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As Linux user the article does not resonate with me. The actual points are discarded points # Linux is more stable and reliable. I've reinstalled Windows so m

As Linux user the article does not resonate with me. The actual points are discarded points # Linux is more stable and reliable. I've reinstalled Windows so many times, never reinstalled Linux. System is separate from the user, I can remove all user configurations and it would work like new. # Linux is more secure and private. I have so many packages, they are free and safe. I've tried Windows recently, have to install software from the web. It is scary. No telemetry by default. I send package statistics, have install it myself: # pacman -S pkgstats # Linux is faster and less bloated There are many communities, some run Destkop Environments, I run quite minimal setup, boot to graphical environment takes 100MB RAM. Old netbook is router/NAS, 1GB is plenty. # Linux is more flexible and customizable. Primary reason I've switched. So many options, it is awesome! GNOME, KDE, XFCE, OpenBox, wmii, dwm, xmonad. Entire distributions — Ubuntu, Arch, Nix and many more. # Linux gives you more control over your computer. There was liberating feeling — my computer is just a hardware. Never felt it with Windows, it always had its own way. You know, some people kick their computers in rage. That has gone. Linux has a great driver support for supported hardware, it is like complaining about hackintosh. Windows adopting command line and package management tools. Yes, had to stop gaming, that's changing with Proton. I find Windows UI atrocious, my desktop for comparison: http://sergeykish.com/side-by-side-no-decorations.png http://sergeykish.com/side-by-side-no-decorations.png multiple workspaces, no decorations, not even browser scroll bar. I'd like to have universal solution for sticky headers. And, maybe, the most valuable — Linux is getting better while Windows and macOS getting worse. Telemetry, advertisement, walled garden, executable restrictions, firewall bypass, proprietary hardware — scandal after scandal. While on the Linux side — AMD GPU, Wayland, Flatpak, Steam Proton, web applications, better than ever laptops support.

TylerE 6y ago
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.
- edgyquant 6y ago
  And I’m the opposite, always running into annoyances on Windows. It’s that our brains are trained on two different systems not that either is superior. I live in the terminal anyway except for VSCode, Chrome and Steam: so the DE doesn’t really concern me I use the default on Fedora and Ubuntu.
- gitgud 6y ago
  > "You couldn't pay me to put up with the massively inferior environment of any of the Linux DEs at this point." Sounds like you're using Visual Studio... which at this point is closer to an Operating System than an IDE...
  - TylerE 6y ago
    Why do you say that? I just hate jank, and KDE, Gnome, and XFCE are all janky as hell in their own infuriating ways. PS: I haven't had any version of Visual Studio installed since about 2004.
    - gitgud 6y ago
      Ahh, my mistake, I misread your initial comment to be about IDE's. I would encourage you to try Gnome again. I use it everyday on a 7 year old laptop with Ubuntu, and it is impressively stable and smooth and a pleasure to multi-task with vertical windows.
    - blockmeifyoucan 6y ago
      Can you give examples of what you disliked in each of KDE, GNOME and XFCE?
- sergeykish 6y ago
  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 interface is changing, at least some people should like it. I feel it is getting progressively worse. That's strange — I like macOS Aqua. I didn't like brushed metal, it has gone now. I have no other explanation but blind spot of Windows users.
duxup 6y ago
It has been ages since I had to reinstall windows. I was a thing I just did once in a while more than a decade ago but I haven't had to on multiple systems for a long time now.
- edgyquant 6y ago
  To be fair this true on both OSs in the last 5-10 years. You can just upgrade to the newer versions so no need to uninstall.
  - duxup 6y ago
    Yeah I never really have to reinstall for it's own sake anymore anywhere.
- imtringued 6y ago
  Unfortunately I always got my windows updates as soon as possible which meant lots of bricked systems because Microsoft doesn't test their updates.
  - hackerfromthefu 6y ago
    Maybe try to defer them for a week? I do that, and have had no issues in the Windows 10 timeframe across 3-4 Win 10 OSes, one on canary, err Windows Insider (slow ring).
  - duxup 6y ago
    Generally I install as soon as I get a notice, never had that issue.
tester34 6y ago
>I have so many packages, they are free and safe. I've tried Windows recently, have to install software from the web. It is scary. If you write it this way (without details) then how people can argue? What's so scary? I think I'm using 99% of my software from an actual vendor sites and never felt that way. Also using things like virustotal.com.
- sergeykish 6y ago
  It was unexpected. But could you feel it without experiencing? I've used open source OS for a decade. It has changed my mind. I've never downloaded software from site. I trust community, not vendors. I use just one non open source application (slack) and I do not trust them, I'd rather run it in a sandbox. My system comes with a framework to download, build, install any package with just a few commands: $ yay -G foo $ cd foo $ makepkg -sei I can inspect it and change it, and sometimes I do. No other ecosystem comes close. Browser extensions and smartphone applications replicate some of it but * it can be adware/spyware/malware * it can change overnight, no one checks * one gallery by popularity or by restriction Even my closed source software comes from community maintained recipes, Windows finally got it with winget. Oh, I know! Compare it with programming language package managers — gems, pip, cargo.
  - tester34 6y ago
    Maybe I'm kinda skewed because I started with Windows, but I don't feel difference between downloading e.g Firefox on Windows and typing `apt-get install nginx` on Linux. Maybe because it requires "huge shittons" of effort to try to controle the software, and yet, at the end of the day I still have to trust somebody (OS, Drivers, ISP, Firmware/Hardware, Govt)
    - MayeulC 6y ago
      I just don't expect every developer to be an expert at packaging their app. There's a thousand things to think of, and they might do an unreasonable hack just to get away with distribution. If you get your packages from a single source, you mostly have to trust that source (lower attack surface), and can be assured they will meet a minimum quality level. Example oopses from valve (but really, most vendors have theirs): https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671 https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671 https://amonitoring.ru/article/steamclient-0day/ https://amonitoring.ru/article/steamclient-0day/
einpoklum 6y ago
> Linux is getting better while Windows and macOS getting worse. Well, some things are arguably not getting better. > Flatpak That's part of what's getting worse: Fracturing/deterioration of the use of distribution package management, instead of improving and expanding it. > web applications Another part of what's getting worse: Instead of having compact apps you have to load a behemoth of some web browser/app framework, to do semi-trivial things. There's also systemd; Gnome having taken application UI in a weird an (IMHO) unfortunate direction, and the fact (?) that the hardware resource requirements have risen significantly.
- sergeykish 6y ago
  Everything has positive and negative consequences. These are just tools, they provide choice. There is a need to package closed source software, to provide dependencies. Some people use outdated distributions, that's root cause. If distribution is switching I'd better search like minded and help with maintaining (or it would be systemd scenario). At least there is application. Everyone is free to make native. There is Void (Linux), runit [1], at least on Arch Linux there is big choice [2]. Fork Gnome, KDE 3 forked as Trinity Desktop Environment [3]. Boot to xmonad — 100MB RAM, Chromium — several GB RAM. It is easy to imagine arguments against — Steam builds distribution platform on top of Linux, no packages there, Wayland vs X11, distributions spread resources, maintainers breaks software. I am not Steam user, I am not Ubuntu user, but I benefit from wider community. [1] https://voidlinux.org/ https://voidlinux.org/ [2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/init https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/init [3] http://www.trinitydesktop.org/ http://www.trinitydesktop.org/
- eeZah7Ux 6y ago
  > That's part of what's getting worse: Fracturing/deterioration of the use of distribution package management, instead of improving and expanding it. Indeed, the popularity of docker, flatpak and hobby/fad distributions and language-specific package managers is leading to many security nightmares and harming traditional distributions. There are reasons for painstakingly vet and package software: - security - stability AKA you don't want to force feature upgrades with new bugs on servers and workstations - legal compliance: people are unaware of the amount of license issues in docker hub, flatpaks and most distributions

TylerE 6y ago

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.

edgyquant 6y ago
And I’m the opposite, always running into annoyances on Windows. It’s that our brains are trained on two different systems not that either is superior. I live in the terminal anyway except for VSCode, Chrome and Steam: so the DE doesn’t really concern me I use the default on Fedora and Ubuntu.
gitgud 6y ago
> "You couldn't pay me to put up with the massively inferior environment of any of the Linux DEs at this point." Sounds like you're using Visual Studio... which at this point is closer to an Operating System than an IDE...
- TylerE 6y ago
  Why do you say that? I just hate jank, and KDE, Gnome, and XFCE are all janky as hell in their own infuriating ways. PS: I haven't had any version of Visual Studio installed since about 2004.
  - gitgud 6y ago
    Ahh, my mistake, I misread your initial comment to be about IDE's. I would encourage you to try Gnome again. I use it everyday on a 7 year old laptop with Ubuntu, and it is impressively stable and smooth and a pleasure to multi-task with vertical windows.
  - blockmeifyoucan 6y ago
    Can you give examples of what you disliked in each of KDE, GNOME and XFCE?
sergeykish 6y ago
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 interface is changing, at least some people should like it. I feel it is getting progressively worse. That's strange — I like macOS Aqua. I didn't like brushed metal, it has gone now. I have no other explanation but blind spot of Windows users.

duxup 6y ago

It has been ages since I had to reinstall windows. I was a thing I just did once in a while more than a decade ago but I haven't had to on multiple systems for a long time now.

edgyquant 6y ago
To be fair this true on both OSs in the last 5-10 years. You can just upgrade to the newer versions so no need to uninstall.
- duxup 6y ago
  Yeah I never really have to reinstall for it's own sake anymore anywhere.
imtringued 6y ago
Unfortunately I always got my windows updates as soon as possible which meant lots of bricked systems because Microsoft doesn't test their updates.
- hackerfromthefu 6y ago
  Maybe try to defer them for a week? I do that, and have had no issues in the Windows 10 timeframe across 3-4 Win 10 OSes, one on canary, err Windows Insider (slow ring).
- duxup 6y ago
  Generally I install as soon as I get a notice, never had that issue.

tester34 6y ago

>I have so many packages, they are free and safe. I've tried Windows recently, have to install software from the web. It is scary. If you write it this way (without details) then how people can argue? What's so scary? I think I'm using 99% of my software from an actual vendor sites and never felt that way. Also using things like virustotal.com.

sergeykish 6y ago
It was unexpected. But could you feel it without experiencing? I've used open source OS for a decade. It has changed my mind. I've never downloaded software from site. I trust community, not vendors. I use just one non open source application (slack) and I do not trust them, I'd rather run it in a sandbox. My system comes with a framework to download, build, install any package with just a few commands: $ yay -G foo $ cd foo $ makepkg -sei I can inspect it and change it, and sometimes I do. No other ecosystem comes close. Browser extensions and smartphone applications replicate some of it but * it can be adware/spyware/malware * it can change overnight, no one checks * one gallery by popularity or by restriction Even my closed source software comes from community maintained recipes, Windows finally got it with winget. Oh, I know! Compare it with programming language package managers — gems, pip, cargo.
- tester34 6y ago
  Maybe I'm kinda skewed because I started with Windows, but I don't feel difference between downloading e.g Firefox on Windows and typing `apt-get install nginx` on Linux. Maybe because it requires "huge shittons" of effort to try to controle the software, and yet, at the end of the day I still have to trust somebody (OS, Drivers, ISP, Firmware/Hardware, Govt)
  - MayeulC 6y ago
    I just don't expect every developer to be an expert at packaging their app. There's a thousand things to think of, and they might do an unreasonable hack just to get away with distribution. If you get your packages from a single source, you mostly have to trust that source (lower attack surface), and can be assured they will meet a minimum quality level. Example oopses from valve (but really, most vendors have theirs): https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671 https://github.com/ValveSoftware/steam-for-linux/issues/3671 https://amonitoring.ru/article/steamclient-0day/ https://amonitoring.ru/article/steamclient-0day/

einpoklum 6y ago

> Linux is getting better while Windows and macOS getting worse. Well, some things are arguably not getting better. > Flatpak That's part of what's getting worse: Fracturing/deterioration of the use of distribution package management, instead of improving and expanding it. > web applications Another part of what's getting worse: Instead of having compact apps you have to load a behemoth of some web browser/app framework, to do semi-trivial things. There's also systemd; Gnome having taken application UI in a weird an (IMHO) unfortunate direction, and the fact (?) that the hardware resource requirements have risen significantly.

sergeykish 6y ago
Everything has positive and negative consequences. These are just tools, they provide choice. There is a need to package closed source software, to provide dependencies. Some people use outdated distributions, that's root cause. If distribution is switching I'd better search like minded and help with maintaining (or it would be systemd scenario). At least there is application. Everyone is free to make native. There is Void (Linux), runit [1], at least on Arch Linux there is big choice [2]. Fork Gnome, KDE 3 forked as Trinity Desktop Environment [3]. Boot to xmonad — 100MB RAM, Chromium — several GB RAM. It is easy to imagine arguments against — Steam builds distribution platform on top of Linux, no packages there, Wayland vs X11, distributions spread resources, maintainers breaks software. I am not Steam user, I am not Ubuntu user, but I benefit from wider community. [1] https://voidlinux.org/ https://voidlinux.org/ [2] https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/init https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/init [3] http://www.trinitydesktop.org/ http://www.trinitydesktop.org/
eeZah7Ux 6y ago
> That's part of what's getting worse: Fracturing/deterioration of the use of distribution package management, instead of improving and expanding it. Indeed, the popularity of docker, flatpak and hobby/fad distributions and language-specific package managers is leading to many security nightmares and harming traditional distributions. There are reasons for painstakingly vet and package software: - security - stability AKA you don't want to force feature upgrades with new bugs on servers and workstations - legal compliance: people are unaware of the amount of license issues in docker hub, flatpaks and most distributions