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

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#471

Post by cryptos » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:16 PM 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…

> I need Enterprise Architect, modeling software of that class simply does not exist on Linux.

That is not quite true. At least Visual Paradigm exists for Linux. I consider it to be even better than Enterprise Architect.

https://www.visual-paradigm.com/download/index.jsp?platform=...

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#472

Post by AntiImperialist » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:16 PM 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…

I have used Linux as the primary OS for over 15 years in the last 20 years and I am not sure I agree with all of that.

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.

Simply untrue. It could be true for some distros, some driver versions and some hardware... but if you consider everything, Windows runs better than Linux. Mostly because most hardware is designed to run well on Windows. The Linux versions are either an afterthought or built and maintained by third-party.

Linux distros generally don't annoy users with stealthy automatic forced updates.

Windows updates aren't stealthy and they can be disabled. If you really don't want an update, it is MUCH MORE straightforward to avoid installing the optional update in Windows than it is for Linux distros.

* Linux distros have a better app store experience than Windows, plus most of whatever there is free without much if any risk.

Which Linux distro has a better App Store than Windows? Since Microsoft launched the Windows App Store, it is the best App Store in any non-macOS computers.

Linux doesn't have any phone home telemetry type "features" built into the OS.

Some distros do. Ubuntu has it, for example.

Linux user experience is much more customizable. There are a much greater variety of tools at your disposal to customize how you want your desktop to look and operate.

This is true. However, this has been a problem, which is why something like Ubuntu which has good defaults which they stick to has been so much successful than anything else.

Linux is free.

Sure! Many things are. That's not always a good reason to use it.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#473

Post by _hao » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:18 PM UTC

_Microft wrote: post #418

_hao wrote: post #350

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Windows has virtual desktops with Win + Alt + Tab to show the options and then you can switch with Win + Alt + Left/Right arrow. Also you can tile your apps in every corner/side you want or size? I use a 43" Dell 4k monitor and it even comes with software (Dell Display Manager) to manage all these options.

Microsoft has revived the good old PowerToys as well. It now includes a FancyZones utility that allows to define zones that windows can automatically snap into while dragging them (while holding a key). It also has a setting to overwrite the Win+Arrow key functionality to move windows between these "fancy zones" instead. Maybe this is interesting for you? https://github.com/microsoft/PowerToys/releases

That sounds interesting! Thanks for bringing this to my attention I'll definitely check it out!

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#474

Post by ubercow13 » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:27 PM UTC

roytries wrote: post #425

sysrpl wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent author reporting back. I am going to have to sort of disagree with you there (in Lumbergh voice). In all seriousness though, you are wrong on all points. Sorry, yes you are wrong. Rather than write a point by point rebuttal, against my common sense (you know, the thing about arguing with someone one the Internet) I'll just write a few paragraphs, provide some professional anecdotal and maybe quantitative evide…

I find this an extremely weird set of argument. Opening the task manager or explorer takes less time than I can measure on both Windows and Linux... what kind of metric is this? As for background services, of course they spend (at that moment unused resources). But you completely forego that they have an actual usefulness. Indexing files makes searching later faster. Prefetching makes loading commonly used programs f…

Opening software takes a lot of time on Windows. It's mainly due to the antivirus. I recently tested it myself; I forget the numbers but basically having Microsoft's AV enabled adds a good fraction of a second, or maybe more, to every program launch.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#475

Post by scns » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:28 PM UTC

nickjj wrote: post #112

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…

I agree with pretty much everything you wrote. But I still run Windows because the only really good video editor on Linux (Davinci Resolve) is really unstable there with the hardware I have, the USB audio interface I use has all sorts of issues on Linux and not all games run well on Linux. Basically what it boils down to is I've been one of those folks who builds their computers from parts for 20+ years with the goal…

Get an audio interface from Native Instruments, they have official drivers in the Kernel.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#476

Post by yakubin » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:28 PM UTC

roytries wrote: post #425

sysrpl wrote: post #283

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Parent author reporting back. I am going to have to sort of disagree with you there (in Lumbergh voice). In all seriousness though, you are wrong on all points. Sorry, yes you are wrong. Rather than write a point by point rebuttal, against my common sense (you know, the thing about arguing with someone one the Internet) I'll just write a few paragraphs, provide some professional anecdotal and maybe quantitative evide…

I find this an extremely weird set of argument. Opening the task manager or explorer takes less time than I can measure on both Windows and Linux... what kind of metric is this? As for background services, of course they spend (at that moment unused resources). But you completely forego that they have an actual usefulness. Indexing files makes searching later faster. Prefetching makes loading commonly used programs f…

> Indexing files makes searching later faster.

It's been my experience that Windows search is anything but fast. On Linux on the other hand, the speed of find(1) was never an issue. There is really nothing to speed up (and in so doing increase median load).

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#477

Post by majewsky » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:37 PM UTC

anonymou2 wrote: post #451

ylyn wrote: post #446

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Linux isn't just an OS you use because you want to use free software. For a good number of people it's just better than Windows and macOS.

Maybe so, maybe other people just don't know, for those who don't know it may be good to read how this all got started, so here's my two cents: https://www.gnu.org/

I understand this, and I am someone who started using free software for philosophical reasons. But if you're interested in free software succeeding, it's a better strategy to meet people where their needs are rather than push any particular selling point. If someone switches to Linux because their Steam games run smoother than on Windows, more power to them! And then we can sell them on all the free software that their distribution just happens to come with, and also educate them about the philosophical underpinnings along the way.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#478

Post by falcolas » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:40 PM UTC

f1refly wrote: post #362

simonh wrote: post #342

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I'm not sure how high your requirement on the "it just werks" factor are, but I can not recommend borgbackup enough for general use. They have a script[0] for local backups one can copy-paste in a cronjob and it takes care of backups reliably from that day on. Saved me from my own stupidity more times than I'm comfortable admitting. [0] https://borgbackup.readthedocs.io/en/stable/deployment/autom...

Not to disparage your comment or recommendation, but “it just works” typically means you don’t have to go looking for software (or muck with cron) to do things like ‘backups’.

For me, it’s reasons like that which keep me on Apple: 90% of my basic computer operation/maintenance usecases are already taken care of, or have first party software to take care of it.

I leave finessing linux operations and programs for my day job.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#479

Post by majewsky » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:40 PM UTC

Nginx487 wrote: post #401

keutoi wrote: post #388

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

"Average" user must have used very limited amount of software. I agree, not everyone need software for modeling or design, but again, looking at Grammarly, which is pretty useful addon, and it's only available for MS Office. "Average user" may start from Libre Office, but end up disappointed, why addon developers don't care about him. And they don't care (well, maybe just deeply concerned), because investing 20-30% o…

The average user needs a web browser, full stop. This can be proven easily by looking at the market success of Chromebooks.

Re: Reasons to prefer Linux over Windows (2014)

#480

Post by hackerfromthefu » Mon, Nov 16, 2020, 1:45 PM UTC

sergeykish wrote: post #256

TylerE wrote: post #230

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have literally not needed to reinstall Windows in close to a decade. You couldn't pay me to put up with the massively inferior environment of any of the Linux DEs at this point. They are all, in varying ways, completely miserable to use. Windows 10 is actually a really solid OS, and virtualization makes it so easy to spin up a Linux VM if I really need it.

I've recently reinstalled Windows for brother in law. System become unusable, quite performant after reinstall. Looks like your experience is not universal. And I can not remove user configurations as I can on Linux . I've tried Windows 10, it is not bad as consumer OS. Tray notifications gone, so good. WSL1 has limitations, should be solved in WSL2. PowerShell, OpenSSH and winget are good improvements. Windows inter…

We Windows users just have no rational choice - the utility is carefully tuned to outweigh the annoyances and anti-features for the majority of users.

So we suck up MS treatment of us as cattle whose data and behaviours to be harvested and the dumbing down of the UI in the interest of getting things done and getting on with our lives.

It's a faustian bargain, but the alternative is worse.

I already work on a computer all week, then and spend a lot of my discretionary time on it for career research, for necessary involvement in modern life and for some leisure.

If I fulfil my desire to use linux for all the various advanced desktop scenarios I demand of my computer I'm giving up the remaining free time in my life!! And for what - to tweak driver configurations and DEs, again, AGAIN, for the hundredth or thousandth time in my life to keep things working. Learning how everything works was fun but constantly canoodling with configuration and setup for the nth time is as pointless as working around MS antifeatures, and seems to take up more time on balance if you are doing a wide variety of advanced scenarios occasionally (in my experience as a 20 year linux tinkerer).

So it's not a blind spot, it's a faustian bargain to have some hours left in my life to exercise, to look after my health, to go outside and enjoy the garden and live a wider life.