FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad

Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by pcr910303 on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @08:49AM (#20865961)

The comments about using macOS instead of Linux or {Free,Open}BSD are getting downvoted in somewhat obscure reasons.

It's not that Linux isn't usable with minimal tweaking, I'm pretty sure macOS users also do a fair amount of tweaking (with, e.g. mapping keys with Karabiner (swapping Control & Caps Lock doesn't need third-party apps BTW), making the TouchBar useful again with HapticKey, etc...).

The problem is that Linux doesn't get fundamental things (in a user-perspective) right. It's a few months ago, so I'm not sure if the bug still remains, but the latest version of Ubuntu still has HiDPI problems (at least in VMware Fusion - and VMs are pretty standard to test OSes, right?) related to mouse pointer size, sleep doesn't work without configuring with systemd for a few hours about one-third of all of my Linux laptops, WPA2 Enterprise Wi-Fi connecting is an hassle, configuring input-systems for CJK languages require making a systemd service manually(!), installing packages are needed to use exFAT USB (I've heard that the Linux Kernel has now gained exFAT support by Microsoft, but it's still months later for the user), adding apt repository hangs when done with aptitude so the user has to touch /etc/, and the list goes on...

Are these issues really 'configurable' issues? They aren't, but everyone kinda says, 'Fiddle with {systemd and you will get manageable {battery life,Wi-Fi connection,HiDPI support, etc...}' And that's the reason why people just use macOS instead.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by Carpetsmoker on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @09:01AM (#20866037)

I don't go around macOS stories with "macOS sucks, this is why I use Linux". It's off-topic noise at best, and just pointless caring about what systems other people run at worst.

So yeah, -1 from me to all of those posts, and also the Arch Linux one (I'm typing this from an Arch machine). I don't think the reasons are that obscure: it's off-topic and doesn't contribute. Your post at least has some depth to it, but on the other hand, it's the same discussion ... every time.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by peterwwillis on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @10:40AM (#20866907)

If someone posted a story called "Driving on Water", and it was all about how you could modify your car to get it to drive on a lake... sure, it's interesting... but it would certainly be worth pointing out that boats exist, and that boats are perhaps much easier at doing what you're trying to do, which is transportation on water. Maybe there's some reason the original posters aren't using boats, and they can share that information. We don't know until we start communicating about it.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by Carpetsmoker on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @12:21PM (#20868145)

Everyone here is already familiar with all the major operating systems, including macOS. There is no value in rehashing this debate all over again here – which isn't even what most comments are doing, they're just digs at FreeBSD/Linux.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by peterwwillis on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @12:38PM (#20868338)

I don't think we're trying to debate as much as point out problems unique to some OSes, and how we wish it were different. I would very much like to use Linux as a desktop, if setting it up weren't a garbage fire. It doesn't have to be this way.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by TorKlingberg on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @09:43AM (#20866361)

Why are you bringing up MacOS vs. Linux in a thread about FreeBSD on a Thinkpad?

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by stanski on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @09:04AM (#20866061)

Comparing macOS and FreeBSD (for practical reasons) is a bit of a stretch (despite sharing the Unix base). I assume that's what the downvotes are for.

Isn't one of macOS's main selling features its sleek UX? If you're all about the command line and don't care much about the UI, you probably wouldn't be using it in the first place.

And in terms of Linux, I think it's more of a personal preference to be honest. Personally I go the other way. People who love macOS will continue using it regardless of what Linux (or even FreeBSD) is like.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by reza8802 on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @10:36AM (#20866866)

I work most of the time from the terminal. But I love macOS as my primary OS. I just want a system that works. MacOS is amazing even if someone works the whole day in a terminal. I don't want to deal with unsupported hardware.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by cycloptic on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @10:23AM (#20866717)

Can you please not make these ridiculous comments? The laptops that you need to manually tweak things on to get your Ubuntu or FreeBSD setup to work won't even run macOS. In fact, it's illegal to install that operating system on anything besides the ~10 pieces of hardware that Apple supports. I would offer to fix your issues with VMware Fusion, but couldn't even patch it to support HiDPI even if I wanted to because it's a proprietary closed-source application.

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Re:FreeBSD on the Lenovo Thinkpad by pcr910303 on Tuesday September 03, 2019 @10:56PM (#20873593)

> I would offer to fix your issues with VMware Fusion, but couldn't even patch it to support HiDPI even if I wanted to because it's a proprietary closed-source application.

FYI: not only VMware Fusion but also two of my laptops also has the same problem. It's the desktop DE that has to be patched, not VMware Fusion.

The bug is about mouse pointer's size are displayed differently in GTK/non-GTK apps, if you're interested. There's lots of different 'solutions' in the web, but it's a hassle to find out what works. :-(

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