5 ms·

The only reason I'm posting on HN right now is because I dared to right-click a folder on a network share. MyFolderName (not responding), whelp, guess I'll go f

The only reason I'm posting on HN right now is because I dared to right-click a folder on a network share. MyFolderName (not responding), whelp, guess I'll go fuck off for 60 seconds while every item in that shortcut menu opens a network connection, navigates to...or whatever the hell it's doing. Yeah, I know, use the CLI. OTOH, I argue: fix your broken UI. I worked at MSFT for eight years as a full-time, Flavorade-guzzling employee, and fifteen years later rarely a day goes by that I don't question how Microsoft manages to get anyone to buy that steaming pile they call an operating system.

chungy 5y ago
> rarely a day goes by that I don't question how Microsoft manages to get anyone to buy that steaming pile they call an operating system. "But muh games!"
- gameswithgo 5y ago
  yeah maybe instead of making fun of that major industry other operating systems should treat it as an opportunity to gain market share.
  - pfraze 5y ago
    SteamDeck is particularly interesting because of how much it is tackling that industry head-on. From the perspective of a mobile gaming console, the fact that it’s a PC is awesome. From the perspective of advancing gaming on Linux, it’s even more exciting
- puzzlingcaptcha 5y ago
  Yeah, 'cause the incredible fragmentation of Linux GUI toolkits and windowing systems is so fun to deal with. Year of Linux on the Desktop when.
  - chungy 5y ago
    Just take a look at the Windows desktop versus Linux desktop. The Windows desktop is far more fragmented and discongruous. With Linux, the main difference is whether your desktop is primarily Qt or GTK. Sometimes an app using the other toolkit will look kind of funny, but most of those differences are paved over by any competent distro (eg: Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE...).
  - blooalien 5y ago
    > Year of Linux on the Desktop when. Couple decades ago for me. > Yeah, 'cause the incredible fragmentation of Linux GUI toolkits and windowing systems is so fun to deal with. Sounds like probably "never" for you. You seem hostile toward Linux, so you're probably better off sticking with whatever you use currently.
    - gnubison 5y ago
      I don’t think calling GP “hostile to Linux” after they critiqued one part of the ecosystem is very fair. All systems have their flaws, and if judging part of a system negatively makes you hostile to that system, then I guess Linus Torvalds is hostile to Linux too.
      - blooalien 5y ago
        I no longer care. None of it matters one little bit anyhow.
  - motogpjimbo 5y ago
    There are two windowing systems on Linux - the old one and the new one. GUI toolkits are irrelevant to games.
- notriddle 5y ago
  Yeah, this but unironically. The Windows filesystem has dismal performance. The Windows graphics stack is arguably better than Linux’s. And it’s not just the drivers, so you can’t just blame it on GPU vendors, though poor support from a certain popular GPU vendor definitely doesn’t help. Some of it is just the little things, like doing mouse movement at very high priority in kernel space [1] [2]. Other parts are bigger and more impressive, like allowing the graphics driver to crash/upgrade/restart without you also losing all of your open windows. [1]: https://reactos.org/wiki/Techwiki:Win32k/desktops#win32k.21ProcessMouseInput https://reactos.org/wiki/Techwiki:Win32k/desktops#win32k.21P... [2]: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061117-03/?p=28973 https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061117-03/?p=28...
williamvds 5y ago
Most people don't buy Windows - it just comes with their computer, thanks to Microsoft's deals with OEMs. Kids get accustomed to Windows and Microsoft Office in schools thanks to Microsoft's lobbying, so when they grow up they keep using Windows and pay for Office. Everyone uses Windows and Microsoft Office, so most companies and organizations have to pay for licenses for each of their employees. People know Windows, so they develop on Windows, so they get locked into yet more Microsoft products and libraries and have to run Windows on servers. That's yet more licenses for a Windows and for Visual Studio. Their business strategy would almost be impressive if it weren't terrifyingly harmful.
gavinray 5y ago
Windows as an OS is... not the best. I miss Ubuntu/Pop!_OS. Switched due to MIDI controller driver compatibility issues that seemed immune to any WINE hackery =/ I actually really like the rest of what Microsoft does though. VS Code, TypeScript, creating the Language Server Protocol, the .NET Foundation/.NET in general and C#, the list goes on and on. They're an impactful organization which (depending on what kind of software you build/what you write) probably has a significant impact on your day-to-day experience as a developer. The benefits of vertical integration can have when you (for lack of a better word) "own" these things can be beneficial for the end-user/developer, ignoring whatever kind of anti-competitive arguments there are. It's the same argument I hear from Apple users -- Apple stewards their digital experience and gives them continuity end-to-end. Microsoft -- by nature of owning my OS, IDE, the specification and dev team driving my primary language, a cloud provider, and having their fingers in all of these parts of my digital life -- has the ability to be really awesome for me. They could also do really sinister things if they wanted and I'd be real fucked I suppose, but that's a(n unlikely) risk I accept.
- atatatat 5y ago
  > that's a(n unlikely) risk Oh, honey.
vagrantJin 5y ago
> rarely a day goes by that I don't question how Microsoft manages to get anyone to buy that steaming pile they call an operating system. Haha. Maybe because it works? I do miss XP though. It felt like the only OS that can work as well on a PC and a Tank.

chungy 5y ago

> rarely a day goes by that I don't question how Microsoft manages to get anyone to buy that steaming pile they call an operating system. "But muh games!"

gameswithgo 5y ago
yeah maybe instead of making fun of that major industry other operating systems should treat it as an opportunity to gain market share.
- pfraze 5y ago
  SteamDeck is particularly interesting because of how much it is tackling that industry head-on. From the perspective of a mobile gaming console, the fact that it’s a PC is awesome. From the perspective of advancing gaming on Linux, it’s even more exciting
puzzlingcaptcha 5y ago
Yeah, 'cause the incredible fragmentation of Linux GUI toolkits and windowing systems is so fun to deal with. Year of Linux on the Desktop when.
- chungy 5y ago
  Just take a look at the Windows desktop versus Linux desktop. The Windows desktop is far more fragmented and discongruous. With Linux, the main difference is whether your desktop is primarily Qt or GTK. Sometimes an app using the other toolkit will look kind of funny, but most of those differences are paved over by any competent distro (eg: Debian, Fedora, Ubuntu, OpenSUSE...).
- blooalien 5y ago
  > Year of Linux on the Desktop when. Couple decades ago for me. > Yeah, 'cause the incredible fragmentation of Linux GUI toolkits and windowing systems is so fun to deal with. Sounds like probably "never" for you. You seem hostile toward Linux, so you're probably better off sticking with whatever you use currently.
  - gnubison 5y ago
    I don’t think calling GP “hostile to Linux” after they critiqued one part of the ecosystem is very fair. All systems have their flaws, and if judging part of a system negatively makes you hostile to that system, then I guess Linus Torvalds is hostile to Linux too.
    - blooalien 5y ago
      I no longer care. None of it matters one little bit anyhow.
- motogpjimbo 5y ago
  There are two windowing systems on Linux - the old one and the new one. GUI toolkits are irrelevant to games.
notriddle 5y ago
Yeah, this but unironically. The Windows filesystem has dismal performance. The Windows graphics stack is arguably better than Linux’s. And it’s not just the drivers, so you can’t just blame it on GPU vendors, though poor support from a certain popular GPU vendor definitely doesn’t help. Some of it is just the little things, like doing mouse movement at very high priority in kernel space [1] [2]. Other parts are bigger and more impressive, like allowing the graphics driver to crash/upgrade/restart without you also losing all of your open windows. [1]: https://reactos.org/wiki/Techwiki:Win32k/desktops#win32k.21ProcessMouseInput https://reactos.org/wiki/Techwiki:Win32k/desktops#win32k.21P... [2]: https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061117-03/?p=28973 https://devblogs.microsoft.com/oldnewthing/20061117-03/?p=28...

williamvds 5y ago

Most people don't buy Windows - it just comes with their computer, thanks to Microsoft's deals with OEMs. Kids get accustomed to Windows and Microsoft Office in schools thanks to Microsoft's lobbying, so when they grow up they keep using Windows and pay for Office. Everyone uses Windows and Microsoft Office, so most companies and organizations have to pay for licenses for each of their employees. People know Windows, so they develop on Windows, so they get locked into yet more Microsoft products and libraries and have to run Windows on servers. That's yet more licenses for a Windows and for Visual Studio. Their business strategy would almost be impressive if it weren't terrifyingly harmful.

gavinray 5y ago

Windows as an OS is... not the best. I miss Ubuntu/Pop!_OS. Switched due to MIDI controller driver compatibility issues that seemed immune to any WINE hackery =/ I actually really like the rest of what Microsoft does though. VS Code, TypeScript, creating the Language Server Protocol, the .NET Foundation/.NET in general and C#, the list goes on and on. They're an impactful organization which (depending on what kind of software you build/what you write) probably has a significant impact on your day-to-day experience as a developer. The benefits of vertical integration can have when you (for lack of a better word) "own" these things can be beneficial for the end-user/developer, ignoring whatever kind of anti-competitive arguments there are. It's the same argument I hear from Apple users -- Apple stewards their digital experience and gives them continuity end-to-end. Microsoft -- by nature of owning my OS, IDE, the specification and dev team driving my primary language, a cloud provider, and having their fingers in all of these parts of my digital life -- has the ability to be really awesome for me. They could also do really sinister things if they wanted and I'd be real fucked I suppose, but that's a(n unlikely) risk I accept.

atatatat 5y ago
> that's a(n unlikely) risk Oh, honey.

vagrantJin 5y ago

> rarely a day goes by that I don't question how Microsoft manages to get anyone to buy that steaming pile they call an operating system. Haha. Maybe because it works? I do miss XP though. It felt like the only OS that can work as well on a PC and a Tank.