Best bit of tech advice I ever got was way back in 1997 when I was building an e-commerce site.

I was totally new to this, not a programmer, and needed guidance. I was about to go with some commercial software called Drumbeat, that ran on top of some Microsoft stuff.

Some experienced programmer said, “Only use truly open source choices, not anything owned by a company, because if the company turns bad or stops upgrading, you'll be screwed.”

So I used PHP and MySQL and that one decision changed my life completely. Years later I swapped out the PHP for Ruby, and switched from MySQL to PostgreSQL, but I was able to because they were all just open solutions. That program called Drumbeat got bought or sold or something and eventually shut down. I'm so glad I wasn't banking my company on them. That one decision back in 1997 has helped save me so much strife over the years.

Just like the comments here (that I've seen so far) there will be a bunch of commercial ecosystem fans saying, “The ecosystem is fine! Just learn to work within their boundaries!” (Don't upgrade until x.1 etc.)

But it sounds like you've hit your freedom moment. Use this frustration to switch to truly open source choices, and never depend on any one company again.

On the flip-side, when relying on OSS you can often find yourself in a situation where the last maintainer of a library critical to your workflow disappears, and the only options you have are to fork it and maintain it yourself (at high cost), or switch to something else if it's available (often at high cost). OSS is not a panacea for development risk.

It isn't, but the fact that you have two options (maintain yourself or switch to another solution) instead of a single option in the case of non-OSS (only switch to another solution) is a huge benefit. And, unless you're using some very obscure OSS or very outdated OSS (probably a bad idea), the likelihood is that there is a community around the product which consists of multiple maintainers/experts who are willing to continue development even after key maintainers move on

You can always choose some well supported and active open/free source product. If that gets abandoned, then you will figure that out and there will be others in the same boat as you and share the cost.

Also you could just pay some open/free source developers if they provide mission critical software for you, so that it does not get abandoned. Free as in Freedom, not as in beer they say.

This depend entirely on the scope of the software, take the project Rubedo CMS [0] for example, which died after funding was cut.

It was simply too large for anyone to pick up where they left off.

[0] https://github.com/WebTales/rubedo/issues/1477

Use large, well-regarded open source code/projects. They are easy to find. Prefer ones with ISO standards (C, C++, etc.) where possible. Other, non iSO, projects are reputable as well (Go, Python, etc.) but may be influenced more by vendors. If you rely on open source code that only has one developer (or a small team), fork it or write your own.

> If you rely on open source code that only has one developer (or a small team), fork it or write your own.

Please no. Try to pay the developer or upstream your own changes first. There are so many different active and unmergable forks of the same project already on github. That makes finding the 'right' project for yourself just much more difficult.

To be fair, for many libraries, maintenance is not really required. Hit a bug? Don't do that, or fix that particular bug. Doesn't require daily changes.

Certain types of exposed and way too large components need constant hardening (e.g. OpenSSL, nginx) to patch CVEs, but they are the exception not the rule.

We're a bit too stuck on the idea that things need to constantly change to be healthy.

At that point you have that choice. If the software was proprietary you only have the migrate option.

But what OP says is true for OpenSource as well. If the whole company uses Ubuntu, Eclipse and some Linux tools, their workflow is tied to these products. No matter if they're open source or not. If something gets abandoned that is crucial to the existing workflows, things get messy.

1. If Ubuntu fades away you can use another distro (if you want it can still be debian-based)

2. Take a look at Intellij or VS Code - there is no need to use Eclipse anymore

3. "Some linux" tools run on nearly all distros and also you can use a lot of them in mac and windows nowadays

The openness of these products enables you to switch more easily because you aren't caught in some walled garden with proprietary file formats etc. that is just what @sivers said (e.g. mysql -> postgres).

Consider Pages, Keynote etc. for example which have their own formats. If your mac dies you probably need another one just to open the files again.

I saw this with MS office formats, Photoshop and many more. Some people manage to open the files with other (FOSS) tools but most of the time it doens't resemble the original layout because that's why you use proprietary formats in the first place maybe.

In the end everything will be replaced some day. Your hardware, software and also file formats and layouts and everything else.

In my opinion it's a good precaution to stay with open formats and build software workflows in a modular way so you can easily switch components for specific tasks. It's more work in the first place to get to your ideal workflow and maybe it's also more expensive than some commercial app that happens to provide enough features to build your workflow but you are more resilient to dying / misbehaving companies etc.

That's very true (I don't think OP was suggesting otherwise), but what OSS does more then closed-source is give you a way out. 99 times out of 100 there will be an option/method to migrate your data out/away from $abandoned_project. That is the real freedom OSS offers, you are not trapped.

If Canonical goes belly up tomorrow, Ubuntu is likely to continue to work fine for users for a few years. Allowing a slow and gradual migration to another Linux distro.

Great advice. Everyone needs to understand this fundamental fact about software. It's all about lock-in and control (no matter the vendor).

This is the primary reason I only use open source programming languages (preferably ones with ISO standards not controlled by one, or a handful of companies). I can't imagine running a business or designing a system that relies on some closed source, black box code. It's just too risky and will come back to bite you and may even ruin your endeavor.

Personally, regardless of manufacturer or developer, i wait a few months before a major upgrade to give them enough time to fix bugs. I do the same when it comes to cars, mobile devices, and operating systems.

However there does seem to be a pattern of regressions in apple’s products (i put on hold buying a mac pro simply because its specs are very low for the price, the gap being much higher than usual).

What i would do is ask employees what they prefer. Accounting might favour windows, while developers or sysadmins might prefer linux (let them chose the flavour). If your company is non technical the windows might be the only alternative. But either way, breaking away from a single vendor is a good idea.

when you buy new hardware, you have already the new versions of OS. You don't have a choice

Yep. That was my Catalina frustration, too.

My phone broke last week so I bought an iPhone 11.

My Mac wouldn't connect/sync with it unless I upgraded to Catalina.

So I upgraded to Catalina, and now all of the software I used on Mac doesn't work at all. (iZotope Audio editing, Native Instruments, Cubase, Audacity, and more. None of it works in Catalina.) Catalina also makes my Mac Mini not recognize my LG monitor unless I Cmd-Opt-P-R flash PRAM and reboot a few times just to get it to send a signal to the monitor.

So now the Mac is useless to me. I literally can't use it for anything I was using it for. It has no working programs on it.

So I switched back to Android, found an old Windows laptop, re-installed my audio software on Windows, and I'll just work without Apple until they fix their OS, or maybe never again.

FWIW, and to their credit, iZotope and NI sent out emails to all customers before Catalina was released to the public clearly warning them not to upgrade yet.

Apple doesn't want to give you a choice but you can still do it:

1. Use some mac to download an older OS installer. The links are hidden but you can find them in some forums etc.

2. Create a bootstick - either manually or with software like dosdude's really nice patchers (find them here: http://dosdude1.com/)

3. Backup your stuff (not only time machine as it would reinstall the new version of macos again) and install the old macOS to get your apps and files back on it

This is something I really hate about Apple - why can't they just provide some official download links that keep working?

With Apple I have a love-hate-relationship because some products (MBP until 2016/17, iPhone 5s/SE) and software (keynote, pages, lot of parts of the OS) are awesome while their software policy and planned obsolescence screws you hard if you just follow their lead as a simple user.

You always have to take care not to update too early, use workarounds to integrate devices with different Apple software (like with airdrop) and if you brick devices there is few ways getting back to business (no helpful error messages like the icons they show on boot when something goes wrong or messages from their system diagnostic like "HDD is damaged" while it's just the cable).

You can simply restart with Shift-Option-⌘-R and reinstall the macOS version the hardware shipped with or the most compatible version.

[1] https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204904

I know but that is not possible in every situation. I for example had no recovery mode on a MBP so I needed to get the Apple software on it somehow.

The tool from dosdude can do a bit more. With it I managed to install High Sierra on a MBP from 2009 (which isn't compatible anymore but it runs flawlessly).

Before it had an HDD with Windows only and no access to recovery mode or diagnostic tools. Thanks to the "High Sierra Patcher" everything works now :)

While there are exceptions, Macs frequently won’t boot an OS which is older than what the sku originally shipped with.

You can sometimes finagle it by playing around with kexts (I once even had success with a custom kernel designed for AMD Hackintosh’s), but it’s a somewhat involved process with no guarantee of success.

Many enterprises have their own official disk image that they burn onto new hardware, ensuring complete control.

Disk images don't work with Macs any more. Apple has forced us onto 'workflow-based' installations which are supposed to ensure firmware for all subsystems are installed as well, by running the OS installer every time. However, this is pretty time-consuming.

You really don't have 'complete control' of Macs any more. Apple do what they like with your hardware.

But that doesn't work with iOS devices, right?

I bought new hardware, but I installed windows 7 on it instead of windows 10.

on Mac i guess you can't go down so easy.. There's no installation medium anymore and everything goes through their crappy AppStore

You can install OSX using a USB drive: https://support.apple.com/en-au/HT201372

Been like this for many years now.

Yeah, it's shit like that why I don't use mac.

There is also that indeed, sadly.

How long have they had to fix their keyboards? Rhetorical question. Five or six years. Two or three should have been long enough.

Six years? The first MBP with the butterfly keyboard was released exactly 3 years ago.

The (now discontinued) 12" Macbook was released in 2015 and used the butterfly keyboard first (it was also their first foray into USB-C).

It'd be interesting to hear how they went about determining the keyboard was solid enough to use in the Pros when it clearly wasn't, even 3 design iterations in and almost 5 years later.

Ah ok I’ve been waiting for a while to replace my 2013 MBP and no suitable replacements have been available since then. They probably designed the crappy keyboard a couple to a few years before shipping it so I’d still count that as time they’ve burned on this. But two or three years from the time outsiders discovered the problem should have been long enough. Aside from having other options in the pipeline they also had the old good designs to fall back on.

> i wait a few months before a major upgrade to give them enough time to fix bugs.

^this.

Updating your companies systems to a new major software version when it comes out is a huge mistake...

You might be able to solve most of your problems by being more conservative about upgrading. If your business doesn't depend on having Catalina installed on day 1 on your machines, you could keep Mojave around a little bit longer. I think the same could be applied to iOS.

If everything was working fine on macOS 10.14 and iOS 12 why switch to Linux? I'm sure Android and Linux have their own issues even if they're different from Apple's. Better the devil you know than the devil you don't.

This..

I usually have a look at the macosbeta reddit around the time of the GM release. If there's tons of reported bugs (and there absolutely were this time around, the place was overflowing in bug reports for the latest beta), then I just ignore the new upgrade for ~half a year.

They still push out security fixes for the older OS. And lets face it, the latest versions have been quite underwhelming, you don't miss out on much.

Especially important if the mac in question is your daily money maker. Why waste time, stress and tears (from email corruption) for a few new emojis?

I agree with this. As a developer there’s no way I’m going to risk my system by upgrading as soon as a major update is released. Wait until 10.x.1 at least. Catalina seems particularly bad from what I’ve heard from colleagues, but it’s a sensible strategy generally.

I am still on El Capitan, works good

> You might be able to solve most of your problems by being more conservative about upgrading.

This is the answer. I do IT consulting and support for Apple-based small businesses, and I constantly have to remind my clients to not just accept every update prompt they see. I advise waiting for .1 or .2 releases. There is never a reason to update right away, in my experience.

This is the correct way.

I'm having a ton of wifi connectivity issues/bluetooth issues/mail/a bunch of other issues and regret upgrading.

There's no need for latest and greatest unless there's something that is 100% crucial that the new update brings.

Honestly I'm thinking of downgrading if I had the time to do so.

>You might be able to solve most of your problems by being more conservative about upgrading.

That would be fine, but what about the situation where you have no choice? (i.e. buying new hardware or unrelated hardware - there's no excuse for forcing an os upgrade when you buy a new iphone for example.) Try buying a latest model and enjoy being forced to upgrade your laptop os so it can "connect".

Yes. Never upgrade to anything ending on .0

This. Upgrade but don't do it it too soon. Some companies don't upgrade their OS for years. Not due to licensing, but due to stability issues. Wait a while till the bugs are ironed out, then upgrade. For a company I would suggest wait at least 6-12 months before an upgrade.

Obviously apply security patches regularly.

We had the same "issue" about two years back.

We finally switched to Linux, we are happy now as Linux is stable and productive, but it took nearly a year of effort to learn and tune linux desktop to our liking.

The biggest difference is that you can tune/fix anything in Linux, but it takes time.

The one thing that is hard on linux is iOS dev, we do not do it anymore. It is possible with hacked VM, but it's a pain.

I've used macs for decade. Tried migrating to Ubuntu workstation for my development work horse. Week to build a PC. Fun but lost a week of work. One week to set everything up. Ending up having to write scripts to control fan curve of GPU. Week 3 back to mac for writing code and deploying / running stuff on ubuntu workstation.

Choose your hardware better next time.

Which ofc comsumes time as well, for research ;)

The price of absolute freedom is certainly some small amount of sacrifice.

However, if you need a GPU to do work you're also surely part of a very small percentage of developers.

Why are you oblidged to upgrade to the newest software i.e. why do you have to move from Mojave to Catalina or from iOS 12 to iOS 13.

Why wasn't waiting a few months for stability patches an option?

So the answer is to simply not trust Apple to release stable code? Surely the very existence of this answer, proves the point of the original question. Anything else is just victim blaming.

>victim blaming

Ah here, leave it out.

All new software has new problems -- don't want the problems. Opt for tried and tested. Plenty of folk still happily purring along on older versions of macOS.

There was a great article here the other day about a guy revising his approach to upgrading macOS every October instead choosing to evaluate the new features vs introducing change that can break things. Can't find it though atm.

It used to be that a release was tried and tested. Now everyone's an unpaid QA tester months after the official beta period is over. And the folk wisdom of "wait until x.1" keeps getting pushed further and further back to the point of futility.

>Why wasn't waiting a few months for stability patches an option?

Because it's impossible to buy a new device with an old os?

He didn't buy his entire infrastructure/ecosystem last week.

He almost certainly accumulated a fair number of Apple devices and then had chosen to upgrade them all to Catalina/iOS 13 and then encountered problems. These problems could have been avoided by not immediately upgrading all devices the latest software release. Instead he could have opted to roll out upgrades devices by device thus limiting the scope of any problems.

Why not start by switching to open source solutions for some of your software? For example, Thunderbird works fine everywhere. It might not be as pretty as Apple software but personally I've never had any major issue with it (used it on Linux, Windows and macOS).

Once you've switched several of your applications and workflow to open source it will make it easier to switch everything later to Linux or Windows.

Was using iOS this morning - the share sheet was so confusing. It changed so radically. I'm very surprised they hadn't done a usability test - it's almost impossible to know that we have to scroll up.

Edit: using safari

Apart from the hidden scroll up, which seems to be an iOS wide design decision, I think it’s a huge improvement.

The share sheet changes depending on the content.

I just tried it from the Photos and Safari apps and it was very obvious that I needed to scroll up/down (because it clipped the button mid way through). Also the entire screen scrolls so pretty confused why people aren't noticing it.

I was confused as well. First time I saw it, it looked like a layout bug, with buttons under the "home bar" indicator.

Dragging upward has a rubbery effect, where it jumps back if you don't drag far enough. And if you start dragging too low, the whole app goes away.

That share sheet is a disaster.

What device are you using?

Just checked on an iPhone 10 and iPhone 10s Max.

Both clip the buttons within Photos and Safari.

I remain flabbergasted that shipped. It's so obviously, obviously hard to navigate.

I searched everywhere for the "request desktop mode" action and then realized that moved to the reader view area.

It really depends on how much you really invested in the workflows which can't be easily replaced. Can you calculate yourself how much you'd spend on a move? Or list what existing workflow you think you can't move from?

Also, have you considered downgrading and staying with older versions for a longer time? (https://www.imore.com/how-downgrade-macos)

I’m waiting to see if they improve the keyboards... They’ve had long enough to do it and the latest tweaks have been weak. If the next gen 16”? isn’t significantly better (real key travel, for one thing) then I will finally consider a non-Apple laptop. With Linux of course.

Will still have to keep an Apple one for work on their platform.

I second this. Their keyboards have been awful to use recently and the newest versions just don't cut it for me. I'm now a very happy thinkpad user and I don't think I'll ever look back. (I previously owned a dell xps 13 and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anybody looking to make the switch)

Edit: both laptops were running linux

Designer here, mostly in the same boat. Begin small moves to have your data in other, non Apple sources. Maybe put calendars in Google or Outlook, for example. Put Notes entries in Markdown files (there’s apps for that). I don’t know the extent of your hurdles, but I feel the same and started small migrations.

Is your company big enough to be using Joint Venture/AppleCare for Enterprise? If so, I'd talk to your rep about either getting this stuff fixed or getting your fees refunded.

In the meanwhile, start testing Windows or Linux desktops with a few people. If you start planning a changeover now and Apple doesn't get your stuff fixed, it won't be as difficult as trying to rush the company through a ecosystem change.

Open source + webapps. Learn to build your own. Takes awhile but well worth it.

I'd conservatively estimate our company are currently saving no less than four full time salaries (accountant, purchasing, office admin, sysadmin) and related expenses just on use of webapps. We also use features like auto-translating stuff which makes the multicultural team more cohesive. Not to mention all the RCS/VCS resolved issues with file x version y, file x version y NEW, 'change tracking', oops i deleted it, i forgot to update the version number and all that jazz you can completely sidestep. Totally rife in many companies. My experience is that if you force people to use a decent system it works.

Our stack is currently fastmail + github + digital banks + some internal services on three different cloud providers (all have issues).

It's not perfect though.

What I hate about fastmail: the app and webapp both suck in China and anywhere with slow and spotty connectivity. No image resizing in an app in 2019. The support isn't great.

What I hate about github: charge you for 'seats' even if you remove them. Counts someone you hire and fire as a whole month or year if you're not careful due to this fact. Cross-repo/organization view is new and only basic, not good enough. Wacky access control model. Nutjob system integration policy. API breaks and they don't care.

Unimpressed about banks: many of them suck. Obtuse and backward onboarding policies, random limits, incapacity to provide i18n-capable interfaces or documentation in the year 2020, horrendous fees, non-transparent fee and tax calculations, inability to access your money because (stupid bureaucratic reason #1234), etc.

Unimpressed parts of three different cloud providers: AWS sell you free credits then reneg on the deal and steal your money in 100 ways. Google sell you free credits then reneg on the deal and steal your money in 100 ways. Meanwhile, if you want to pay them and are in China it's impossible either to talk to anyone or do so. Hetzner are truly awesome but often slow from China.

But despite the issues, if you're not on open source, you're truly killing yourself. Things would be worse. Really. Except for some design software, media authoring software and games, there's really no excuse. And IMHO the best part of OSX is iTerm2 + brew, anyway.

Ironically Apply had the same problem themselves with respect to their choice of CPU. They protected the future of their company by secretly maintaining two versions of MacOSX, one that ran on PPC and another that ran on Intel. That was a smart move. Consider maintaining (or planning) your company's shift to another platform, or going platform agnostic.

If Catalina is hitting you hard, why don't you install Linux on top your Apple devices?

Pick a very stable distribution (e.g. Ubuntu targets also Mac Hardware) and never look back again. Next time you need new hardware, just don't buy any overpriced Apple hardware again for your needs. Keep the dependency on Apple as low as possible (e.g. only if you develop for iOS)

I think OP covered that in:

> The problem is, we've invested so much in Apple technologies, workflows, the ecosystem, that I don't know if we should just wait it out and keep our fingers crossed, or make a dedicated effort to become less reliant on any single tech provider.

And I agree with you, gradually move to open technologies like Linux would be my choice as well.

yeah, for the most common and basic stuff like browsing, documents, email and conferences, Linux works flawlessly.

Firefox + Thunderbird + LibreOffice are really good nowadays

Hire a decent IT person, have proper policies installed in the machines and forbid updates that were not vetted by IT.

My company usually lags a quarter behind the latest OS, it about what it takes for it to pass certification.

You're a company, your machines are tools for making money, treat them with the necessary care.

I love how a majority of answers revolve around not updating since Apple can't be trusted to release good software.

I wouldn't be upgrading to the .0 release of any software.

And have been following this advice since the 1980's which is when I first started noticing it. It's not exclusive to Apple and simply because companies typically aim for a particular release date.

I give the same advice across all platforms: upgrade later than the pack / when you have to / when security patches are no longer available.

it's much worse than Microsoft

> new era of problems with Apple software

The same advice was given to professional Apple users ten years ago and twenty years ago: don't update to a new major release right away. Wait several patch releases and several months for an update.

> hit Microsoft two decades ago

Microsoft still has similar problems today. Their recent OS updates were far from smooth.

Why is faith required? Take a step back and drop any religious opinions you may have about Apple, Microsoft, Google, etc. Evaluate each vendor in a calm, rational manner. Make a list of things you need and determine which vendor meets those needs.

There's no need for faith or fear. These things are just tools.

Was using iOS this morning - the share sheet was so confusing. It changed so radically.

This is not any help to you now, but Catalina was released early in October and it's still October. Why did you and your remote workers upgrade to Catalina so soon? I always wait at least 3 months for the bugs to shake out for a major release of macOS, and about a month or so for iOS releases. Even with patch releases, I'll wait a few weeks regardless of the platform. There's a risk to not upgrading security patches, but there's also a risk to upgrading via any patch. Best to find that middle ground to reduce the overall risk, especially if you depend on the software in question.

Never upgrade your infrastructure or critical devices to a new major release of any vendor's operating system, or an application's major release, until some time after those releases have had time to be experienced by others, and any major issues resolved.

I've not upgraded to Catalina, obviously -- I'm in the process of, over the next few weeks or months, finding and upgrading any 32-bit s/w that now must be 64-bit to work. Until I've validated that, and the bugs have been worked out, I will wait to upgrade.

As for prior comments about using open source or other options, well, I don't see that there aren't issues there as well. I delay upgrades Linux, FreeBSD and even OpenBSD versions until any major issues have been worked out for the same reasons.

Ultimately, there are no safe ways or safe operating systems or safe applications that you can count on not failing after a major version upgrade. Windows releases may be less buggy for a while, but maintaining Windows and using Windows is more of a hassle for me that I'd be trading illusory stability for extra work on an ongoing basis using and managing that OS. I love open source, but there are issues there in usability, interoperability, availability of apps and so on -- configuring a desktop manager, etc. I love open source, always championed it within government, but there are issues and tradeoffs ith it as well.

I use Apple products for my work and other areas because their products generally work well, the ease of use can't be beat in my opinion, and it's worth the tradeoff to me of an occasional hiccup in upgrading. The Catalina upgrade is much more than a hiccup, but still, because I'm waiting it out on macOS and iOS, it won't affect me. And it should not have affected you, if you'd waited it out. Sorry it's causing so much pain for you and your business, but I don't see moving to any other platform is going to solve or resolve similar issues in the future. Mitigate the risks by waiting before upgrading in the future.

Avoid developing dependencies on a platform. Use web apps if possible.

> Use web apps if possible.

Then you're adding a dependency on the web app. And unlike offline platforms, with web apps you don't even have the option of "don't upgrade" or "wait to upgrade".

Don't upgrade until about a year after something comes out

By which time the next release comes out.

You can't win with Apple now.

On OSX you can still upgrade to the old one though

Move to Linux