Background: I've been a *nix user since 1989, and have used focus-follows-mouse and a few window-management hot key combos for the last 33 years. I've managed to use those keys in every *nix WM / DE that I've used (twm, ctwm, kde, lxde).
I tried to use a mac as a desktop about 15 years ago. I was burned out from working 12-14 hours a day, had a new baby, and didn't want to deal with managing a FreeBSD or Linux desktop. I managed to find 3rd party hacks for most of my hot-key WM things, but I was never able to make focus follows mouse work in any sane way. My strategy at the time was to ignore mac apps as much as possible, and run XDarwin with traditional *nix apps and a WM that supported FFM. But using a web browser that was native and not Xdarwin based meant that focus didn't always follow the mouse, and that was enough to cause me inordinate amounts of frustration. I finally gave the machine to my inlaws at the time, and built a new white-box *nix machine.
Oddly, I don't have much of a problem with non-ffm on laptops, just because the experience is so vastly different. So I have a macbook, but I use it mostly for meetings / web browsing and as a terminal onto my FreeBSD desktop when traveling.*
I tried to use a mac as a desktop about 15 years ago. I was burned out from working 12-14 hours a day, had a new baby, and didn't want to deal with managing a FreeBSD or Linux desktop. I managed to find 3rd party hacks for most of my hot-key WM things, but I was never able to make focus follows mouse work in any sane way. My strategy at the time was to ignore mac apps as much as possible, and run XDarwin with traditional *nix apps and a WM that supported FFM. But using a web browser that was native and not Xdarwin based meant that focus didn't always follow the mouse, and that was enough to cause me inordinate amounts of frustration. I finally gave the machine to my inlaws at the time, and built a new white-box *nix machine.
Oddly, I don't have much of a problem with non-ffm on laptops, just because the experience is so vastly different. So I have a macbook, but I use it mostly for meetings / web browsing and as a terminal onto my FreeBSD desktop when traveling.*