[fouc]

I wish mac users would stop using homebrew and use a real package manager with actual dependency management.

At the very least, replace homebrew with something like devbox which has `devbox global` for globally managing packages, it uses nix under the hood, and it's probably the simplest most direct replacement for homebrew.

[pram]

I don't agree this is an issue and I'll tell you why: Homebrew isn't responsible for keeping the system functional like apt or pacman, it's a supplemental thing. I've also found it's useful in this capacity on Linux specifically with LTS distros, I can get the latest fzf or zoxide or whatever without having to add some shady repo.

[thewebguyd]

This is how I see/use brew as well, and being able to just blow the directory away anytime and start over if need be is nice.

It's not a "system" package manager, nor was it ever meant to be. Its supplemental. I've also found it valuable on the various immutable linux distros.

[AnonC]

I use MacPorts because of older versions of Homebrew having a weird and insecure design. [1] I think some of those design issues may have been fixed, but I’m wary of Homebrew.

[1]: https://saagarjha.com/blog/2019/04/26/thoughts-on-macos-pack...

[skybrian]

It's not necessary because Mac applications shouldn't have any dependencies other than the OS. (Whatever additional libraries they use should be included.) This should also be true of basic developer tools. Once you're in a particular ecosystem, tools like deno, npm, or uv can handle their own dependencies.

Alternatively, you could do development in a container and use apt-get there. That's probably safest now that we're using coding agents.

[TheDong]

I wish the mac users would switch to a real OS, linux, so that software companies would release linux versions of stuff first.

Codex, Claude Desktop, etc etc all starting out as "macOS exclusive" feels so silly when they're targeting programmers. Linux is the only OS a programmer can actually patch and contribute to, and yet somehow we've got a huge number of developers who don't care about having a good package manager, don't care about being able to modify their kernel, don't care about their freedom to access and edit the code of the software they rely on to work...

It's depressing how much of the software industry is just people on macbooks using homebrew to install a newer version of bash and paying $5 for "magnet" to snap windows to the corners since their OS holds them in a prison where they can't simply build themselves a tiling window manager in a weekend.

The OS is core to your tools and workflows, and using macOS cedes your right to understand, edit, and improve your OS and workflows to a company that is actively hostile to open source, and more and more hostile to users (with a significant increase in ads and overly priced paid services over the years).

Anyway, yeah, homebrew sucks. At least nix works on macOS now so there's an okay package manager there, but frankly support for macOS has been a huge drag of resources on the nix ecosystem, and I wish macOS would die off in the programming ecosystem so nix could ditch it.

[suby]

I harbor similar sentiments, but I understand why OpenAI, Anthropic, Zed, etc begin with a macOS version. They're able to target a platform which is a known quantity and a good jumping off point to Linux.

I'm writing software for Linux myself and I know that you run into weird edge case windowing / graphical bugs based on environment. People are reasonably running either x11 or wayland (ecosystem is still in flux in transition) against environments like Gnome, KDE, Sway, Niri, xfce, Cinnamon, labwc, hyprland, mate, budgie, lxqt, cosmic... not to mention the different packaging ecosystem.

I don't blame companies, it seems more sane to begin with a limited scope of macOS.

[epiecs]

The problem is that right now I have to choose the lesser of 2 evils. I hate what W11 has become. I only use it for games at the moment and the only reason is that some games Apex/BF6 do not run under proton because of their anticheat.

And I also hate what modern Macos is heading towards. I'm still ignoring/canceling the update on both my devices for the new "glass" interface.

And a thinkpad running Linux is just not doing it for me. I want my power efficient mac hardware.

Truth be told I just want to have my mbp running Linux. But right now it's not yet where it needs to be and I am most certainly not smart enough to help build it :(

[cs02rm0]

It's Apple, not the users, that need to make that switch in the first instance. I'd love to use Linux again but I'm not leaving Apple hardware for it, or accepting poor software support for recent hardware.

[fouc]

I'd say support for linux has improved an incredible amount compared to 5-10 years ago. I'm often pleasantly surprised when ever a linux version of something is available because I'm used to not expecting that haha.

[marxisttemp]

MacPorts has existed since 2002 and was invented by Jordan Hubbard, who created the original FreeBSD ports system and was also employed on Apple's UNIX team.

[philistine]

Tell me which OS you’re using that allows you to code your own viable tiling manager in a weekend?

Is it really a sin to pay for software to augment your OS? Like programmers make their living selling that and it’s horrible?

[kahnclusions]

The package management story on Linux is hideously bad. The next generation replacements are all over the place (do I use snaps? Flatpak?). No one is going to learn Nix if it means you need to become a programmer just to install something.

The graphics story on Linux also sucks. I recently tried to convert my Windows gaming machine to Linux (because I hate W11 with a burning passion). It does work, but it’s incredibly painful. Wayland, fractional scaling, 120+ Hz, HDR. It’s getting better thanks to all the work Valve etc are putting in, but it’s still a janky messy patchwork.

MacOS just works. It works reliably. Installing things is easy. Playing games is easy. I’m able to customize and configure enough for my needs. I love it and I hope it sticks around because there is no way in hell I would move my work machines over to Linux full time.

[marxisttemp]

MacPorts was created by the creator of the original FreeBSD ports system who was also an Apple employee. It ought to be everyone's first choice for package management on macOS.

[comex]

Huh? Homebrew supports and frequently uses dependencies between formulae. It’s a bit janky around upgrades in my experience, but you’re going to have to clarify what you mean.

[fouc]

Dependency management means the ability to have more than 1 version of the dependency installed, under the same package name.

i.e. Let's say you install a bunch of homebrew packages, everything is working. Then 6 months later you go to install another package - homebrew likes to upgrade all your packages (and their dependencies) willy nilly.

And if it breaks shit, there's no way to downgrade to a specific version. Sometimes shit broke because the newer package is actually a broken package, or sometimes it's because the dev environment was depending on a specific version of that package.

There's basically no way to have multiple versions of the exact same package installed unless they use their hacky workaround to create additional packages with the version number included in the package name.

[pjmlp]

I never use it when I can have my way.

The UNIX in macOS is good enough for my needs, and I manually install anything extra that I might require.