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0 pointsreitanqild2y ago0 comments

At the consulting company I work for Linux has been an option for 6+ years together with Mac and Windows.

Hey, even at the customer I work with now (a rather influential directorate), people have the option to choose Mac or Linux.

And: pro-tip, if you are going to work in such a place (public directorate), consider taking the Mac option because unlike with Windows PCs there are limits to how cheap the bean counters can get them and the budgets for hardware is optimised independently of the budget for hiring more people to cover for the fact that they aren't nearly as effective as they could have been and I am afraid - also the hiring budget. (The Linux option is the second best: you get the same hardware but with Linux you make the best out of it.)

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rob742y ago

That never ceases to amaze me: I mean, as software developers we usually get paid more in a month (or maybe two) than the company hardware we are using costs, so you would think it would be obvious to anyone that money spent on hardware which enables us to be more productive is money well spent?! But no, "do you really have to have the laptop with 32 GB RAM, isn't 16 GB enough?"...

macNchz2y ago

This conversation exasperates me and has happened too often even at profitable and/or well funded companies. I don’t know what it is about ordering upgraded-spec computers that inspires people to desperately want to save money, but even as the decision maker on this I’ve had to repeatedly defend spending, say, and extra $150 on MacBook Pros rather than Airs to people who are oddly fixated on the topic.

That’s like one hour of the person using the machine’s time! To save them tons of frustration and wasted time from their computer thermal throttling while, say, hooked up to multiple monitors, compiling, and running a video call.

ryukafalz2y ago

> I’ve had to repeatedly defend spending, say, and extra $150 on MacBook Pros rather than Airs

Funnily enough I've sometimes had problems with the reverse. I've got a bad back, and lighter laptops are easier for me to deal with than heavier ones especially when I'm on-call. But sometimes the only option available at work has been a 15" MacBook Pro or similarly sized Linux laptop.

I have a strong preference for Linux laptops but I'd really also like it to be small and lightweight!

paledot2y ago

My wife sustained a minor head injury when the weight of her new work-issued MacBook Pro caused her wheelchair to flip over backwards when she stood up momentarily. (It was hanging from the backrest.) MacBook Air is not an option currently on the menu.

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