3 ms·

Am I the only one that thinks that Windows support was not really worth the time? Sure, you get to support a huge chunk of the OS market, but what are the real

by markbao 15y ago

Am I the only one that thinks that Windows support was not really worth the time? Sure, you get to support a huge chunk of the OS market, but what are the real implications of Node running natively on Windows?

rmgraham 15y ago
I believe the extensive work on Windows support was from a Microsoft/Joyent collaboration.. as in the answer to your question may be measured in $$$. Not that that's a bad thing at all, but it would explain the seemingly unusual choice.
artsrc 15y ago
I think your argument is valid, but that it will take some serious cultural change at Microsoft to accept. When Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange and Sharepoint run on on Linux we will know that has change happened.
ConstantineXVI 15y ago
Microsoft funded the work. My guess is since they're pushing for JS client-side apps now with WinRT; they funded node on Windows so that JS developers can run their server-side code on Windows instead of being tempted to fire up a *nix server instead. (AFAIK, MS doesn't have any server-side JS tooling similar to node at the moment. Very good chance that I'm wrong, though.)
- hammerdr 15y ago
  Microsoft has JScript.NET (and has for a while now). http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms974588.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms974588.aspx I haven't seen it used anywhere as a server side application, though.
  - duncans 15y ago
    JScript.NET was dropped for .NET 4.0; it has always been a bit of a curiosity though. I think it was there because "classic" ASP had support for doing server-side scripting in JScript, so somebody thought ASP.NET needed to support it also. Thankfully, there are a few alternative JavaScript implementations on .NET such as IronJS.
maratd 15y ago
Worse. Features (like unix_dgram) were deprecated because equivalents don't exist on Windows. http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs/msg/097bc3300ba6e5d5 http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs/msg/097bc3300ba6e5d5
htilford 15y ago
'huge chuck' is an understatement. Windows is the majority OS.
rmason 15y ago
Windows support is what Node needs in order to go mainstream. It also means that Node developers will be in even greater demand.
ilaksh 15y ago
Wow.. yeah, who would want Node on Windows? Whats the point. LOL. The sad thing is, that is probably the default perspective. Basically what's going on is status quo bias -- its the same thing with dying. There's nothing you can do about it so you learned to accept and love that Node.JS doesn't work on Windows. Who would want to live forever? Dying is great! Or you just don't want to have anything to do with Windows or something. People are amazingly stupid. I'm sorry, but its just stupidity to react that way. "Sure, you get to support a huge chunk of the OS market" <-- This is a big deal. Most businesses run Windows. I want my Node.JS software to run on most business servers or workstations without requiring a VM or something. Same with most PCs. The implication is that I can provide Node.JS-based software to an additional 400 million or so people. That means that I can write my software for Node.JS and not have to write a different version for Windows or ignore 400 million people. For example, say I built an online database application builder type thing where users can build forms using drag and drop and configure database search screens and reports easily. What a lot of my users really want is to have complete control over their database and application. They don't want to have to rely on my server or their internet connection always being on to access their business data. With good Windows support, I can build my application in Node.JS, and provide a setup bundle that users or IT people can use to install the user's database application on a Windows server. Seems pretty obvious that this is a big advantage.

by markbao 15y ago

rmgraham 15y ago

I believe the extensive work on Windows support was from a Microsoft/Joyent collaboration.. as in the answer to your question may be measured in $$$. Not that that's a bad thing at all, but it would explain the seemingly unusual choice.

artsrc 15y ago

I think your argument is valid, but that it will take some serious cultural change at Microsoft to accept. When Microsoft SQL Server, Exchange and Sharepoint run on on Linux we will know that has change happened.

ConstantineXVI 15y ago

Microsoft funded the work. My guess is since they're pushing for JS client-side apps now with WinRT; they funded node on Windows so that JS developers can run their server-side code on Windows instead of being tempted to fire up a *nix server instead. (AFAIK, MS doesn't have any server-side JS tooling similar to node at the moment. Very good chance that I'm wrong, though.)

hammerdr 15y ago
Microsoft has JScript.NET (and has for a while now). http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms974588.aspx http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms974588.aspx I haven't seen it used anywhere as a server side application, though.
- duncans 15y ago
  JScript.NET was dropped for .NET 4.0; it has always been a bit of a curiosity though. I think it was there because "classic" ASP had support for doing server-side scripting in JScript, so somebody thought ASP.NET needed to support it also. Thankfully, there are a few alternative JavaScript implementations on .NET such as IronJS.

maratd 15y ago

Worse. Features (like unix_dgram) were deprecated because equivalents don't exist on Windows. http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs/msg/097bc3300ba6e5d5 http://groups.google.com/group/nodejs/msg/097bc3300ba6e5d5

htilford 15y ago

'huge chuck' is an understatement. Windows is the majority OS.

rmason 15y ago

Windows support is what Node needs in order to go mainstream. It also means that Node developers will be in even greater demand.

ilaksh 15y ago

Wow.. yeah, who would want Node on Windows? Whats the point. LOL. The sad thing is, that is probably the default perspective. Basically what's going on is status quo bias -- its the same thing with dying. There's nothing you can do about it so you learned to accept and love that Node.JS doesn't work on Windows. Who would want to live forever? Dying is great! Or you just don't want to have anything to do with Windows or something. People are amazingly stupid. I'm sorry, but its just stupidity to react that way. "Sure, you get to support a huge chunk of the OS market" <-- This is a big deal. Most businesses run Windows. I want my Node.JS software to run on most business servers or workstations without requiring a VM or something. Same with most PCs. The implication is that I can provide Node.JS-based software to an additional 400 million or so people. That means that I can write my software for Node.JS and not have to write a different version for Windows or ignore 400 million people. For example, say I built an online database application builder type thing where users can build forms using drag and drop and configure database search screens and reports easily. What a lot of my users really want is to have complete control over their database and application. They don't want to have to rely on my server or their internet connection always being on to access their business data. With good Windows support, I can build my application in Node.JS, and provide a setup bundle that users or IT people can use to install the user's database application on a Windows server. Seems pretty obvious that this is a big advantage.