The grapes are sour anyway... /s
Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
161–170 of 324 posts
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#162Earlier quoted context omitted.
I wonder how, when Windows isn't allowed. Must be some special Pixie dust.
Unsurprisingly, they don't run CI on developer laptops, which the linked page is about.
So their developers do indeed use Pixie dust when debugging Windows build pipelines and compilers.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#163I'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…
I mean, Gitlab is a web platform. It's pretty easy to test how it's going to work on different platforms without needing full machines. Heck, you can even just get Microsoft Edge binaries on macOS and Linux if you want to test Edge. But failing that, VMs are pretty sufficient.
VM's are sufficient only if you want "idk, it runs kinda glitchy on the VM" to be the end of the conversation when Windows-specific bugs come up in dev. And "idk, works fine on the VM" when Windows-specific tickets come up in prod.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#164This is pretty similar to the policy at my company: you get a Mac, unless you specifically request a Linux laptop. If you need Windows for testing, Microsoft makes VM images available with a browser pre-installed at https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/v...
I once worked at a CDN (you know, 99.9% *nix) that didn't allow Linux machines because corporate IT didn't know how to fix them and their remote cough spyware cough didn't work on them. We even told them they don't need to support us at all and we're all old school unix admins, didn't matter, corporate policy. Windows or mac.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#165This is pretty similar to the policy at my company: you get a Mac, unless you specifically request a Linux laptop. If you need Windows for testing, Microsoft makes VM images available with a browser pre-installed at https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/v...
As a long time Windows user, it would take me a considerable amount of time to get used to the operating system and all applications and utilities that I need to be productive. Not saying Windows is great, but it works for me. And I'm pretty sure they don't hire people to learn an operating system.
You're not wrong, I only use mac nowadays but I was previously a windows engineer so I know it in and out. It took me two tries to get used to a macbook, one I returned in its 30 day window and the other a corporate policy required Macs years later. It was frustrating for maybe a month or two, mostly the different keyboard buttons and shortcuts, but eventually I got it and I love it now.
I don't love the cost of apps on it, there are some tiny apps that I can't believe how much they want for them, and some bigger apps that are easily $60-200 but I don't need any of those.
Still use windows to game and I think it's still a nice chill OS that just works, for me at least. I didn't enjoy developing on it, though, I broke WSL a bunch of times.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#166Earlier quoted context omitted.
Developing "essentially a website" is my full time job - if you genuinely don't think there are differences between platforms, you aren't paying attention. The browser is wired into the OS in real ways, and they matter. Everything from "How does the os manage passwords" or "how are system notifications presented" or "How much screen real estate do I have have on a given window size (scrollbars...)" to subtle differen…
I've been making software for almost 10 years and password manager/notifications/responsiveness is not dependent on the platform that's why we have web standards.
You clearly haven't been paying attention, then. It's easy to spend decades making crappy software.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#167Earlier quoted context omitted.
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…
It wasn't a limitation of the places you've worked at - endpoint management tools for Windows are light years ahead of the ones for Apple. Moreover said tools simply don't exist in Linux land.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#168> Due to Microsoft Windows' dominance in desktop operating systems, Windows is the platform most targetted by spyware, viruses, and ransomware.
What a stupid reason is that?! It really sounds like the Head of IT at Gitlab just doesn't like Windows and is doing what he can to find excuses.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#169Using a fork to eat your soup is prohibited at Soups Only (tm)
HN: While I agree that eating a soup with a fork is bad, I think the employees should be able to try.
Re: Microsoft Windows is prohibited at Gitlab
#170I'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…
> what's not used is not tested
What are they going to test on Windows? It's a web platform that runs on a Linux server... And Rails is kinda annoying to develop on using Windows, you definitely won't put it on a Windows server, what's the point?