Open Omakase Computing

Omakase Computing

Omacom stands for Omakase Computing. The word Omakase means "I'll leave it up to you" or "chef's choice" in Japanese.

It's the idea that most people don't actually know what they want, at least not at first. That they're better off getting something beautifully curated and integrated from someone they trust to make competent, tasteful decisions rather than suffer from the paradox of choice.

It's the same principle that Ruby on Rails was built on.

It doesn't mean there isn't room for substitutions. It doesn't mean you can't develop your own taste and opinions. It just means that when you're starting out, you don't even have to know what all the different options are to enjoy an integrated, cohesive computing experience.

Once you develop your competence and knowledge, you may well want to tinker and tailor your computing environment to your specific liking. Or not! Plenty of gre

Open Omarchy or Omakub?

Omarchy or Omakub?

Omacom has two distro remixes on offer. Here's how to choose:

Omakub

Omakub is the beginner-friendly option. It's built on Ubuntu, the most popular Linux distribution, and it uses Gnome, a very familiar desktop environment to what you'll find in Windows or on the Mac. It's still geared towards keyboard use with developers in mind, but it's easier to get orientated, if this is your first experience with Linux, and if the idea of needing a text editor to setup your monitor arrangement seems intimidating.

Omarchy

Omarchy is the more advanced option. It's built on Arch Linux, which has a reputation for being difficult, and uses a tiling window manager called Hyprland that's heavy on configuration files and short on GUI affordances. It does ask more of the user, but it's by no means some crazy hardcore nerds-only setup. It is, however, decidedly LINUX!

Open Good Linux Hardware

Good Linux Hardware

Once upon a time, it was a pain to find hardware where everything just worked out of the box with Linux. Those days are long gone. There are now fantastic computer makers, like Framework, System76, and TUXEDO, who all specialize in making Linux-compatible systems.

But it also just doesn't matter as much as it once did. Most of the new miniPCs from makers such as Beelink and Minisforum work great with Linux, even if its not necessarily a big priority for the companies themselves. AMD-based systems in particular have been doing very well in this regard, because AMD simply invests a lot to make sure that their latest chips are fully supported with the latest kernels.

We're spoiled for choice these days, but here's what I'd recommend:

• Framework 13: This is the best Linux laptop I've tried so far. It's be

Open Exiting the Mac

Exiting the Mac

Switching from macOS to Linux isn't hard. All you need is a PC, an ISO for the Omarchy or Omakub underlying distro, and about 20 minutes to do the install. What can be hard is getting out of the Mac's ecosystem! It's not the software that gets you, it's the services.

So here's a list of replacements that I've enjoyed since switching:

iCloud Files to Dropbox

Steve Jobs famously tried to buy Dropbox before launching his own file sharing service with iCloud. He claimed that Dropbox was just a feature, and they'd be foolish not to sell him their company for his low-ball offer. Good thing they didn't!

Dropbox has been storing my files since launching in 2007, and it's never let me down. It's not tied to a single platform either. There are clients for Mac, Linux, Windows, iOS, Android, and web. It's excellent, worth paying for, and a great alternative to iCloud Files.

Dropbox is an optional install on Omakub and a default install on Omarchy.

Open Apple Displays on Linux

Apple Displays on Linux

Apple makes two beautiful, premium displays with the 5K Apple Studio Display and the 6K Apple XDR Display. If you're coming to Linux from the Mac, you might already have one of these, and you might wonder how to get it working on Linux.

First, you need a DisplayPort + USB-A => USB-C cable cable. I can attest that the one from WJESOG works great, but there are other options that look identically, and will probably work too. It's a lot more reliable than using USB-C directly (due to Apple's weird DP-Alt mode implementation, which broadcasts 2 different displays, at random, and one is a dummy), and it also gives you both webcam + speaker support on the Apple Studio Display.

Second, you need a way to control brightness, because Apple didn't add any physical switches to do that. In Omarchy, Ctrl + F1 turns down the brightness, Ctrl + F2 turns it up, and Ctrl + Shift + F2 turns it to the