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When I see people waking up now I wonder what's taken them so long. I could see this 15 years ago and jumped off Windows at that point. Been using Linux ever si

When I see people waking up now I wonder what's taken them so long. I could see this 15 years ago and jumped off Windows at that point. Been using Linux ever since. It's become so easy since then I've intentionally made my life more difficult by switching to Gentoo about 5 years ago. I'm so glad none of my work is locked into the products of rent seeking companies like Microsoft. It was easier for me because 15 years I didn't already have a body of work and an investment into any tools, but I still think it's something you'll be glad you did in another 15 years.

mixmastamyk 2y ago
Indeed, the security shenanigans around XP are what convinced me to finally move over. “Better formatting” is not nearly enough to stay in an abusive relationship.
- freeone3000 2y ago
  How the documents look is everything. That’s what separates desktop publishing like Word from Notepad. The documents have to look the same and have to print the same. Legal cases depend on it. Academic submissions depend on it (Nature Communications template is not latex, it is word). This is not something that can be omitted.
  - globular-toast 2y ago
    Word doesn't guarantee they look the same anyway. People send PDFs when they care about that.
    - freeone3000 2y ago
      Ah, but, “pdfs aren’t editable” and “pdfs cost more money to view”. People absolutely do use Word when they want documents to look the same, and will complain when the documents look different.
  - mixmastamyk 2y ago
    That's the conventional short-term wisdom, but you'll find just about any rule is bendable to breakable when market conditions change, folks get scared, or they simply decide to. There's no document formatting that can't be copied elsewhere. Start with new documents and convert the old ones (to pdf or whatever) at some point.
pjmlp 2y ago
Since Windows XP that is is going to be the year of Linux migration following the Windows exodus after each Windows version is announced, and here we are. Even Valve can't get the folks targeting Android to port their NDK powered games into SteamDeck, they have to translate Windows/DirectX instead.

mixmastamyk 2y ago

Indeed, the security shenanigans around XP are what convinced me to finally move over. “Better formatting” is not nearly enough to stay in an abusive relationship.

freeone3000 2y ago
How the documents look is everything. That’s what separates desktop publishing like Word from Notepad. The documents have to look the same and have to print the same. Legal cases depend on it. Academic submissions depend on it (Nature Communications template is not latex, it is word). This is not something that can be omitted.
- globular-toast 2y ago
  Word doesn't guarantee they look the same anyway. People send PDFs when they care about that.
  - freeone3000 2y ago
    Ah, but, “pdfs aren’t editable” and “pdfs cost more money to view”. People absolutely do use Word when they want documents to look the same, and will complain when the documents look different.
- mixmastamyk 2y ago
  That's the conventional short-term wisdom, but you'll find just about any rule is bendable to breakable when market conditions change, folks get scared, or they simply decide to. There's no document formatting that can't be copied elsewhere. Start with new documents and convert the old ones (to pdf or whatever) at some point.

pjmlp 2y ago

Since Windows XP that is is going to be the year of Linux migration following the Windows exodus after each Windows version is announced, and here we are. Even Valve can't get the folks targeting Android to port their NDK powered games into SteamDeck, they have to translate Windows/DirectX instead.