Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Astronomically lower probability of catching a virus. Yes because nobody uses consumer desktop Linux. With higher market share the malware will come. > No bullshit forced updates when the OS feels like it. True, but that also means you're going to end up with a lot more botnet nodes out there because people will never update. Or they'll never update and still complain things are not working. > No phoning home with…
> > Astronomically lower probability of catching a virus. > Yes because nobody uses consumer desktop Linux. With higher market share the malware will come. Linux has a higher server market share already, and its virus problem there is still not as bad as Windows'. > > No bullshit forced updates when the OS feels like it. > True, but that also means you're going to end up with a lot more botnet nodes out there because…
Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
391–400 of 636 posts
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#392I 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 a…
In 2018 I ended up calling both Apple and Microsoft for phone support within a few months of each other and, to my surprise, got excellent support from both of them. The Apple issues turned out to require an NvRAM/SMC reset to fix a weird performance issue. The Apple support person was very polite, helpful and knowledgeable. The Microsoft issue was I’d bought a laptop which came with an Office trial, but wanted to en…
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#393Earlier quoted context omitted.
>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...
Hmmm, I just bought a Dell Precision laptop that had Bitlocker enabled by default (presumably by Dell) and at no point was I asked to record a backup key. I don't have a Microsoft account either. I'm probably screwed?
I've had bitlocker fail to find the key after doing a BIOS update where the TPM has been messed up (although usually it's just been disabled and needs re-enabling). If Microsoft has the backup key you can login on another PC or phone and get the key again (from memory it's around 25 random characters).
My threat model is theft of a PC not Microsoft one drive being hacked. Just means whoever steals the PC now has to either:
a) Hack the TPM
b) Hack my Microsoft account
c) Give up and reformat the PC before resale
While a & b are not impossible they seem unlikely for a random thief, while option c seems like the most likely response to a PC stolen with bitlocker enabled.
Bitlocker makes me less likely to be a victim of identity theft after having my PC stolen.
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#394I 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…
Back when I was using linux 2010s or so, it had serious issues with drivers and overheating. Config files would break unexpectedly and I found myself spending a lot of time in IRC channels trying to fix stuff.
At uni they were pushing us to use Linux and I think that made a lot of sense. People would learn bash effectively and learn some lower level bare stuff as well.
A lot of time "linux is free if your time has no value" made a lot of sense.
Nowadays, I hear some good news about Linux though I would never switch to it as a main OS.
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#395Here 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).
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#396Linux 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…
> Linux runs better on both new and older hardware. This is very much debatable. What's true however is that if your HW is not supported by at least Windows 8.1 you're SoL. > 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. I haven't observed any slow downs in Windows 10 for ages. As for "less memo…
Really? Where? When asking Microsoft about it, they say No.
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/where-...
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#397"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…
I consider myself a geek, a fairly advanced user of software and a software developer.
I have been trying different versions of Linux since the Mandrake Linux times, so about what, 20 years?
I always come back to Windows, which from Windows 2000 has been getting better and better. Of course there have been sh*t moments like Windows Vista and Windows 8, but Windows 2k, XP, 7, and now 10 (enterprise version), have always been good to me.
I can use Linux for sure, and I appreciate the effort the community does, however, for my use case, I don't see the advantage of using Linux over Windows, and I find many disadvantages: missing software (office, adobe, although I have run it under wine), missing or not perfect drivers (energy efficiency is a problem even on thinkpads).
Again, I really like the effort, and if I must use it, I can, but I don't see the advantage.
Now, I use it on my dad's computer (he is 80), as it is much difficult for him to screw up than Windows.
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#398Earlier quoted context omitted.
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)
#399"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…
- Photoshop : your lifetime license is not really lifetime, CS2 servers got shut down recently, Adobe will shut down those servers sooner or later. While you may not find it true for you, for the non professional Gimp is generally good enough. Also the Mac version of Photoshop while having some kinks even for professional use is pretty comparable, you don't need Windows given you are already using a macOS.
- Enterprise Architect: If your argument is nobody is investing in Linux desktop modelling apps it can be argued nobody is investing in desktop modelling apps today period whether in Windows or Linux or Mac .
Modelling applications on the web/mobile like Miro(just raised $100M+) or draw.io or many others have gained a lot of traction. Sharing and collaborating on the model has lot more value than few advanced features, Yes today Enterprise Architect has more features, however that is not going to last and these apps have a lot of functionality already that average users will not find them lacking even today.
- MS Office: Sharepoint/o365 is almost as good as desktop office for most common use cases and getting better lot faster than upgrades to Excel. Yes Excel is used for those million row sheets with gazillion circular dependent formulas, and it works pretty darn well for all that people throw at it. Sharepoint is improving, the use cases it is poor at handling will become smaller and smaller that procurement departments will start questioning desktop license budgets for Office apps.
On the whole barring some exceptions like gaming, graphics etc there are only few new active investments for desktop apps that are not just electron apps of web.
OS is becoming irrelevant for productivity apps outside of these sectors and legacy reasons. It is not big tech does not know that, Apple is dropping dual boot in the next gen chip and it is not like windows or linux cannot support ARM, the pace of OS development has slowed considerably, Windows is only do to incremental updates to 10, the cost and effort of doing a major release is no longer worth the returns.
Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)
#400Now that Windows dev experience (for me) is almost comparable to Linux and will continue to improve, I don't see much reason to switch back to Linux.
Of course that's not to say I don't have any complaints for Windows. For example file names are not case sensitive and it drives me crazy when I need to change a file name's casing.