I Hate Macs

[mdlbear]

Yet another reason, if any were needed, not to like Macs. I pulled out my shiny new Lenovo thinkpad keyboard, which works like a dream. Nice touch, no errors. Trackpoint far enough down so that I don't touch it accidently. Three buttons. I've typed this entire paragraph with no errors due to missed or doubled keys. Perfect.

...but there doesn't seem to be an Apple key. Blerg. At least, if I use it for text, I won't go hitting Apple-W when I want to delete a word and end up deleting the window I was typing into.

There's a Thinkpad in my future, I suspect.

Comments

[telynor.livejournal.com]

Does it have the flaggy/windows key? That often works as an apple key for me.

And, you know. If you're giving away your laptop, I can always use a spare! :D

[mdlbear]

No windows key; it's basically an IBM laptop keyboard.

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Does ALT = Apple?

[mdlbear]

No, ALT=option, and functions in a terminal window exactly the way ALT does on a Linux box. Which is what I need for it to do.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Try "DoubleCommand".

[technoshaman.livejournal.com]

Neat! xmodmap for cocoa-native!

[mdlbear]

I'm not sure that would get me a command key on what is essentially a laptop keyboard, without messing up either the regular keyboard or one of the actual keys on the Thinkpad keyboard.

The annoying thing about the Mac is that it has this extra shift key in the first place, and I can never really predict what's going to happen when my fingers do what 20 years of training have taught them to do without thinking about it.

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Absolutely concur concerning the utility and bombproofness of Thinkpads; anything in the lettered series has been grand (the earlier numbered series, such as 3xx, had cases made of nasty brittle plastic; I lost one that way during the Nisqually earthquake -- it only fell ca 5 decimeters but that's all it took to shatter the case -- saved the hard-drive, though, so it sorta lives on).

Anyway, have three of them networked as my el-cheapo engineering worksystem, and they are just grand. Bought only one of them as-new; the others came from RE-PC (Seattle) and Boeing Surplus (now closed) respectively.

Would happily have two more: when I get into serious geostatistical modelling I need lots of processing to turn those matrices around.

Have a fourth Thinkpad currently in the throes of being Penguinised (to Ubuntu, which seems to run okay altho' the memory at 128 Meg is a bit sparse for it); I do understand that current Thinkpaden may be had pre-Penguinised, which strikes me as an eminently sensible solution. Only problem is that my main modelling software, Surfer 8.0, does not have a Linux version. But I suspect that something could be cobbled together that would do, mathematically and cartographically, what I actually do on a daily basis to earn my kippers and single-malt.

I was under the impression

[capplor.livejournal.com]

that the "apple" key is the same as "ctrl". I'm not at the mac, now, so I can't look and be sure, but I've got PCs at work & Macs at home.

Re: I was under the impression

[mdlbear]

It's not, though many of the operations that are bound to control keys in Windows are bound to apple (also called "command") on a Mac. There is, fortunately, a separate control key.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

Thinkpads have been going downhill for a while; Lenovo's customer service has fallen through the floor, and I think their quality control is going, too. Might try a Dell Ubuntu machine. My general experience with Dells is fairly positive, and it's probably a better price.

[angharads-house.livejournal.com]

Interesting observation. At what point (say, which model) would you say that their QC has gone downhill? None of my beasties are bleeding-edge machines by any standpoint.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

I'm not really sure; it's more a sense that they aren't what they once were, rather than a specific problem I can point at. The customer service problems, on the other hand, have made the trade press and been widely discussed on-line.

[randwolf.livejournal.com]

BTW, have a good time at Conflikt! Wish I could be there!

[aerowolf.livejournal.com]

Try your windows key. Winkey maps to command, Alt maps to option.

Every "I hate Macs" post you have made has sounded more like "I've gotten set in my ideas as to how a computer Should Work and the Mac is making me learn how to deal with it differently and I don't want to have to learn it all again" than actual honest "the Mac can't do this". You, the hacker, have stopped hacking your workspace environment and want it to behave according to your assumptions.

This is a perfectly valid way to do things, but your language suggests that just because you find an assumption that the Mac violates that it is a reasonfor EVERYONE to hate it. That isn't logical, and it shows more that you are cantankerously and curmudgeonly approaching the platform. It is no wonder you're irritated with it.

But, Windows has the same filesystem semantics that you decry the Mac for (though the Mac has an override available). Instead of asking others, or reading the help, though, you obstinately say "This sucks" and don't allow the resolution of your instant issue to affect your emotional trauma at having your workflow interrupted.

Go get an Ubuntu or Debian CD, stick it in your drive, and hold down the Alt/option key as you power/boot up. Then select the CD icon. Then install it. You'll likely have less annoyance.

Alternatively, recognize that you're in a new evironment/platform where the basic functions are there but implemented differently... And that many of the things you expect are implementation details (aka 'deep hacks').

[mdlbear]

This keyboard is a modified laptop keyboard, and does not have a Windows key. If I'd been able to find a key that worked, I would not have written this post. I also would not be writing this post if my XO had arrived on time.

It's true that I'm old and set in my ways; it's also true that I have no particular desire or need to get good enough at either the Mac or the Windows environment to render them usable. Especially since that would probably also render the Unix environment un usable, which would be intolerable.

I'm well aware that Windows and Mac have many of the same problems, including case sensitivity, which is why I'm going to be putting in the necessary kludgery to work around the problem.

Most of the things I dislike are not "implementation details" but early design decisions that render the three major environments forever incompatible with one another in fundamental ways. I had to pick one and stick with it if one wants to get comfortable and competent at the level I prefer to operate at. Mac sucks for me; your mileage may vary.

You will note that I titled this post "I hate Macs".