Last summer I switched from OS X to Ubuntu for my day-to-day work. It’s gone well. Here’s a condensed rundown of some of the things I’ve noticed.

Things I miss when using OS X:

• ctrl key on both sides of the keyboard
• one-key app switching
• System-wide package management
• ctrl-alt-T default to bring up a new terminal

Things I miss when using Linux:

• Selecting menu items by typing their first letters
• Emacs-compatible key bindings in text fields
• LaunchBar
• Consistent mic support across applications
• Full-fledged Exchange integration (still haven’t bothered to get davmail running)

Cross-platform bright spots:

Once in a while I look at a sampling of recent dpaste activity. Partly I do it so I’m not totally out of touch with what my site contains. Partly I do it because it’s just interesting.

And I do it to confirm that the site is actually used by people who want to share code snippets, not just spambots who fire their cannons into every porthole.

I just sampled 10 random items from the last week. Happily, no spam. Here’s what I saw:

A step-by-step guide from real life.

In July, I switched from OS X to Ubuntu as my workday environment. For three years my personal MacBook Air had been pulling double duty, personal computer plus workstation at my job (each role with its respective user on the box). When the combined demands for disk space exceeded the 250GB SSD, I took that as a sign that it was time for a change. I work outside my office enough that an external HD wasn’t a practical solution, and a USB key is too slow.

So, I requested a Windows laptop from the company stash. Step one: wipe Windows off it. Step two: install Ubuntu 14.04.

Here are some highlights and hopefully useful details about the switch and the new setup.

Recently I switched my work environment from OS X to Ubuntu (a post on that project is in the works).

For years I’ve been using the standard Apple Keychain app, which has several points in its favor: it’s included with the OS, it integrates well with a lot of applications, and is not trying to “freemium” me into a paid tier. However, it’s OS X only, which meant I had to find something new.