrong.

It does seem like a lot of his customers come to him after talking to a Genius and being told that their Mac can't be fixed.

So in general, while he does take a strong stance, I would not say that he's not hating on Apple simply for the sake of hating on Apple.

As someone who has torn down and rebuilt a thinkpad or two, I was appalled when I started looking into his and other videos on MBP repair since I've never owned a MBP. They're clearly designed with entirely different priorities; form over function has been pushed way too far thus sacrificing durability and serviceability. I guess that is okay with some people, but given the cost of the machine, I think its ridiculous. Apple can, and should, do better than this.

What Apple software? Homebrew? Crusty old 2007 GNU coreutils?

I can understand this guy's hate for Apple though. They're violently hostile to anyone with a screwdriver or a compiler.