My old computer was failing. I searched some weeks about what was the current market offer for laptops. I came to realize that my « 20 years old Thinkpad standard » were not a thing anymore. If I wanted a laptop that was going to be around in 10 years from now and in good shape; it was going to be a Mac.
The first problem is the presence of NVIDIA cards in most high end laptop. Those cards are often « ahead of their time »; they promises high performance but lack longterm life expectancy. A good example is the System76 Oryx Pro: I gave it a try (a 2 500 euro test) only to look at it die on itself by overheating while idle in their recommended OS, PopOS… After changing the motherboard one time and the whole cooling system 3 time while under the warranty, once it expired the laptop needed yet again parts and I was not going to put more money in it.
The second problem is the hardware availability. I looked at many options like the KDE slim book, Framework, etc… All of those are good projects with high hopes. I even donate to those projects. But if I look at every one I know that are more than 5 years olds, getting any spare parts for their first generation product is nearly impossible. But Apple have no problem changing the battery of a 10 years old iPhone or macBook.
Being somewhat an open source evangelist, it’s a hard pill to swallow. After my personal search, Apple is winning the fight for a longterm solution.
So here I am, writing those line on a macBook Air M2. And the screen quality, the OS options, iCloud, AirDrop, etc… It make my life easier at the cost of my digital freedom…
But I guess I found a logical explanation of why I’m able to live with it.
This machine is like an apartment I’m renting. I expect everything to be in working order without any energy on my end. « It’s their problem ». Apple is my landlord. I understand there is « surveillance and all » in some parts and act accordingly.
Then for my job I still have a PC with Fedora Silverblue. This one is like a workshop. It need to bend the way I need it to do my job. I have virtual « rooms » for various projets (toolbox) and I can do whatever I need in them.
I must admit the convergence thing is a fresh breeze. I will continue my support for Phosh, Gnome Mobile and other mobile GNU/Linux/BSD project in the hope it will one day achieve the level Apple has reached.