5 ms·

Why I use Linux instead of Windows

17 points by jlpcsl 3y ago

jmclnx 3y ago
>That led me to changing my major from Business Management to Information Systems. This is why I tell young programmers I work with that it is a must for you to develop with a Linux Workstation instead of Windows (we get a choice of Win, MAC and RHEL). Being tied to Windows will eventually hurt your career. I also mentioned if not Linux, then a distant second choice you should be a MAC. For our development, MAC/Linux is pretty much the same, but Linux gives you more freedom.
sshine 3y ago
> no viruses. No worms, trojans, or any other kind of malware > Very little telemetry, if at all Using Windows feels like being trapped in an elderly person's body. It is so crufty. The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. Logging in, there are several seconds between clicking something, the PIN menu appearing, and being allowed to type something. On Linux I just type. Why? No useless background processes, weather reports in the start menu, "NASDAQ is up", or pop-up advertisement like my system got a virus. Pair programming yesterday with my colleague (who uses Windows) using a mixture of Windows and Linux, he witnessed how badly I manage to navigate Windows because the difference in latency trips me up. Once you can type without looking at your keyboards, having a terminal as an integral part of your UI means you can make the system do things by thinking/speaking with your fingers, like having a dialogue with the computer. Windows is a mouse operating system. I know people from university who manage to retrofit Windows with a terminal system. I know PowerShell is really powerful (similar to UNIX shell). I've used Cygwin and PuTTY in the past, and I briefly tried WSL / WSL 2. It's totally doable. Not bashing those who make it work. I just like minimal systems. They don't come faster than when they do only exactly what you want.
- TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
  > The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. Now I am not sure if you are talking about Windows or Linux.
  - snapplebobapple 3y ago
    Linux has a lot of window managers so you really have to say you aren't sure if you are talking about wibdoes or [gnome, kde, sway, hyprland, xfce,etc]. Depending on which you choose i may or may not agree with you.
    - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
      Oh I can play this too - I have no idea if by Windows you mean Windows CE, Windows Phone, Windows 3.1, Windows XP, ...
      - snapplebobapple 3y ago
        The difference being many linux window managers are in active development and recommended for use, while windows has essentially one (What is in use in Windows 11, with Windows 10 still being supported but not recommended and in process of being removed from sale, leaving only Windows 11).
  - sshine 3y ago
    > Now I am not sure if you are talking about Windows or Linux. I will provide some context: Using Windows feels like being trapped in an elderly person's body. It is so crufty. The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. (The context is Windows.)
    - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
      As somebody who used both, I believe that system with bad laggy and stupid UX is Linux here.
      - sshine 3y ago
        The Linux GUI landscape is deserving of a lot of criticism. However, considering almost all Linux GUI is made by individuals in their free time, it's a little hard to target this criticism. I think that if you experience laggy UI on Linux, it's most likely because you use GNOME with graphics acceleration enabled. Possibly with a graphics card driver that is not optimal for your graphics card. But even Most alternatives to vanilla GNOME are not laggy. If anything, they're overly simplistic or so modular you need to essentially build your own UI using a library.
IshKebab 3y ago
> Now here is what made me mad enough to make the switch. When I brought up that I used the option to keep my files, pretty much every tech junkie…both ones I knew online and in person…said that it was my fault for choosing that option. Oh dear, he is really going to hate Linux soon...

17 points by jlpcsl 3y ago

>That led me to changing my major from Business Management to Information Systems. This is why I tell young programmers I work with that it is a must for you to develop with a Linux Workstation instead of Windows (we get a choice of Win, MAC and RHEL). Being tied to Windows will eventually hurt your career. I also mentioned if not Linux, then a distant second choice you should be a MAC. For our development, MAC/Linux is pretty much the same, but Linux gives you more freedom.

sshine 3y ago

> no viruses. No worms, trojans, or any other kind of malware > Very little telemetry, if at all Using Windows feels like being trapped in an elderly person's body. It is so crufty. The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. Logging in, there are several seconds between clicking something, the PIN menu appearing, and being allowed to type something. On Linux I just type. Why? No useless background processes, weather reports in the start menu, "NASDAQ is up", or pop-up advertisement like my system got a virus. Pair programming yesterday with my colleague (who uses Windows) using a mixture of Windows and Linux, he witnessed how badly I manage to navigate Windows because the difference in latency trips me up. Once you can type without looking at your keyboards, having a terminal as an integral part of your UI means you can make the system do things by thinking/speaking with your fingers, like having a dialogue with the computer. Windows is a mouse operating system. I know people from university who manage to retrofit Windows with a terminal system. I know PowerShell is really powerful (similar to UNIX shell). I've used Cygwin and PuTTY in the past, and I briefly tried WSL / WSL 2. It's totally doable. Not bashing those who make it work. I just like minimal systems. They don't come faster than when they do only exactly what you want.

TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
> The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. Now I am not sure if you are talking about Windows or Linux.
- snapplebobapple 3y ago
  Linux has a lot of window managers so you really have to say you aren't sure if you are talking about wibdoes or [gnome, kde, sway, hyprland, xfce,etc]. Depending on which you choose i may or may not agree with you.
  - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
    Oh I can play this too - I have no idea if by Windows you mean Windows CE, Windows Phone, Windows 3.1, Windows XP, ...
    - snapplebobapple 3y ago
      The difference being many linux window managers are in active development and recommended for use, while windows has essentially one (What is in use in Windows 11, with Windows 10 still being supported but not recommended and in process of being removed from sale, leaving only Windows 11).
- sshine 3y ago
  > Now I am not sure if you are talking about Windows or Linux. I will provide some context: Using Windows feels like being trapped in an elderly person's body. It is so crufty. The UI lags so much. The UX feels worse than accidental, almost adversarial. (The context is Windows.)
  - TheLoafOfBread 3y ago
    As somebody who used both, I believe that system with bad laggy and stupid UX is Linux here.
    - sshine 3y ago
      The Linux GUI landscape is deserving of a lot of criticism. However, considering almost all Linux GUI is made by individuals in their free time, it's a little hard to target this criticism. I think that if you experience laggy UI on Linux, it's most likely because you use GNOME with graphics acceleration enabled. Possibly with a graphics card driver that is not optimal for your graphics card. But even Most alternatives to vanilla GNOME are not laggy. If anything, they're overly simplistic or so modular you need to essentially build your own UI using a library.

IshKebab 3y ago

> Now here is what made me mad enough to make the switch. When I brought up that I used the option to keep my files, pretty much every tech junkie…both ones I knew online and in person…said that it was my fault for choosing that option. Oh dear, he is really going to hate Linux soon...