5 ms·

> I just hate programming in windows and haven't touched one of these that are powerful enough to run Ubuntu in a VM in a reasonable fashion. I have a hard tim

> I just hate programming in windows and haven't touched one of these that are powerful enough to run Ubuntu in a VM in a reasonable fashion. I have a hard time understanding where this sentiment comes from. WSL is categorically better than using Homebrew on macOS. It is basically an Ubuntu userspace with apt, running directly on the Windows kernel. Using Ubuntu in a VM seems pretty superfluous when all the useful parts are already there with fully native performance. As a longtime Linux user, I am increasingly convinced that Windows is the best desktop Linux distribution.

komali2 8y ago
/shrug the workspaces/desktops are not how I like it Also i always had trouble configuring my windows tools to talk to my Linux tools. Simple stuff like vscode or emacs magit talking to git in wsl If I could run gnome or cinnamon on windows I'd agree
Brain_Thief 8y ago
I can't claim to know the OP's perspective w.r.t. why he / she doesn't like programming on Windows, but as an early (and current) user of the WSL I can say that I too dislike the overall experience, mostly due to how it colors my experience programming and using the system. Windows has an intensely corporate feeling to me that I can't seem to shake; it's obvious to me when I'm using it that I don't in any sense "own" my system, and that my behavior is being monitored and recorded on some level. The next update will inevitably bring some setting reversion to a pro-tracking default, and the lack of visual and system-level customization options takes a lot of the joy out of system setup, management, and exploration for me. Windows is, and always has been, a corporate productivity environment at its core, and it's very good in that role, but it feels awfully stiff and suffocating as a dev environment to me. Minor technical frictions like moving data and files between Windows land and my WSL home directory add just enough unnecessary overhead to my workflow that I find myself constantly questioning what actual value the entire thing provides. I suppose for people who are chained to specific Microsoft productivity software it's a good option, but in the absence of such a requirement I don't really understand the appeal. To be fair, the environment is nice, and the WSL is certainly an impressive technical accomplishment (no question there!), but it doesn't have the feeling of a Linux to me. The freedom, control, and transparency just aren't there.
- komali2 8y ago
  > and the lack of visual and system-level customization options takes a lot of the joy out of system setup, management, and exploration Exactly this. A good part of the joy I get in seeking out an awesome ultra-portable (and in doing so, experimenting with my mobile workflow) is the high customization I get from Linux machines. Sadly the two best portable contenders (ChromeOS and Windows) in terms of feasibility, don't meet this.
stiGGG 8y ago
IMHO Homebrew is much better than apt on Ubuntu. E.g. when I read in the news that a new version of my favorite tool is released, i know that’s normally only a brew upgrade away to have it. And i mean now and not until the next OS release happens. With brew it’s also very easy to go back in versions of individual packages in case the current release is buggy or breaks something. You can have this with 3rd party repos in debian, but that’s usually more hazzle from my experience.

komali2 8y ago

/shrug the workspaces/desktops are not how I like it Also i always had trouble configuring my windows tools to talk to my Linux tools. Simple stuff like vscode or emacs magit talking to git in wsl If I could run gnome or cinnamon on windows I'd agree

Brain_Thief 8y ago

I can't claim to know the OP's perspective w.r.t. why he / she doesn't like programming on Windows, but as an early (and current) user of the WSL I can say that I too dislike the overall experience, mostly due to how it colors my experience programming and using the system. Windows has an intensely corporate feeling to me that I can't seem to shake; it's obvious to me when I'm using it that I don't in any sense "own" my system, and that my behavior is being monitored and recorded on some level. The next update will inevitably bring some setting reversion to a pro-tracking default, and the lack of visual and system-level customization options takes a lot of the joy out of system setup, management, and exploration for me. Windows is, and always has been, a corporate productivity environment at its core, and it's very good in that role, but it feels awfully stiff and suffocating as a dev environment to me. Minor technical frictions like moving data and files between Windows land and my WSL home directory add just enough unnecessary overhead to my workflow that I find myself constantly questioning what actual value the entire thing provides. I suppose for people who are chained to specific Microsoft productivity software it's a good option, but in the absence of such a requirement I don't really understand the appeal. To be fair, the environment is nice, and the WSL is certainly an impressive technical accomplishment (no question there!), but it doesn't have the feeling of a Linux to me. The freedom, control, and transparency just aren't there.

komali2 8y ago
> and the lack of visual and system-level customization options takes a lot of the joy out of system setup, management, and exploration Exactly this. A good part of the joy I get in seeking out an awesome ultra-portable (and in doing so, experimenting with my mobile workflow) is the high customization I get from Linux machines. Sadly the two best portable contenders (ChromeOS and Windows) in terms of feasibility, don't meet this.

stiGGG 8y ago

IMHO Homebrew is much better than apt on Ubuntu. E.g. when I read in the news that a new version of my favorite tool is released, i know that’s normally only a brew upgrade away to have it. And i mean now and not until the next OS release happens. With brew it’s also very easy to go back in versions of individual packages in case the current release is buggy or breaks something. You can have this with 3rd party repos in debian, but that’s usually more hazzle from my experience.