3 ms·

> I find it really fascinating how a completely different subset of Hackernews users answers to you than are present on other threads. As literary no sibling is

> I find it really fascinating how a completely different subset of Hackernews users answers to you than are present on other threads. As literary no sibling is voicing a dissenting opinion I suspect the difference is because they are responding from a developer's mindset, not a user's. For devs, Electron really is the easiest way to make desktop apps, especially if one already has web experience. Users who dislike Electron are generally seen as a vocal minority (how many people use Slack or VSCode vs non-Electron variants?). But then you have this vocal minority congregating on HN, which is especially focused on speed, and you get comments like the parent linked, dismissing Electron. The dev point of view is more prevalent in this thread because the linked article is all about how a dev failed to ship an app because they thought it wasn't good enough, which is exactly the problem Electron solves, even if it's worse for the user.

CRConrad 4y ago
> For devs, Electron really is the easiest way to make desktop apps For developers who have never heard of Visual Basic, Delphi, or Free Pascal / Lazarus, Electron really is the easiest way to make desktop apps they know of. There, FTFY.
- cercatrova 4y ago
  I'm gonna be honest, vanishingly few people use any of those technologies these days, and I'm speaking as someone who has used VB and some Delphi before. Electron and JS has magnitudes more libraries and support than all three of those technologies combined. To think that devs these days should use any of them is to be tone deaf to how the tech world works these days. Good luck convincing a dev, much less their boss, to use Delphi to develop their cutting edge desktop apps.
  - CRConrad 4y ago
    > Electron and JS has magnitudes more libraries and support than all three of those technologies combined. Libraries and support for what? Betcha 99 percent are for stuff that 99 percent of developers don't need. > Good luck convincing a dev, much less their boss, to use Delphi to develop their cutting edge desktop apps. Wasn't this a discussion about the single bloke working on his Minimum Maybe Viable Product? He's his own boss. And if he doesn't want to be convinced to use the best tools for that -- his problem, not mine. I was just correcting your factual error about the easiest way to make desktop apps.
    - mwcampbell 4y ago
      As it happens, the deciding factor in my choice to use Electron in this particular product is that, thanks to being built on Chromium, Electron includes high-level WebRTC APIs with a complete media stack (including advanced stuff like audio streams from multiple sources). Good luck getting that working in Delphi or Free Pascal.
      - CRConrad 4y ago
        Bah, dang rich one-percenters looking down on us CRUDdy peons! ;-)

CRConrad 4y ago

> For devs, Electron really is the easiest way to make desktop apps For developers who have never heard of Visual Basic, Delphi, or Free Pascal / Lazarus, Electron really is the easiest way to make desktop apps they know of. There, FTFY.

cercatrova 4y ago
I'm gonna be honest, vanishingly few people use any of those technologies these days, and I'm speaking as someone who has used VB and some Delphi before. Electron and JS has magnitudes more libraries and support than all three of those technologies combined. To think that devs these days should use any of them is to be tone deaf to how the tech world works these days. Good luck convincing a dev, much less their boss, to use Delphi to develop their cutting edge desktop apps.
- CRConrad 4y ago
  > Electron and JS has magnitudes more libraries and support than all three of those technologies combined. Libraries and support for what? Betcha 99 percent are for stuff that 99 percent of developers don't need. > Good luck convincing a dev, much less their boss, to use Delphi to develop their cutting edge desktop apps. Wasn't this a discussion about the single bloke working on his Minimum Maybe Viable Product? He's his own boss. And if he doesn't want to be convinced to use the best tools for that -- his problem, not mine. I was just correcting your factual error about the easiest way to make desktop apps.
  - mwcampbell 4y ago
    As it happens, the deciding factor in my choice to use Electron in this particular product is that, thanks to being built on Chromium, Electron includes high-level WebRTC APIs with a complete media stack (including advanced stuff like audio streams from multiple sources). Good luck getting that working in Delphi or Free Pascal.
    - CRConrad 4y ago
      Bah, dang rich one-percenters looking down on us CRUDdy peons! ;-)