4 ms·

It’s not free when it’s costing me time.

by jahnu 2y ago

bob1029 2y ago
A licensed copy of the most feature-packed Windows Server Datacenter edition will run you ~$6k (16 core license). Now, assume your hourly consulting rate is $200. You would only have to spend about 40 hours of time tinkering on linux before windows would have made more sense for the time/money equation. Frustration is another economy that I think is even more important for getting things done. How badly do you actually want to build? Maintaining morale through the hard bits of the target problem domain is usually already a struggle. Why do you want to be fighting with boot loaders, drivers and arguments on various forums on top of all of that?
- snozolli 2y ago
  A licensed copy of the most feature-packed Windows Server Datacenter edition will run you ~$6k (16 core license). Kind of a weird basis for comparison when everyone seems to be talking about the desktop experience. I love Linux for servers, but not for the desktop.
  - TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
    I agree. But to continue the point - even if I wanted to spend 40 gross hours of billable time at $200/hr for a single installation of a server OS, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the right OS for the goal I'm trying to accomplish, no matter how bad or excellent the configuration experience happens to be. Conversations about the utility, costs, and feature sets of Windows vs. Linux. vs. macOS tend to ignore the reality that business conditions often dictate that you must use one or the other for a given use case. Sometimes you do have the option, and if you've already got an appreciable investment in one, then you tend to select for that one almost by default.
kylebenzle 2y ago
That's not how "free" works at all... Free just means it did not cost you any money, a free hammer does not also imply a free new roof or whatever you want to build with it. Linux is a tool, men use tools, be a man and use Linux.
- techdmn 2y ago
  Needlessly gendered, and the last sentence reads as rather condescending.
kibwen 2y ago
I've spent more hours over the past decade wrestling with Windows than with Linux. So not only is Windows costing me money to license it, it's also costing me more time than chucking it in the bin and using Linux. I'm so done with Windows.

It’s not free when it’s costing me time.

by jahnu 2y ago

It’s not free when it’s costing me time.

A licensed copy of the most feature-packed Windows Server Datacenter edition will run you ~$6k (16 core license). Now, assume your hourly consulting rate is $200. You would only have to spend about 40 hours of time tinkering on linux before windows would have made more sense for the time/money equation. Frustration is another economy that I think is even more important for getting things done. How badly do you actually want to build? Maintaining morale through the hard bits of the target problem domain is usually already a struggle. Why do you want to be fighting with boot loaders, drivers and arguments on various forums on top of all of that?

snozolli 2y ago
A licensed copy of the most feature-packed Windows Server Datacenter edition will run you ~$6k (16 core license). Kind of a weird basis for comparison when everyone seems to be talking about the desktop experience. I love Linux for servers, but not for the desktop.
- TheNewsIsHere 2y ago
  I agree. But to continue the point - even if I wanted to spend 40 gross hours of billable time at $200/hr for a single installation of a server OS, that doesn't necessarily mean that it's the right OS for the goal I'm trying to accomplish, no matter how bad or excellent the configuration experience happens to be. Conversations about the utility, costs, and feature sets of Windows vs. Linux. vs. macOS tend to ignore the reality that business conditions often dictate that you must use one or the other for a given use case. Sometimes you do have the option, and if you've already got an appreciable investment in one, then you tend to select for that one almost by default.

kylebenzle 2y ago

That's not how "free" works at all... Free just means it did not cost you any money, a free hammer does not also imply a free new roof or whatever you want to build with it. Linux is a tool, men use tools, be a man and use Linux.

techdmn 2y ago
Needlessly gendered, and the last sentence reads as rather condescending.

kibwen 2y ago

I've spent more hours over the past decade wrestling with Windows than with Linux. So not only is Windows costing me money to license it, it's also costing me more time than chucking it in the bin and using Linux. I'm so done with Windows.