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Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

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Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#131

Post by muttled »

Xylakant wrote: post #21
habnds wrote: post #3

>> 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 l…

I‘m a bit surprised that they care about the cost so much - the Dell laptops and the Apple Laptops come in at a price point of 2000 - 3000 USD and the Dell they specifically recommend for Linux use comes with Windows Pro preinstalled. The price difference to the equivalent Linux version is around 70USD. That‘s a negligible difference, especially when you start comparing to the employees wage (It‘s probably about 1 ho…

Most places I've worked at (Windows shops largely) had management tools that worked well on Windows but not as well on other devices. The IT staff was skilled largely in Windows, as well. The biggest argument against other OS options was that we simply did not have the tools and experience to effectively manage the other options. It's a valid argument, and seemed disingenuous to take digs at the other OS options when the reality was that we simply couldn't support a Mac well in an enterprise environment.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#133

Post by pessimizer »

Xylakant wrote: post #33
jhickok wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Although not even hinted at in the doc, I personally find the tedium of buying and provisioning and monitoring licenses worse than the cost of it. I suppose you are also inviting risk in the form of an audit.

Most windows laptops today come with a license key baked into the BIOS. So no need to manage licenses here.

I've worked at businesses who employed people full-time to manage Microsoft licensing.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#135

Post by kyriakos »

Lutger wrote: post #79
ironmagma wrote: post #8

This is being posted just a day after this tweet: https://twitter.com/allenholub/status/1555324387087097856 I really wonder what it's like inside Gitlab. The product ticks all the boxes you'd want it to, but the user experience just resonates with sadness and misery.

Did you ever use it? I have, extensively, and found the user experience excellent. Still miss it now I'm using github plus a bunch of other tools.

Using self hosted enterprise version as an end user and my experience is not that great. It is feature packed but the UI is all over the place.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#137

Post by tpoacher »

horsawlarway wrote: post #9

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 p…

It doesn't sound like Gitlab doesn't allow windows at all.

This sounds to refer explicitly to using interim personal laptops until departmental hardware is issued formally (which, as I understood it, may then run windows).

Did I misread?

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#138

Post by pessimizer »

gizmo wrote: post #16

The pretext for banning Windows is comically bad. Paying extra for Mac hardware is perfectly fine (no, encouraged!), but paying $100 or so to upgrade Windows Home to Windows Professional is prohibitively expensive? That's such a joke. I have no trouble with companies mandating one OS or the other. But when the justification for the policy is so bad it looks petty and ideological as opposed to the result of a level-he…

Ideological doesn't mean petty. It's not somehow beneath serious people to have beliefs about your company and to stick to them.

Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab

#140

Post by tootie »

politelemon wrote: post #54

> Due to Microsoft Windows' dominance in desktop operating systems, Windows is the platform most targetted by spyware, viruses, and ransomware. This is poor reasoning and a misunderstanding of how security works. Any org should be happy with any OS, as long as sufficient security controls for it exist. Anyone who oversees Windows estates, or works in desktop security, can tell you that they exist and are extensive, a…

Can I run an OSX VM on another platform? Nope, not free. Not libre or gratis.
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