Appreciate the encouragement! I'm planning to pipe all feedback and expectations to System76 directly. I know what I bought likely isn't as good as my Mac from a look and feel standpoint. The Linux community seems incredible, and I'm looking for opportunities to pay money to do my part to push it.
I switched to System76 last year from being on a mac for about 15 years. I knew that there would be some things which would be lower quality (speakers, webcam, mic, trackpad, screen) but found a couple of things:
1/ my machine is way faster and lasts way longer;
2/ I have had really great support from System76 (esp. compared to Apple -- they helped me debug a hardware problem and then I just ordered a new card and popped it in myself);
3/ I actually don't mind the quality degradation compared to the massive improvement in my day-to-day experience.
I'm an Arch user (/fanatic -- aren't we all?), YMMV.
I highly recommend you adjust your perspective. Look for the positives not the negatives.
Isn't as easy to use as your Mac for some things, sure, but to start out thinking it isn't as good means you'll look for the things that are flawed instead of noticing the things that are amazing.
I've used Linux as a daily driver since 2016, yes there are things that would be easier if I just owned a Mac - somewhat ironically that includes Microsoft Office - but there are many things that are just amazing on Linux.
The ability to pipe audio from one program into another, or quickly create a virtual audio device that combines two get a lot of use from me on the unending stream of video calls.
The fact my home directory contains all my configs in plain test making it easy for me to have the same custom setup across 3 different computers (and all nicely versioned in git).
How about the fact that while I love a keyboard centric tiling window manager (i3wm) when my wife or son log in they get a KDE or Gnome desktop that is as familiar to them as their existing Window's computers.
Good framing! I'll look for what's better not what's missing:
- I love that the laptop is user upgradable for RAM and drives.
- I love that I'm supporting a positive open hardware/software future
edit: just realized I can play Steam games natively! And also have a built in SD card slot.
Also have a look at the unixporn subreddit. You'll find a lot of inspiration for beautiful and functional desktops that will consume all your time if you're not careful. But in a fun way.
> I know what I bought likely isn't as good as my Mac.
It's probably moreso the hardware that will bug you, not the software - Linux on System76 machines is probably the closest to "it actually just works" that I've seen and it's super cool, but at the end of the day it's still rebranded Clevo shells.
I like their desktop towers and I remain hopeful they can do their own laptop one day.
