2025-03-22
So, you're a frustrated Apple user looking for alternatives?
I'm old enough to remember 2022 when most tech pundit podcaster folks were complaining constantly about how difficult and confusing Mastodon was. They were frustrated with the direction Twitter was headed in but they were still comfortable there. They'd been there for years and they didn't want to deal with Mastodon because it was just a bit different and they'd have to adjust.
It struck me as odd because I'd always assumed that a part of covering technology is being willing to learn about new developments and certainly a new social media based an an entirely new, decentralized protocol was important. Certainly it wasn't that complicated and might even provide for a better experience.
After several months most of those folks finally moved over and they got the hang of the new place.
Bad Apple, but the Apple you know
Jump forward 3 years and many of these same pundit podcaster folks have been very consistently and loudly complaining about many of the choices Apple has been making the past couple of years. There are countless threads in the new narrative with a general story being that the company has grown arrogant and greedy, putting profit over users and developers. It's a very long list that I'm not going to try to summarize here.
But as the discontent continues and even seems to intensify they just keep on keeping on. And I get it. You get comfortable, you invest in the ecosystem over years of app purchases and maybe media purchases. You become proficient in the OS and the apps you rely on. Even more, there's a lot of convenience that comes with devices are all designed to work together seamlessly. Add to that families with even more devices and that presents an even larger investment. In that regard, the stickiness is somewhat rational and understandable.
And for a lot of people it becomes a part of their social identity. People that identify as "techies" end up with a weird kind of loyalty to their platform of choice with its own subculture, its own "community" and it can take a lot for some folks to consider switching even if they are repeatedly given reasons to do so. This is even more true for pundits, podcasters and content creators that make their living discussing Apple products and the company more generally. For those folks there is a whole other level of lock-in. All that said, this kind of change doesn't have to be an all or nothing change. More about this later.
From scrappy underdog to monolithic capitalist
I've been a satisfied user of Apple tech for 30+ years. Thirty years ago it was easier to root for the scrappy underdog that many thought would go out of business in the late 1990s. It was easier to overlook the fact that Apple was still a multinational corporation whose mission was to make a profit. In 2025 it's hard to see anything other than an ever growing trillion dollar company that seeks to maximize profits at every turn. A company that will bust unions while it wears a mask of progressive diversity. A company that encourages ever increasing and constant consumption with a never ending parade of updated, mostly non-repairable devices.
There's nothing unusual about Apple in this regard. At it's core capitalism is about profit and that's it. It's a rare company that put's ethical behavior before profit. But I still make an effort to look for those that do and weed out those with the worst track records. It's a never ending effort to choose the lesser evil. It's why I focus on minimal consumption to start with.
In recent years as tech companies have grown in prominence many a scandal has surfaced, often repeated enough to indicate a clear pattern of corporate disregard for anything close to ethical conduct. The worst possible corporate behavior barely seems to register for most people.
But let's say that it does begin to register. What if we do notice the repeated misconduct, sometimes the criminal conduct, what can we do? Or, perhaps we just get tired of feeling that a company no longer offers the best products or services. Specifically, what can an Apple user invested in the company's ecosystem of products and services actually do if they begin to grow uncomfortable with continued patronage? Microsoft? Google? NO. If you'd asked me six months ago I would have answered that there are no alternatives, no better options.
And I would have been wrong. Linux and Open Source apps are an obvious solution but one I hadn't actually considered because I'd long ago written it off as a poor substitute. The basis of my conviction was bias and prejudgment based on nothing more hearsay and jokes I'd heard over the years. No experience, no research, no evidence.
Writing this post in Obsidian.
Yes, Linux. I'd guess that a statement shared with Apple users would likely induce a mix of eye rolling, scoffing or just uncontrolled laughter. But I would likely be correct in guessing that most people reacting in such a way have not actually used a recent version of Linux or even looked into it what it entails. Like my own, it would likely be a reaction based on hearsay. Most techies have heard the joke that every year is surely the year of Linux on the desktop. Yeah, that.
Here's just a partial list of things I've heard over the years:
- Linux is a substandard user experience
- Linux is difficult to setup and manage
- Using Linux usually requires using the terminal
- Linux is unreliable, not stable and/or easily broken
- The open source apps that are available for Linux users are free which means they provide a poor user experience and lack features
- Installing apps requires the terminal
- There aren't many apps and those that exist are difficult to install
- I won't be able to do the work I need to do because the specific app I use now is not available on Linux
An easy transition?
Admittedly my experience is only based on one month of usage. Perhaps in 3 months or 6 months I'll regret these writing these words. Maybe my computer implodes on April 1st. Maybe the big disappointment is just around the corner. I'll admit to being new to this OS.
But here's the thing, my first month with Linux has not only been mostly smooth sailing, it's been an absolute pleasure. And yes, many of the apps I'm using are new to me. But, you know, coming from macOS and iPadOS, the overall experience is not that different. I can imagine any competent computer user with previous Mac or Windows experience would easily understand the Linux Mint desktop.
The Linux Mint Cinnamon Menu
Once I'd made the decision that it was time to switch I spent a couple days looking at the options and possible install problems. I chose Linux Mint distribution with the Cinnamon desktop environment as it's recommended as one of the easiest, most stable distros. For anyone coming from the Apple ecosystem, the main sticking point at this moment is that the newest M series Macs are not supported. You'll need an older Mac or PC.
Second to that, it's fairly common to need to do an update for Apple's Airport/wifi hardware to get it working. And bluetooth can be flakey. I made sure I had ethernet, a wired keyboard and wired mouse for the set-up. The install took 15 minutes. I booted up the 2012 Mac Mini and as expected needed to download a driver to get the wifi working. That took a minute after which I had wifi access.
Then I just took a minute to admire my new computer OS. No, it's not identical to macOS but it is so similar that I understood what I was looking at immediately. All of the same elements are here. By default a panel along the bottom that most closely resembles Windows. I've not used Windows in years but I understood what I was looking at immediately.
I spent the first day checking out various options in System Settings. I opened up some of the default apps like those in Libre Office. I jumped into the Software Manager (App Store) and installed some apps. I used Firefox to login to some favorite websites. I logged into my Mac via smb file sharing and copied over files I knew I'd want to use. I opened up Thunderbird which is Mozilla's email app and is installed alongside of Firefox as the default email client. I set-up the two email accounts I expect to use going forward.
The Linux Mint Cinnamon Panel with app icons centered for a Dock-like appearance.
After a few days I added a second panel to the top and put all the menu items (Applets in Linux lingo) up there. I put the Menu in the top left. I centered my pinned apps on the bottom panel. It functions just like Apple's Dock. My point in sharing a few of these details is simply to illustrate that setting up and using Linux, particularly a distribution like Mint, is not all that different from Windows or macOS in day-to-day use. More than anything it likely comes down to the availability of apps for a user's tasks. In my use case it seems I've got everything I need to do graphic design and page layout, writing and publishing on the web and general office apps. YMMV.
I find the default apps are very well done. Rhythmbox for music, LibreCalc for opening spreadsheets exported from Numbers, are getting daily use. Thunderbird is an execellent email client but I downloaded Evolution and have come to prefer that. I'm using KeePasXC for passwords, Signal for messaging, Librewolf and Vivaldi for web browsing. Obsidan and Ghostwriter for markdown. VSCodium and Filezilla for coding and remote file transfer. digiKam for photo management. Finding and installing apps could not be any easier. Open Software Manager, type in searchbox. Look at results for descriptions and reviews. Click install. Open.
Final Thoughts
I was lucky enough to have an older back-up Mac to serve as my jumping off point and I think it makes sense to make the first move using a secondary computer if possible. I'm also in the fortunate position to work from home with a schedule I have a lot of control over which meant I had extra time and flexibility as needed as I was setting up. I don't view this as an all or nothing endeavor so much as a process for moving away from closed, corporate controlled computing to something best described as open, community computing. Anyone interested can begin taking steps in the process.
If you're someone that's frustrated with Apple's offerings and/or recent corporate conduct, don't assume you're stuck with Apple, Google or Microsoft. If you've never used or looked at Linux it's likely far better than you realize. Again, it's not all or nothing. Just begin exploring options. Be open to experimenting and learning. Don't expect an identical experience. This is an opportunity.
I don't have comments but I love email or you can find me on Mastodon.