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After three months on Linux, I don’t miss Windows at all (www.theverge.com)
submitted 5 months ago by to c/linux@programming.dev
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[–] -4 points 5 months ago (12 children)

If you use a Windows "translation layer" for your software anyway, why would you choose Linux as the host platform in the first place?

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  • [–] 12 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (11 children)

    There are so many reasons. Here's just a few off the top of my head:

    • Windows isn't free, Linux is.
    • Windows isn't an open platform, Linux is.
    • Linux doesn't track your activity. Windows does.
    • Linux doesn't come bundled with a bunch of shovelware crap. Windows does.
    • Linux doesn't push cloud products onto you. Windows does.
    • Linux doesn't use your hardware to force-feed ads to you. Windows does.
    • Linux is infinitely more customizable than Windows.
    • Linux lets you choose when, how, and if you download/install updates. Windows does not.
    • Windows constantly pushes/forces AI slop products onto users. Linux does not.
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  • [+] -7 points 5 months ago (10 children)

    All of that is true for most other operating systems, some of which are even more customizable than some of today's Linux distributions. My question was "why Linux?", not "why not Windows?".

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago

    Question is a not relevant to the discussion, and might be an (possibly unintentional?) attempt at derailing the conversation. @bearboiblake@pawb.social answered the question more than adequately. Their point still holds: If needed, there are many ways to run Windows apps under other operating systems (including Linux). Choosing an OS between Linux - and it's various flavors, FreeBSD etc is outside the scope of the original discussion.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago (8 children)

    Oh -- in that case, because Linux is vastly more popular than any other alternative free operating system or system distribution, has infinitely more support options and software available than alternatives, and a much larger community/install base, meaning that if you have a problem or want some tool, it's far more likely to be available for Linux than any other free alternative.

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  • [–] -5 points 5 months ago (7 children)

    vastly more popular

    Windows is more popular than Linux, so is macOS. Now is that a reason or not?

    has infinitely more support options and software available than alternatives

    False.

    if you ... want some tool, it’s far more likely to be available for Linux than any other free alternative.

    Which tool does (e.g.) FreeBSD lack for you?

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  • [–] 6 points 5 months ago (6 children)

    Windows is more popular than Linux, so is macOS. Now is that a reason or not?

    notice the word free

    False.

    ok lol

    Which tool does (e.g.) FreeBSD lack for you?

    Well, Docker is the archetypal example, though I'm sure there are plenty of others. I've never particularly cared to get into BSD, because I have no incentive to do so.

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  • [–] -3 points 5 months ago (5 children)

    ok lol

    Please don't troll. Last warning before mute.

    I’ve never particularly cared to get into BSD, because I have no incentive to do so.

    You should. It can't hurt to know alternatives, you know.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago (4 children)

    Please don’t troll.

    You just said "False". How tf am I meant to engage with that in any kind of productive way? It's like saying "no u".

    Last warning before mute.

    Why would I care if you block me? It would be your loss, really -- I'm a very cool, nice, fun, friendly guy, you'd be missing out on some potentially great comments.

    You should.

    Why? Genuinely asking, I've never looked into it because I have no real incentive to try it. I've used NetBSD on a server before, and it was fine, but like, what reason would I have to move away from Linux? It works completely perfectly for all of my use cases.

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  • [–] -3 points 5 months ago (3 children)

    Why would I care if you block me?

    Please, by all means, don't care. I, for one, care about whether strangers on the internet try to dunning-kruger me. Life's too short for that.

    I’ve used NetBSD on a server before, and it was fine, but like, what reason would I have to move away from Linux?

    The same reason why weirdos want Windows users to move away from Windows, I guess. It is lovely to have options, and (given the continuing enshittification of much of Linux, with systemd spreading through the whole ecosystem like a virus, less customizability, more security fails, ...) BSD is quite an appalling option. It runs (almost) all Linux software, is notably more mature (it existed long before Linux and quite a few companies relied and worked on it for decades, making it enterprise-ready by design), has a very nice community (and me) and it runs on old hardware much longer than Linux does; ironically, that's what Linux users think they do better than Windows. Heh.

    And the BSDs (I, personally, use OpenBSD on a few servers, only recently started trying NetBSD on a spare laptop) are only a subset of your free alternatives, with Solaris (illumos) and (e.g.) Haiku being two others. There will always be one system that does exactly what you want and how you want it.

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  • [–] 5 points 5 months ago* (2 children)

    I'm going to be honest, it feels like you might have some kinda superiority complex here... I'm sure BSDs are lovely and great and I'm really glad you enjoy using them, but Linux and BSD are both great options for people, and I'm glad they're both available.

    I don't really care about the whole systemd conflict. All I care about is that I own my computer and I control all of the software that runs on it. If I wanted to, I could swap out systemd for init or sysV or whatever but I don't want to because I'm very familiar with it at this point, it works fine.

    If I need BSD for something, I will certainly be more than happy to reach for it. Actually, come to think of it, I do use BSD - OpenWRT is BSD based I believe, and I have a few Wi-Fi access points/routers running OpenWRT.

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  • [–] -3 points 5 months ago (1 child)

    it feels like you might have some kinda superiority complex here…

    I couldn't care less which software other people use. It seemed strange to me to run an operating system that won't support the software I need natively, that's all.

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  • [–] 3 points 5 months ago

    So you understand the appeal of why someone would use FreeBSD, and you also understand that there's some software which is only available for Windows that people might still want to use, so... I don't really understand how that's particularly strange, but I hope you understand now that we've talked it out that it's pretty ordinary.

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