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Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

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Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#211

Post by aeyes »

davrosthedalek wrote: post #184
alphachloride wrote: post #132

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 con…

...or just run WSL2, which is absolutely amazing.

Shared filesystem performance on WSL2 is anything but amazing and pretty much everything I want it for depends heavily on the filesystem.

Native I/O performance is good but without shared files, WSL2 doesn't have any benefits over a VM.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#212

Post by Osiris »

extra_rice wrote: post #196
red75prime wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

1. Swap thrashing can bring the system into a completely unresponsive state. 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). 3. Windows updates aren't stealthy for a considerable time. 4. That's a matter of opinion. 5. Some distros do, but it's opt-in. Transparency is better on the Linux side too. I agree on this point. 6. You are tempted to spend time on customizati…

> 2. Linux servers are targeted and breached. Linux desktop share is too small to be worth it (yet). Why aren't we replacing them with something better then? Why are most servers still running GNU/Linux?

Linux as a server/headless OS has been fantastic for me. I have a home NAS running Linux that hasn't been rebooted in over a year and that was due to swapping out hard drives.

Linux as my desktop OS, not so much. I have to reboot my Linux laptop every few days for various reasons, including complete unresponsiveness to any keyboard input.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#213

Post by lukeschlather »

tcbawo wrote: post #165
alphachloride wrote: post #132

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 con…

I recently spent 30 minutes figuring out why the Bluetooth pairing process wasn't giving me the pin number I needed to pair my new wireless keyboard. Ugh. Eventually, after searching through forums, I updated the right modules to get it working. I want to use Linux as my daily driver, but I am frustrated by little things that don't work or go wrong.

I've been using Windows for the past couple years for work after mostly using Ubuntu for several years. I felt the same way about Bluetooth but I've found all the Bluetooth problems I thought were "Linux" are just as bad on Windows. But Windows is just a lot more unstable. Every other week there's some new thing that breaks in a confusing way, and it's all closed source shovelware so I can't even figure out what is causing the problem.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#214

Post by rubyn00bie »

I just moved to Linux as my primary OS; been fucking great. 11/10

Overall, everything seems to "just work" at least as well as on MacOS and is not quite (for me) as endlessly frustrating as Windows. Gaming has also been effortless and honestly just the most delightful surprise about the whole thing. I can write code AND play games... on the same machine... and it's running Linux?! I would've lost that bet ten years ago.

I was/am totally prepared to use GPU pass-through to a Windows VM to get native gaming performance or work around bugs-- but I haven't needed to.

I'm using PopOS but am pretty indifferent toward the distro I use. I honestly got it confused for different distro, but it was still Debian/Ubuntu based so I'm chill (ha).

Really, most modern Linux distros are pretty god damn nice. It's a little weird to even think about dialing in the aesthetic more to my liking coming from the world of MacOS. But I've found themes like Nord (https://www.gnome-look.org/p/1267246/) provide some visual familiarity while maintaining their own unique aesthetic qualities.

Making apps, or interacting with the OS, is absurdly easy using GTK and Python vs anything Microsoft or Apple have to offer. I have the same effective level of support which is to say none-at-all or via the community of volunteers. I can't ever imagine calling Microsoft or Apple for meaningful help (roflcoptr and we say we pay for support).

Linux is rocking the desktop hard, if you haven't tried it in a few years or just maintain a Windows installation to play games-- seriously give it a try. It's wonderful.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#215

Post by lukeschlather »

AlanSE wrote: post #177
tcbawo wrote: post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I recently spent 30 minutes figuring out why the Bluetooth pairing process wasn't giving me the pin number I needed to pair my new wireless keyboard. Ugh. Eventually, after searching through forums, I updated the right modules to get it working. I want to use Linux as my daily driver, but I am frustrated by little things that don't work or go wrong.

I find myself using my Android phone a lot more when on Linux... just because I have to practically work around some things, because I don't have all day to debug non-essential tasks. For instance, I upgraded Fedora from 32 to 33, and Spotify stopped working. Can this be fixed? I'm absolutely sure it can be fixed. Do I have time? No. I have watched way too many coworkers bomb meetings because of trying to use bluetoo…

I've actually quit using Bluetooth for Zoom meetings on Windows because it has been too unreliable.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#216

Post by Anon4Now »

Subsentient wrote: post #59
1986 wrote: post #20

I know quite a lot of folks here are fed up with moves away from native apps and towards Electron-wrapped web apps (and often for totally valid reasons) but it's been a godsend for making Linux a usable daily driver OS. IMO if you're doing eg web dev work in a GSuite / Slack / Figma / etc organization, it's never been a better time to try desktop Linux!

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,…

Because then you have to use C++. That alone is a big turnoff to a lot of developers.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#217

Post by nyolfen »

jbirer wrote: post #178

I started my journey with linux at the age of 12 when Canonical was sending out free CD's of Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04. After nearly 13 years of usage I am a happy user of Windows 10 now. My reasons are: * Horrible font rendering that makes me not even want to code * Terrible application support * Audio and touchpad support is noticeably superior on Windows * Small things that you have to tinker with in order to get ev…

i don't expect this to win you back, but i can't recommend this highly enough:

http://www.webupd8.org/2013/06/better-font-rendering-in-linu...

you can choose between different system font rendering styles, including macos and windows

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#218

Post by qz2 »

ryukafalz wrote: post #30
qz2 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

True. From a regular Fedora and occasional windows user Office runs on it, games work on it, Thinkpad touchpad drivers aren't shit, Microsoft To Do is still better than anything anyone else has come up with, fractional scaling that works properly, power management that works properly, half decent recovery options, best corporate SSO and device management on the market, smoothest full disk encryption.

>smoothest full disk encryption It may be smooth, but it also sends the disk encryption key to Microsoft unless you pay extra for Pro and above, so y'know... https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/finding-your-bit...

Mine came with pro. It was printed out. Not that it matters as it has Fedora on it now :)

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#219

Post by aeyes »

fiddlerwoaroof wrote: post #78
ubercow13 wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can kind of do this with Chrome for any website. More tools->create shortcut in the menu.

Yeah, my experience is that these behave in unusual ways: it’s ok, but they always feel a bit off, even compared to Electron

You have to design your site for this, back in the IE days we did this for some corporate tools and went full kiosk mode. The user didn't even know that it was a website.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#220

Post by sergeykish »

alphachloride wrote: post #132

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 con…

As Linux user the article does not resonate with me. The actual points are discarded points

# Linux is more stable and reliable.

I've reinstalled Windows so many times, never reinstalled Linux. System is separate from the user, I can remove all user configurations and it would work like new.

# Linux is more secure and private.

I have so many packages, they are free and safe. I've tried Windows recently, have to install software from the web. It is scary.

No telemetry by default. I send package statistics, have install it myself:

    # pacman -S pkgstats
# Linux is faster and less bloated

There are many communities, some run Destkop Environments, I run quite minimal setup, boot to graphical environment takes 100MB RAM. Old netbook is router/NAS, 1GB is plenty.

# Linux is more flexible and customizable.

Primary reason I've switched. So many options, it is awesome! GNOME, KDE, XFCE, OpenBox, wmii, dwm, xmonad. Entire distributions — Ubuntu, Arch, Nix and many more.

# Linux gives you more control over your computer.

There was liberating feeling — my computer is just a hardware. Never felt it with Windows, it always had its own way. You know, some people kick their computers in rage. That has gone.

Linux has a great driver support for supported hardware, it is like complaining about hackintosh. Windows adopting command line and package management tools. Yes, had to stop gaming, that's changing with Proton. I find Windows UI atrocious, my desktop for comparison:

http://sergeykish.com/side-by-side-no-decorations.png

multiple workspaces, no decorations, not even browser scroll bar. I'd like to have universal solution for sticky headers.

And, maybe, the most valuable — Linux is getting better while Windows and macOS getting worse. Telemetry, advertisement, walled garden, executable restrictions, firewall bypass, proprietary hardware — scandal after scandal. While on the Linux side — AMD GPU, Wayland, Flatpak, Steam Proton, web applications, better than ever laptops support.

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