Hey! As part of the onboarding process at my new job I booted a Mac for the first time in my life. Everything feels strange and I was looking for tips to make it feel like gnome (pun intended).
I have been using Linux for the past 15+ years, I am a software engineer, so any development specific would be really appreciated.
One important issue I am facing is installing xcode without creating an apple account or generally doing anything without one. I really don’t want to give my personal information to apple if I can avoid it…
I’ve been using Linux for maybe 8 years before getting a Mac and found it to be great to use pretty much immediately. So there’s not really much I can tell you here. Except maybe to install the GNU coreutils from homebrew (and that itself if you don’t have it yet), the ones it comes with suck.
I don’t think there is a way to download Xcode without an Apple ID. The App Store also needs one though you could get by without that. You could just make the account only for downloading Xcode and only sign in in the browser for it, I suppose.
Edit: Oh yeah, get Mac Mouse Fix if you plan on using it with a normal mouse. The standard scrolling behavior is abysmal.
You’ll feel right at home in the command line. Install Homebrew or MacPorts. These are command line package managers. Many if not most of the software tools you are used to on Linux likely have Mac ports as well and you can find them either online or via one of those package managers.
If you are going to download software from Apple’s Apple Store, you will need to make an account. You can install software directly from the internet without needing an account. You might need to tweak some “security settings” in System Preferences to run software not from the App Store.
Unfortunately Xcode is something you need an Apple account to install. However, the Xcode “command line tools”, which includes a lot of common tools like gcc, I believe you can install by running “xcode-select --install” from the command line even without an account. There might also be other ways to get those tools installed manually / not through Apple.
Welcome to Apple. You just do what they tell you, there is not really any other option.
The other option is to use hardware from any other company.
Since OP is using it for work, it sounds like that isn’t an option.
I really wish I could help but my experience with Linux is limited to my breaking desktop mode on steam deck from time to time.
My advice is to go through the settings app and just take time to read everything. There are YouTube tutorials made for people trying to make Mac more like windows that will teach you things that even longtime Mac users like myself may not be aware of because we never thought about it.
There’s a console app that lets you put in manual commands not unlike Linux, but my experience with that is very limited.
Your company should provide you with an Apple ID (or “Apple Account” as it’s apparently called now), no…? If they didn’t but one is required, ask them.
