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

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#381

Post by pjmlp » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:08 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

Most of that applies to PWAs, daemons with Web UI and native UI Web Widgets, no need to package a browser with the application, contributing to Chrome market share.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#382

Post by pjmlp » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:10 AM UTC

mikeryan wrote: post #77

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.

File system access? Ability to Play a Video stream without a user click? Access to non-CORS enabled APIs if needed?

All of them doable with daemon applications, plus file system access APIs are already available.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#383

Post by pjmlp » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:12 AM UTC

fartcannon wrote: post #198

moocowtruck wrote: post #190

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been using linux since 95, both doing kernel dev and using as desktop. At some point around windows 8 i decided to give windows a try, and purely use windows 10 now and love it for many of the same reasons you mentioned. To me OS wars are over, if someone prefers linux desktop more power to them, but for me anymore I feel like I want technology out of the way as much as possible, and I feel like windows 10 deskt…

Technology out of the way, advertisements in the menus, right?

Like this

https://linux.die.net/man/5/motd

https://linux.die.net/man/6/fortune

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#384

Post by imtringued » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:15 AM UTC

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

In 2018 I switched to Arch Linux at home because I heard "Linux has less games". Before that I used Linux exclusively at work. To test it out I installed it on a 32GB flash drive so that I don't have the urge to install games when I'm space limited. It worked for the first 3 months. Then I got a new SSD and installed it there. A few days later proton came out and I ended up clocking in 600 hours in Warframe. The idea that linux has "no games" is an urban myth. I got scammed by Windows users.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#385

Post by est31 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:16 AM UTC

heavyset_go wrote: post #300

est31 wrote: post #236

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IDK a lot of proprietary developers don't understand the LGPL and are scared by its copyleft. They like how simple the MIT license is. Also, apple's app store is famously LGPL-incompatible.

> Also, apple's app store is famously LGPL-incompatible. If you're shipping a proprietary application that links to LGPL libraries in accordance to the license, that's fine. It's GPL applications that the App Store bans.

Not a lawyer but LGPLv3 contains the anti tivoization rule, which might cause issues with the mandatory signing.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#386

Post by scns » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:17 AM UTC

danmur wrote: post #340

heavyset_go wrote: post #238

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really, most modern Linux distros are pretty god damn nice. I agree, and what really sold me was Plasma Desktop, as someone that couldn't stand KDE 3 & 4. It used to be that GNOME was the desktop environment you could turn into a Windows or macOS clone, but it looks like that switched with GNOME 3 and KDE 5. I have Plasma Desktop set up[1] to take advantage of my macOS muscle memory when it comes to the GUI and key…

I'll have to try KDE again, I always found it really messy and disorganised (but that was many years ago). It's really hard not to have some bias, but I used OSX for work for about five years, currently been using Windows at work for about two years, and I still find Gnome to be the most usable and aesthetically pleasing desktop by far.

Have you tried Cinnamon? I would recommend Mint for trying it, you can install newer Kernel via Update Manager there.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#387

Post by scns » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:22 AM UTC

jamaicahest wrote: post #352

pxeboot wrote: post #253

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really, most modern Linux distros are pretty god damn nice. This has been my experience recently as well. For laptops at least, as long as you buy a system with known good Linux support, the vast majority of the common complaints I see are not really valid. If you need macOS or Windows to run a specific application exclusive to that platform, great. If your software all runs on Linux, you can gain a lot of freedom…

> as long as you buy a system with known good Linux support And that is where the problem lies. With Windows I can buy pretty much any laptop and expect it to work with. With Linux I have a limited selection of laptops, if I want it to work fully. I'm a developer and I know my way around Linux pretty well, still I usually run into "missing drivers", "package management is broken", "hardware working mostly but not ful…

Adding to sibling: If you are in europe, check out https://www.tuxedocomputers.com

Disclaimer: Content customer

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#388

Post by keutoi » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:23 AM UTC

Nginx487 wrote: post #371

"Most people use Windows on the desktop because it's the default" That's just a stereotype, and that's not true. I keep using Windows (hardened and almost isolated Parallels instance of Windows 7), because Linux has serious lack of software I need. I need fully functional MS Office, including API bindings for data import to Excel, and no, Libre Office Calc does not have even 20% of features I need. Of course, I need…

It is a stereotype, but the statement itself is not an exaggeration. An average user has most of the software he needs even in linux. It is not foreign to the user if it is the first one (if it is default) he/she encounters.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#389

Post by TsomArp » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:25 AM UTC

Interesting article. I personally think that some of the advantages are easily solvable, like the remote thing.

From my point of view, case sensitivity in filenames is not an advantage but a disadvantage.

Why would I want to have "presentation to management.ppt" and "Presentation to management.ppt"?

Same for some of the restrictions in file names. I never found any problem. Maybe it is because I write in english and spanish.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#390

Post by Nginx487 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 9:27 AM UTC

sysrpl wrote: post #44

Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. Better as in programs open faster, the file manager opens faster, the task manager opens faster. Everything uses less memory and less CPU cycles. Everything is snappier. Linux users don't have to worry nearly as much about malware, trojans, viruses, exploits. It's more secure. Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates. Linux dist…

That's all true, modern Linux distros are great - but Linux does not have software people got used to use on Windows. And this is the main reason why Linux share on desktop is 1%, not because Linux is not preinstalled. Provided that, developers of desktop software very reluctant to support Linux (even they support Mac), because investing 20-30% of development time for the user base less than 1% is pointless idea from business standpoint.