4 ms·

> For sure Windows is not as user-stupid as something like macOS, iOS, Android, etc... but for me as a power user it's just about as powerful as I need to be.

by jdmg94 6y ago

> For sure Windows is not as user-stupid as something like macOS, iOS, Android, etc... but for me as a power user it's just about as powerful as I need to be. I guess it depends on what kind of "power user" you are because windows is pretty limited (why else would they frankestein an Ubuntu terminal into the latest Windows versions?).

leetcrew 6y ago
kind of a weird quip. the point of WSL is to allow you to use existing linux tools and write code targeting linux from within windows. it's not intended to make administration of the windows installation easier. maybe I'm not what you would call a "power user", but I do write code for a living. I'm sure you would have a bad time if you expect windows to work like your favorite linux distro, but I find it perfectly serviceable for my work. it gets in my way far less than macOS.
mey 6y ago
Not sure what you mean by limited here? You have quite a few options are your disposal these days. (Depending on how you scope "power user") Cygwin (OSS compiled to Win APIs) Powershell (Native Windows fun) WSL 1 (Linux ABI Bindings to Win Kernel) WSL 2 (Thin Hyper-V running a full Linux Kernel, with Plan9 FS mappings to Windows filesystem) (Insider Preview, should be releasing this quarter) Hyper-V DOSBox Docker (Hyper-V, soon to take advantage of WSL-2) Most of the above also benefit from the work being done over at the new Terminal https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal
- skissane 6y ago
  > DOSBox Much as I love DOSBox, I don't think it belongs on your list. In fact, DOSBox's command line capabilities are weak compared to genuine MS-DOS (which is already quite weak to begin with) – it doesn't fully support COMMAND.COM's syntax, it lacks many of the commands/utilities that come with MS-DOS, etc. – it is just the bare minimum to get most game launcher batch files to work. And that's unlikely to ever change, since DOSBox devs generally aren't interested in improving the accuracy of the MS-DOS emulation unless that improvement helps run some game – if you want a more accurate emulation of MS-DOS, they'll point you to FreeDOS instead.
  - mey 6y ago
    Fair point. I leave the post as is for posterity. I wonder if https://github.com/Microsoft/MS-DOS https://github.com/Microsoft/MS-DOS will improve that situation.
FpUser 6y ago
Linux is major platform for deployment of backend servers and Microsoft wants Windows to be viable development platform for Linux. Hence "frankesteining". Has nothing to do with the Windows being "limited" because it is not. I use Windows to develop Linux applications and am happy like a clam with this approach.
lonelappde 6y ago
"power user" == someone who uses power tools like Tim the Tool Man Taylor
mdoms 6y ago
> (why else would they frankestein an Ubuntu terminal into the latest Windows versions? Certainly not to help you administer your Windows system, which is not at all what it is intended for.
pjmlp 6y ago
To sell Windows laptops to people that buy Apple laptops to actually develop GNU/Linux software instead of supporting OEMs like Dell, System76 and Tuxedo, and don't care one second about Apple or Microsoft developer platforms.

by jdmg94 6y ago

leetcrew 6y ago

kind of a weird quip. the point of WSL is to allow you to use existing linux tools and write code targeting linux from within windows. it's not intended to make administration of the windows installation easier. maybe I'm not what you would call a "power user", but I do write code for a living. I'm sure you would have a bad time if you expect windows to work like your favorite linux distro, but I find it perfectly serviceable for my work. it gets in my way far less than macOS.

mey 6y ago

Not sure what you mean by limited here? You have quite a few options are your disposal these days. (Depending on how you scope "power user") Cygwin (OSS compiled to Win APIs) Powershell (Native Windows fun) WSL 1 (Linux ABI Bindings to Win Kernel) WSL 2 (Thin Hyper-V running a full Linux Kernel, with Plan9 FS mappings to Windows filesystem) (Insider Preview, should be releasing this quarter) Hyper-V DOSBox Docker (Hyper-V, soon to take advantage of WSL-2) Most of the above also benefit from the work being done over at the new Terminal https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal https://github.com/Microsoft/Terminal

skissane 6y ago
> DOSBox Much as I love DOSBox, I don't think it belongs on your list. In fact, DOSBox's command line capabilities are weak compared to genuine MS-DOS (which is already quite weak to begin with) – it doesn't fully support COMMAND.COM's syntax, it lacks many of the commands/utilities that come with MS-DOS, etc. – it is just the bare minimum to get most game launcher batch files to work. And that's unlikely to ever change, since DOSBox devs generally aren't interested in improving the accuracy of the MS-DOS emulation unless that improvement helps run some game – if you want a more accurate emulation of MS-DOS, they'll point you to FreeDOS instead.
- mey 6y ago
  Fair point. I leave the post as is for posterity. I wonder if https://github.com/Microsoft/MS-DOS https://github.com/Microsoft/MS-DOS will improve that situation.

FpUser 6y ago

Linux is major platform for deployment of backend servers and Microsoft wants Windows to be viable development platform for Linux. Hence "frankesteining". Has nothing to do with the Windows being "limited" because it is not. I use Windows to develop Linux applications and am happy like a clam with this approach.

lonelappde 6y ago

"power user" == someone who uses power tools like Tim the Tool Man Taylor

mdoms 6y ago

> (why else would they frankestein an Ubuntu terminal into the latest Windows versions? Certainly not to help you administer your Windows system, which is not at all what it is intended for.

pjmlp 6y ago

To sell Windows laptops to people that buy Apple laptops to actually develop GNU/Linux software instead of supporting OEMs like Dell, System76 and Tuxedo, and don't care one second about Apple or Microsoft developer platforms.