4 ms·

Rather than continuing to struggle against these features which will continue to be added, why not use an operating system that respects your freedom?

everyone 10y ago
tbh I mainly use windows cus of the great selection of pirate software available for it :p EDIT: ps. I know Linux has great, more or less equivalent, free or very cheap software available but I'm too lazy to learn that other software. EDIT2: I think perhaps a lot of windows users might fall into my category.
Aldo_MX 10y ago
I'd rather struggle with some Windows warts than reverse engineer my drivers. I'm not the kind of guy who would found a Free Software Foundation because of some Xerox printer drivers.
- eitland 10y ago
  > I'd rather struggle with some Windows warts than reverse engineer my drivers. I'd guess that any *nix user who reverse engineer their own drivers in 2017 does so because they want to and/or have a job that pays them to do so (most likely handsomely). For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases (until you come to MS Office, AutoCAD etc which is a whole different story, mostly unrelated to drivers IMO.)
  - Aldo_MX 10y ago
    > have a job that pays them to do so (most likely handsomely). Nope, that's just fiction, the awesomely rewarded jobs are boring banking systems written in plain old Windows Forms (or WPF/Angular if you're lucky). Most jobs would send you with HR to have a serious talk if they found out you lost a week reverse engineering a display link docking station because your multi-monitor setup wouldn't run after installing Fedora in your job laptop. But that's none of my business. Kids are free to believe in Santa. > For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases. You usually install Linux because you enjoy working with the terminal, not because it's easy to use, but I certainly understand where do you come from. Ubuntu has done an amazing job to lower the barrier to start using Linux.
    - eitland 10y ago
      > Most jobs would send you with HR to have a serious talk if they found out you lost a week reverse engineering a display link docking station because your multi-monitor setup wouldn't run after installing Fedora in your job laptop. That would be reasonable, if Linux development isn't your job. And if you do it for the fun of it I say of course you should do it on your own time. > But that's none of my business. Kids are free to believe in Santa. Unnecessary attempt at an insult IMO. >> For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases. > You usually install Linux because you enjoy working with the terminal, not because it's easy to use, but I certainly understand where do you come from. Ubuntu has done an amazing job to lower the barrier to start using Linux. Plain wrong IMO: I can interact with a terminal all I want without installing Linux just by running putty. In fact I prefer gui for most things except sysadmin stuff.
    - rjtobin 10y ago
      Just in reply to your first paragraph, there is more than one type of well-paying programming job...
  - mdekkers 10y ago
    > For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases (until you come to MS Office, AutoCAD etc which is a whole different story, mostly unrelated to drivers IMO.) I.E. Unless you need to use mainstream business software.
    - eitland 10y ago
      Agree, but even that seems to start thawing up as web based software spreads. Right now I only miss MS Office and given recent moves from MS it wouldn't surprise if a preview is available within a year.
stagger87 10y ago
Money.
jasonlotito 10y ago
As someone who uses the big three desktops daily, freedom is just one facet. I also want an operating system that respects my time. None of the free operating systems out there do that. Considering the state of Ubuntu, probably the "easiest" to use desktop out there at the moment, my freedom is second to my ability to get a working desktop.
- khedoros1 10y ago
  We must be doing very different things. Outside of gaming, everything I do is as fast or faster to get done on Linux.
  - japaget 10y ago
    The problem isn't execution speed, it is the time you have to spend getting thinks to work properly. Linux doesn't necessarily work straight out of the box, and you may have to spend hours getting it to work properly with your hardware setup.
    - eitland 10y ago
      Ubuntu has worked more or less out of the box since its first release. Windows routinely would take hours to install, -and that would be a "pre-installed" image from the vendor. Lately things have gotten a lot better but I have never chosen Linux because of freedom but rather always because of simplicity and usability . Then again, usability is in they eye of the beholder it seems.
    - khedoros1 10y ago
      I'm not talking about execution speed. Out of the box, it takes me a lot longer to make a Windows system usable than a Linux system.
  - leonatan 10y ago
    No to condescend, but that just means that what you do most likely only has to do with programming. If you attempt to branch out into other fields of activities, Linux software is just not capable enough. Try to edit a photo beyond the basic capabilities of Gimp. Try to author a video project. Try to master audio. Try to design and edit documents beyond the most basic capabilities of LibreOffice. Attempt spreadsheet workflows. It's just not there. But yes, if you want to run Python, GCC or Ruby from the commandline, Linux is very capable of giving you a faster experience.
SippinLean 10y ago
Games and Photoshop
- jmnicolas 10y ago
  Add Evernote / OneNote for me.
dade_ 10y ago
Tell that to my employer! Sometimes we don't get to choose our OS, but my personal PC is running Ubuntu. This script is a treasure trove of commands that just killed off over a dozen annoying and undesirable Windows behaviours that I haven't had the time to hunt down.
rdiddly 10y ago
It's no struggle; someone wrote a PowerShell script and posted it to Hacker News! More serious answer: I do use other OSs. But I keep using Windows because I want access to the fruits of millions of man-hours spent in Redmond and elsewhere developing for the Windows platform. It's a non-trivial body of work.

everyone 10y ago

tbh I mainly use windows cus of the great selection of pirate software available for it :p EDIT: ps. I know Linux has great, more or less equivalent, free or very cheap software available but I'm too lazy to learn that other software. EDIT2: I think perhaps a lot of windows users might fall into my category.

Aldo_MX 10y ago

I'd rather struggle with some Windows warts than reverse engineer my drivers. I'm not the kind of guy who would found a Free Software Foundation because of some Xerox printer drivers.

eitland 10y ago
> I'd rather struggle with some Windows warts than reverse engineer my drivers. I'd guess that any *nix user who reverse engineer their own drivers in 2017 does so because they want to and/or have a job that pays them to do so (most likely handsomely). For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases (until you come to MS Office, AutoCAD etc which is a whole different story, mostly unrelated to drivers IMO.)
- Aldo_MX 10y ago
  > have a job that pays them to do so (most likely handsomely). Nope, that's just fiction, the awesomely rewarded jobs are boring banking systems written in plain old Windows Forms (or WPF/Angular if you're lucky). Most jobs would send you with HR to have a serious talk if they found out you lost a week reverse engineering a display link docking station because your multi-monitor setup wouldn't run after installing Fedora in your job laptop. But that's none of my business. Kids are free to believe in Santa. > For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases. You usually install Linux because you enjoy working with the terminal, not because it's easy to use, but I certainly understand where do you come from. Ubuntu has done an amazing job to lower the barrier to start using Linux.
  - eitland 10y ago
    > Most jobs would send you with HR to have a serious talk if they found out you lost a week reverse engineering a display link docking station because your multi-monitor setup wouldn't run after installing Fedora in your job laptop. That would be reasonable, if Linux development isn't your job. And if you do it for the fun of it I say of course you should do it on your own time. > But that's none of my business. Kids are free to believe in Santa. Unnecessary attempt at an insult IMO. >> For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases. > You usually install Linux because you enjoy working with the terminal, not because it's easy to use, but I certainly understand where do you come from. Ubuntu has done an amazing job to lower the barrier to start using Linux. Plain wrong IMO: I can interact with a terminal all I want without installing Linux just by running putty. In fact I prefer gui for most things except sysadmin stuff.
  - rjtobin 10y ago
    Just in reply to your first paragraph, there is more than one type of well-paying programming job...
- mdekkers 10y ago
  > For the rest of us at least mainstream Linux distros are almost as easy as Windows if not easier in some cases (until you come to MS Office, AutoCAD etc which is a whole different story, mostly unrelated to drivers IMO.) I.E. Unless you need to use mainstream business software.
  - eitland 10y ago
    Agree, but even that seems to start thawing up as web based software spreads. Right now I only miss MS Office and given recent moves from MS it wouldn't surprise if a preview is available within a year.

stagger87 10y ago

Money.

jasonlotito 10y ago

As someone who uses the big three desktops daily, freedom is just one facet. I also want an operating system that respects my time. None of the free operating systems out there do that. Considering the state of Ubuntu, probably the "easiest" to use desktop out there at the moment, my freedom is second to my ability to get a working desktop.

khedoros1 10y ago
We must be doing very different things. Outside of gaming, everything I do is as fast or faster to get done on Linux.
- japaget 10y ago
  The problem isn't execution speed, it is the time you have to spend getting thinks to work properly. Linux doesn't necessarily work straight out of the box, and you may have to spend hours getting it to work properly with your hardware setup.
  - eitland 10y ago
    Ubuntu has worked more or less out of the box since its first release. Windows routinely would take hours to install, -and that would be a "pre-installed" image from the vendor. Lately things have gotten a lot better but I have never chosen Linux because of freedom but rather always because of simplicity and usability . Then again, usability is in they eye of the beholder it seems.
  - khedoros1 10y ago
    I'm not talking about execution speed. Out of the box, it takes me a lot longer to make a Windows system usable than a Linux system.
- leonatan 10y ago
  No to condescend, but that just means that what you do most likely only has to do with programming. If you attempt to branch out into other fields of activities, Linux software is just not capable enough. Try to edit a photo beyond the basic capabilities of Gimp. Try to author a video project. Try to master audio. Try to design and edit documents beyond the most basic capabilities of LibreOffice. Attempt spreadsheet workflows. It's just not there. But yes, if you want to run Python, GCC or Ruby from the commandline, Linux is very capable of giving you a faster experience.

SippinLean 10y ago

Games and Photoshop

jmnicolas 10y ago
Add Evernote / OneNote for me.

dade_ 10y ago

Tell that to my employer! Sometimes we don't get to choose our OS, but my personal PC is running Ubuntu. This script is a treasure trove of commands that just killed off over a dozen annoying and undesirable Windows behaviours that I haven't had the time to hunt down.

rdiddly 10y ago

It's no struggle; someone wrote a PowerShell script and posted it to Hacker News! More serious answer: I do use other OSs. But I keep using Windows because I want access to the fruits of millions of man-hours spent in Redmond and elsewhere developing for the Windows platform. It's a non-trivial body of work.