Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014) • Hacker News Board

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#131

Post by derekp7 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:03 AM UTC

aaomidi wrote: post #119

derekp7 wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is strange to me how different people have different experiences. I wonder how much is hardware / driver related? In my case I have an AMD video card, and my system runs for weeks at a time (I reboot when applying kernel updates is all). Also had very good stability on my Thinkpad X2 Yoga (Gen 2) -- this one with the integrated Intel graphics.

Odd, I'm using PopOS so it might be honestly something Pop is doing to cause that behaviour. I also just generally have a major issue with the Linux process scheduler (CFS). It definitely doesn't feel like its suited for desktop use.

I run Fedora, and update to the latest release about a month or two after it is released. Mostly because my job is with RHEL / CentOS, and Fedora keeps me up to date with what will be in the next RHEL major version. However I should correct my previous statement, that I have weird stuff happen with Wayland, and I give it a shot periodically but switch back to X11. (In my case, "weird stuff" is things like desktop screen sharing not working with MS Teams, or having HiDPI scaling interacting badly with older style X apps such as OpenSCAD -- in that case with Wayland the cursor has a hard time grabbing window edges).

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#132

Post by alphachloride » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:05 AM UTC

I am a sample size of 1. For me, the inconveniences of using linux are far greater than the inconveniences of using windows. This article is targeted at the developer community mostly.

As a programmer, I cannot recall being hindered by file name conventions, un-resizeable dialog boxes, bug trackers etc., as much I have been inconvenienced on linux by poor driver support, and regularly dropping to command line for configuring my system.

As a gamer, well, there is no competition for me, really.

As your average user, I find the user interface on windows nicer and see more compatible programs.

If there is anything I absolutely have to have linux for, I can just use a raspberry pi, a cloud server etc.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#133

Post by billsix » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:05 AM UTC

est31 wrote: post #95

Subsentient wrote: post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Honestly I'd suggest they just use Qt then. Our company is writing a portable replacement to our Electron client right now. The electron option was absolute garbage, very limited, and caused us untold pain. We got tired of telling customers "we can't really do that". The Qt version is already working on Linux and Windows, and on whatever CPUs we compile it for. There's no excuse for Electron, because there are good,…

Qt is nice but costs money for developers of proprietary software. Electron has its own costs but most of them are externalized to the user. So it wins out.

IIRC, Qt has been licensed under the LGPL for many many years, so you can develop proprietary software that dynamically links to Qt no cost.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#134

Post by jamesgeck0 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:06 AM UTC

im3w1l wrote: post #122

StavrosK wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need web apps wrapped in their own window, though? Just open a browser. Relatedly, Electron is a problem because desktop apps nowadays require a huge browser just to display a window, not because web apps are packaged in a browser to get slightly better desktop integration.

Electron app: works offline has more permissions can use udp separate alt-tab, tray display is not throttled because it's in the background (on desktop) unaffected by browser settings unaffected by clear cookies unaffected by extensions less confusion over who handles keybinds

Web apps have been able to work offline for like a decade now, iirc.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#135

Post by what-the-grump » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:07 AM UTC

Microsoft is doing what Linux claims to be faster and more aggressively than ever before. If you couldn't beat windows 7, the OS that ran for decade with no major upgrades to functionality, at the desktop game how are you going to beat an OS that changes faster than we can keep up as admins?

We all cried in 2016, 17, 18 when ms was patching too fast, releasing too fast, now they are steady pushing a semi-annual build with little problems. There will no windows 11 and because Linux is OOS, with no central model for support, Microsoft will continue to dominate the desktop space. It's just Windows now, not ubuntu, arch, mint, red hat, deb, gnu.

3 main gripes:

Cost - sure? MS doesn't really make money here it wouldn't cost much to ship windows to the planet for free. Forced updates - again 3 years ago yes big problem, last year still killing my nic drivers, future 3-5 years? Unlikely that we will even notice them, we are down to a monthly reboot.

Telemetry - not going away.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#136

Post by kbumsik » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:08 AM UTC

These kinds of post very often confuse people.

We need to divide the debate into two perspectives: Development and Desktop environment.

As a dev, I always use Linux. I love to use shell all the time. However, I use Windows as a desktop environment because I fed up with the whole Xorg vs Wayland situation and inferior VNC experiences to Windows RDP.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#137

Post by FpUser » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:09 AM UTC

nightski wrote: post #125

StavrosK wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

* Astronomically lower probability of catching a virus. * No bullshit forced updates when the OS feels like it. * No phoning home with you being unable to launch an app when your manufacturer's server is slow. * No shuffling about trying to install drivers for a thousand components before your computer is usable. How's that?

I've been using Windows as a daily driver for over 20 years and have never had a virus or malware. For a technical savvy user it's really easy to avoid by just not doing stupid things.

Same here

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#138

Post by eikenberry » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:10 AM UTC

im3w1l wrote: post #122

StavrosK wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you need web apps wrapped in their own window, though? Just open a browser. Relatedly, Electron is a problem because desktop apps nowadays require a huge browser just to display a window, not because web apps are packaged in a browser to get slightly better desktop integration.

Electron app: works offline has more permissions can use udp separate alt-tab, tray display is not throttled because it's in the background (on desktop) unaffected by browser settings unaffected by clear cookies unaffected by extensions less confusion over who handles keybinds

Are these supposed to be advantages over using the browser for these "apps"? As someone who uses the browser for most of these things, I was looking for some reason why the electron app would be better and I don't see any (and see some definite negative aspects).

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#139

Post by chabad360 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:12 AM UTC

GuB-42 wrote: post #93

Here is a website with opposite arguments (against Linux on the desktop specifically) https://itvision.altervista.org/why.linux.is.not.ready.for.t... In the end you have strong arguments both ways. I personally use both on a daily basis. Generally that's Linux for work (coding, mostly) and Windows for fun (games and media).

Interestingly, for me it's exactly the opposite, I use Windows at work and linux for not at work.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#140

Post by maple3142 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:14 AM UTC

I use linux for my personal server, but I still use Windows in my desktop (with WSL). I have Nvidia GPU, multiple monitor, so Wayland don't seem to be ready for my use case. I aware of proton too, but needing tweaks to run games doesn't seem to be ready to me. I expect games to be "just work". Also, there are also non-steam games and anti-cheat. Currently, WSL perfectly fit my needs for development environment.

I had used KDE, which gave me a good experience, but the general Linux desktop ecosystem doesn't feel ready for me. Maybe years later, the situation will be good enough to switch, but it is not now.