Live data from Hacker News

My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

news.ycombinator.com

221–230 of 356 posts

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#221
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what drives me craziest about programming in windows, the freak'n console is awful

That's what I never got about Windows and especially Windows devs. How can you get anything done with all that clicking and no unix tools?

You know it is possible to use windows without a mouse? I make a living cutting .net code in Visual Studio sans toolbars/designer windows, we're not all as inept as this thread makes us out to be. Not sure if you're being sarcastic or not, but many unix tools have been ported to windows.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#222

Linux Mint is actually a very easy and natural transition from Windows. A few years ago, I installed Linux on my parents' desktop (dual-boot)[0] and told them that they were "forbidden" to use any other computer for web browsing, document editing, etc. I told them that this would be more secure, and that's all it took to convince them. I figured that, this way, at least I could fix any of their computer problems remo…

> I figured that, this way, at least I could fix any of their computer problems remotely (over ssh), instead of helping with Windows on the phone.

Why did you not set up Windows to be able to do the same thing?

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#223

This is a fantastic anecodote and after the year we've had I'm finding the challenges people are having from entering Linux are becoming less and less. Earlier today I marvelled at running a game through Steam whilst listening to streaming music through Spotify whilst being able to switch window into bash.

At work, I threw arch on an old-ass laptop we had sitting around, and then installed steam and portal, hooked it up to the office TV and then had to sit there a minute to marvel at the fact that it all just worked. Never would have predicted that a decade+ ago.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I did this for a while, but mintty is good enough now and comes in Cygwin's standard packages.

It's been a while since I've used Cygwin (using Linux Mint for everything except gaming and music editing now), so I hadn't even heard of mintty. I'll check it out if I find a need for a good console in Windows again.

rxvt is also a good choice.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#225
My dad is 60 and non-tech and he switched to Linux a month back. First Ubuntu but then to Mint because that felt similar to Windows. He hasn't complained even once. Personally I have to Windows only because my office dictates that - some of their software's wont work otherwise.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#227
post #173
post #21

Both my parents are 60+. My mom is perfectly fine using Ubuntu on my old x61 for email, browsing, and YouTube. To be fair she could probably replace it with a tablet if it weren't for the fact that she visits a lot of flash sites (Chinese TV streaming sites). Likewise my dad is on another Ubuntu machine at home. His work needs access to some software / printers that can't be run via Wine so he's stuck with Windows th…

> I tried to convert my 25 year old brother as well, but he switched back to Windows after a month. Despite being the youngest, he hated learning a new system and preferred Windows. I've found this myself. My Grandfather loves Windows 8, my mother absolutely hates it. My Grandfather loves his new Android phone, my mum hates Android and refuses to use anything other than her iPhone. Younger people may be more "tech-sa…

"Despite being the youngest, he hated learning a new system and preferred Windows" which does not mean he was wrong, he just made his choice.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#228
post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's what drives me craziest about programming in windows, the freak'n console is awful

That's what I never got about Windows and especially Windows devs. How can you get anything done with all that clicking and no unix tools?

When future arrived we just did not miss it. GUIs are more natural, it's much better then learning each tools crappy mini console DSL.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#229
post #204

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recommend installing Console 2: http://sourceforge.net/projects/console/ And msysgit ( https://code.google.com/p/msysgit/downloads/list?q=full+inst... ) which includes the "git bash" shell. It's got almost all the basic unix tools installed by default.

I moved to consoleZ: https://github.com/cbucher/console Its a fork of console2. + Adds Splitting Tabs into views Console2 development seems to have slowed down.

I moved to ConEmu: https://code.google.com/p/conemu-maximus5/ from Console2 at work. I find that to be even more feature rich than Terminator for Linux which I use at home.

Re: My dad unexpectedly uses my Linux laptop to get real work done

#230
post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your brother is 25 and has shit to do. I'm sure that once he's old and retired he'll be glad to have learning a new system to take up his time.

I wanted to voice my concurrence with the sentiment ensconced in the rudeness you are probably being downvoted for: I am in my twenties, generally operate from the perspective of one who thinks he "has shit to do" (in fact I use that very phrase frequently to characterize my obligations and commitments), and don't see myself having time to learn a new tool, method, or technique every time I have a need to express mys…

Node.js is just JS running on server. I would rather invest in learning some strong functional language. The more different high-level _paradigms_ you learn in your twenties - the better.
Post reply on HN