I've been a mac user since 1984. My current laptop is a 2010 MacBook Air, which still feels like a solid machine. Of course, I can't upgrade to the latest macOS, and my MacBook is past the 5 year lifespan I originally expected. So what is next?

I use macOS and Ubuntu Linux on a daily basis. I never liked Windows, for reasons, and for years, all of the new software I've installed on my MacBook has been open source. And I'm increasingly using software that depends on OpenGL, which has been deprecated by macOS.

Up to now, I have been super happy with my MacBook -- the hardware is brilliant, and open source software mostly just works (I use homebrew). But that's no longer the case for what Apple currently offers. Although I consider the MacBook pro trackpad to be best in class, the keyboard issues are troubling, and the loss of OpenGL will be a show stopper. The MacBook Pro is no longer the premium, best in class laptop that it used to be, and is still priced as. Although I don't feel the need to run the very latest hardware, the lack of hardware updates on Mac computers is a signal that Apple doesn't give a shit, and you would be buying in to a dying ecosystem.

Suppose Windows 10 linux emulation supported graphics out of the box, so I could run X11 apps, Wayland apps, any of the desktop environments like KDE or Gnome, and OpenGL apps. And suppose I could disable all the Windows spyware. Then I'd seriously consider a Windows laptop. Microsoft just bought Github, so we can hope that they will eventually get a clue and fix these problems. But that's still years away, I would guess.

So I'm going to replace my old MacBook with a Linux ultrabook. Right now, the Dell XPS 13 Developer Edition looks like the overall best replacement for a 13" mac laptop. Other options I've looked at: System 76 Galago Pro and Purism Librem 13.

I remember them being suppliers of some of the more high-end cassette tapes in Soviet Union back in 80s! :)

How things changed...

Paul B.

... Only outlaws will have plastic knives! :)

Paul B.

I've heard that only TeX and Shuttle avionics were considered bug-free! :)

But yes, it is weird to call a worm (yes, a sophisticated worm) to be "most sophisticated piece of software", when there is Emacs! :)

Moreover, we still calll "programming a TV remote", well, programming! :)

(Not that I am very good at this particular programming task, mind you... )

Paul B.

Such as icon of modern Left FDR, who did so much good, and was a great admirer of (and admired by) both?

Google, say, "FDR Mussolini" or read, e.g., http://dailycaller.com/2016/12...

So, what were you saying again?

At my previous place of employment my (paper) cheques were made by that guy's company who knew a thing or two about cheque counterfeiting...

Just saying, and great movie (and book) too!

Paul B.

Or a radar running continuously and when there is a blip on the screen alerting someone? I would imagine that a rogue sub willing to attack the navy ship is not going to be broadcasting its coordinates...

Paul B.

Govt did. When they introduced wage caps in New Deal age, employers had to compete for workers on *something*, and figured out that paying for health insurance was a good benefit to add.

Paul B.

Nope, I mean to the scientific paper in Nature Photonics, not press-release...

Like this: http://www.nature.com/nphoton/...

Paul B.

Just curious to read...

Paul B.

No problem, they can replace the audience with robots.

Yep, that was what I was hinting at -- of course one can not securely interoperate with other services using plain old STMP, but I hoped they would add secure link between any two of their internal customers, with plausible deniability that they ever communicated.

As to "innocence" of metadata, a required (and educational!) read that I am sure you have seen, but others might have not: https://kieranhealy.org/blog/a...

Paul B.

That would still leave metadata behind -- depending on how exactly this ProtonMail works, it is plausible that metadata between two recipients both using this service would be obscured as well.

Paul B.