[melbourne-pug] [offtopic] buying advice on a macbook air

Tennessee Leeuwenburg tleeuwenburg at gmail.com
Thu Apr 12 01:54:28 CEST 2012


Hi Lincoln,

Thanks for the detailed reply. It is much appreciated. I feel much better
about buying one as a personal dev/hack environment as well as for a
general PC. Everyone is advising to wait until later in the year, so I
expect I will do so. Thanks again for giving so much detail.

Cheers,
-T

On Wed, Apr 11, 2012 at 8:05 PM, Lincoln Stoll <lstoll at lstoll.net> wrote:

> Inline.
>
> On 11/04/2012, at 7:17 PM, Tennessee Leeuwenburg wrote:
>
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I notice that a good number of mpug'ers have Apple computers, and I was
> wondering how they go as Python development platforms. I'm considering
> getting a Macbook Air for my next laptop. I want something I can hack on,
> has a beautiful screen, which travels easily, but which I can also use in
> front of the telly of an evening, or on a desk for a few hours. I've also
> never owned an Apple, and I figure I need to try the third of the major
> environments at some stage :).
> >
> > So, some questions:
> >   -- Is the Macbook Air a nice laptop to use?
>
> I find it a beautiful laptop to use - decent battery life, well made
> hardware, it just feels clean, well engineered and nice to use. On the OS X
> side, I find it a simple OS to work with, it basically gets out of my way
> and let's me get work done. On the portability side, I travel a lot and
> it's very easy to move around. Even small things like the compact power
> supply are a nice touch.
>
> >   -- Does OSX support development well for Python?
>
> Yes. I'm not a full time python expert, but it has first class python
> support. I build my own python with the info here:
> http://docs.python-guide.org/en/latest/starting/install/osx/ , and use
> virtualenv for everything.
>
> >   -- What about other unix-like tools -- is there a decent C++ compiler,
> standard linux libraries etc for me to be able to compile linux programs?
>
> Compilers aren't too big of an issue. You don't actually need to install
> the full XCode to get a compiler - you can download the 'Command line tools
> for XCode', ~170mb from http://connect.apple.com , free registration
> required. Apple are shifting towards LLVM over GCC, but I haven't found
> this to be an issue except with
>
> As for libraries, everything I've come across has been available for OS X
> - it's a pretty common Unix development platform these days.
>
> >   -- If not, how does open source development happen on a mac? Is
> everyone running linux inside a VM or what?
>
> I occasionally use Vagrant (http://vagrantup.com) to test against a
> 'production like' environment, but the vast majority (95%) of people I come
> across are using OS X natively.
>
> >   -- How does it go with integration with MS office and Exchange (sigh)?
>
> Surprisingly well - Provided you're talking to an Exchange 2007+ server,
> the built in Apple Mail/Calender/Address Book talk natively to the server,
> handling it very well. IMO it's the best Exchange experience. On the Office
> side you can purchase Office for Mac, which is compatible with PC office.
>
> >   -- What about other Apple laptops, is there a better choice?
>
> I'd say no. The Macbook Air, specifically the 13" version is the best
> machine I've ever owned.
>
> >   -- Is there anything I should watch out for when buying my first Apple?
>
> I've been using Apple for a while, so nothing I can think of. There isn't
> any tricky customizations required, it's pretty straight forward. If you
> tell them your a developer an ask nicely, you might be able to get a ~10%
> discount
>
> > I'm not in a particular rush, and the pundits seem to think there will
> be a new model out later this year, so I might take my time before making a
> purchase. But any and all advice would be much appreciated!
>
> The current model has been out since mid last year, so I'd expect a
> refresh in the near future. That said, there's nothing particulary lacking
> with the current version. I generally buy a new machine when it's required,
> it's not like it will change when a new one comes out.
>
> - Linc
> _______________________________________________
> melbourne-pug mailing list
> melbourne-pug at python.org
> http://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/melbourne-pug
>
>


-- 
--------------------------------------------------
Tennessee Leeuwenburg
http://myownhat.blogspot.com/
"Don't believe everything you think"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/melbourne-pug/attachments/20120412/da567279/attachment-0001.html>


More information about the melbourne-pug mailing list