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Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

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Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#2

Post by PaulHoule »

It's a fairly odd that that IT cultures are segregated into places that have nothing but Macs and other places that have nothing but Windows.

I think it's risky because a small computing monoculture can feel complete but commit a software business to failure at the very beginning by rejecting 90% of the potential market.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#3

Post by habnds »

>> GitLab approves the use of Linux, and Apple's macOS. Microsoft Windows is prohibited for the following reasons:

    Due to Microsoft Windows' dominance in desktop operating systems, Windows is the platform most targetted by spyware, viruses, and ransomware.

    macOS is preinstalled on Apple computers and Linux is available free of charge. To approve the use of Windows, GitLab would have to purchase Windows Professional licenses, as Windows Home Edition does not satisfy GitLab's security guidelines.

    As many purchases of laptops have occurred with employees making the purchases and then being reimbursed by GitLab, a remote employee would typically be making a purchase of a laptop pre-loaded with Windows Home Edition.
    Windows Home Edition is notoriously hard to secure.
edit: after thinking about this for a bit, it occurs to me that their main competitor is github and that maybe they just aren't very excited to use MSFT products?

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#6

Post by ericbarrett »

PaulHoule wrote: post #2

It's a fairly odd that that IT cultures are segregated into places that have nothing but Macs and other places that have nothing but Windows. I think it's risky because a small computing monoculture can feel complete but commit a software business to failure at the very beginning by rejecting 90% of the potential market.

Device management becomes much more complicated when you have multiple OSes, though. Unless your company is small enough that self-management remains viable, you have to hire for both Windows and Mac administration experience, and/or shell out a pretty penny for cross-platform "enterprise" device management software.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#9

Post by horsawlarway »

I'm no fan of Windows myself, but I find this a fairly bad policy.

If nothing else - what's not used is not tested. And if you expect any real population of users to be using Windows machines with your products, you should have developers/PMs/QA/support interacting with your products using Windows machines.

I see this as: We're saving a bit of money and making ITs life easier, and in exchange users will get a worse product.

Realistically - that's a bad trade. It is almost never the right decision to prioritize IT quality of life over basically any other business need.

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