Lies. BSODs are Kernel panics. These happen in every OS. They can be caused by failing hardware, iffy drivers etc. Are you going to claim that you never had hardware fail? never had a dodgy capacitor on a video card? I don't believe that. Also the last time I had a BSOD on Windows is because one of the SSDs in RAID 0 failed.

Dependant on Linux distro there maybe no safe upgrade path between version of the distro (Fedora recommends a full reinstall last time I checked).

I haven't backed up a registry ever. I haven't installed 3rd party anti-virus software since the Windows XP days which was 15 years ago. Windows has improved quite a lot in some ways (and in other ways it has got worse).

> Works For Me.

Which is exactly the attitude problem with most Linux users when discussing the topic. It is whataboutery at its finest.

> Sorry that you didn't enjoy it. Hope you have fun back in Windows land.

Linux works absolutely fine on my Phone, VPS (Digital Ocean) and as a XBMC machine. It just doesn't work properly as a Desktop Operating system.

I am just not a zealot when it comes my Operating System Choice and I don't pretend things that are real problems aren't.

> Meanwhile, millions of Linux users have no problems with Steam or Dropbox. But you have unspecified problems, and therefore Linux is bad.

I doubt it is Millions tbh. At my last contract I knew 3 other developers that could use Linux in a building of 100s of developers.

Even if it does work (most of the time) you get shitty problems like this:

https://askubuntu.com/questions/732967/how-to-fix-non-workin...

BTW that problem still exists (last time I checked was 18.04).

Yes Linux is bad because simple problems that have been solved even on obscure platforms such as Amiga OS have less compatibility problems than Linux based operating systems between versions of the OS. I have an Amiga 1200 running version 3.9 of the OS which was released over 20 years ago probably and I have no problems installing things like web browsers, games, network stacks (Amiga OS didn't have one at the time) and all sorts of other software.

> Please don't project. You say A in one sentence and not-A in the next. You don't even seem to agree with yourself.

It is called nuance. I am trying to convey an idea. You are trying to be right. The former is being an adult, the latter is childish.

> So then use a popular, supported one. Packages for RHEL/CentOS, Fedora, Debian, Ubuntu, and even SuSe are nearly ubiquitous. If you freely choose to use obscure, forked-3-levels-deep Bob's Linux 2018, don't complain that there's no bespoke package for arbitrary software you want. That's silly.

I almost exclusively use Debian based (Ubuntu normally) or Redhat based (CentOS / Fedora). So again you are mis-representing what I was saying.

> Not out of context at all. You're blaming the platform instead of the app vendor.

Yes it was as I was clearly responding to what I quoted which was about hardware support not software support. This is clearly disingenuous.

As we are on the subject now. I am blaming the platform because there is massive amounts of fragmentation caused by lack of standardisation. You will have better luck herding cats. Compare that to something like Windows, iOS, Amiga OS, Android etc. Which have well documented APIs that are supported for years, so applications just tend to work between versions.

Also Apple and Microsoft don't throw away a whole desktop environment's code every 5 or 6 years. I remember the Gnome 2 -> 3 mess. I also remember the KDE 3 to 4 mess and I just use XFCE when forced to use a Linux machine now as they don't seem to lose their collective minds every few years.

I've been using Linux now for 15 years. I've given up with it. They could fix every complaint I have tomorrow and I won't give a damn, I am done with it.

> You're saying that an aerospace engineer can't, in a few seconds, click what appears to be a Start Menu-like menu in the Start Menu place, type "browser" into the box labeled "search", and find "Firefox Web Browser"? I don't believe you. If he can figure out how to make an aircraft fly, and use complicated fluid dynamics modeling software, he can figure out how to launch Firefox. Going from Windows to Plasma is no more complicated than going from Windows 7 to Windows 8 and 10--in fact, probably much simpler, considering the enormous UI changes Microsoft made. And it's claims like this that suggest it's you being disingenuous.

I sure he could if given the time. However the vast majority of people wanna get on with their life and not have to relearn where to find things in a UI. I have problems using Visual Studio on someone else machine running the same version of Visual Studio because I have the 2005 key bindings enabled, I can struggle along using the newer keybindings, but I am using the interface at about 30-40% of the speed I can normally use it at.

Comments like this demonstrates how out of touch Linux users are with the regular computer user. It reminds me of the time when Richard Stallman said on a mailing list he emailed web pages to himself using some cron job or something equally as ridiculous, then on the FSF page he writes a long lecture about the evils JavaScript Minification when he doesn't even use a web browser.

> Then you ought to be heaping criticism on Microsoft for Windows 8 and 10. How many times have I seen someone move from Windows 7 to 8/10 and say, "I can't use this UI, it's awful!" Instead you act as if Linux UIs are uniquely problematic.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/whataboutery. :rollseyes: PLEASE!!

"There are more murders over there so the murders over here don't matter".

This is the last time I will respond to you. You have mis-represented me several times now and the number of fallacies present here is hurting my brain. Bye.

No it is a common complaint that has been happening for years (over a decade) with all manner of consumer laptops.

> The list of devices which kernel does support is not only incredible, but higher than that of any other OS safe Windows maybe.

Yes and I would wager quite a lot of these devices are for ancient hardware, embedded devices, servers, micro-controller etc and other stuff THAT IS NOT ANYTHING TO DO WITH BUSINESS LAPTOPS and a reasonably priced consumer usb headsets from well known manufacturers.

It is a fallacy that just because there is a large number of devices it also means:

1) They are supported well.

2) They are my devices.

3) That there are other parts of the distro (Pulse Audio, ALSA or whatever the nonsense they are using for an audio stack these days) will interfere with how the device works.

The situation will never change. It will never change because

1) Device manufacturers don't care about Linux. They will care about MacOS, Windows, Android and iOS.

2) None of the large corps that basically contribute to the kernel really care about Linux on the desktop. They don't make a lot of money if any from it. Redhat kinda bother, but they've been bought by IBM now so that won't last much longer.

3) As demonstrated in this very discussion on this topic. Most Linux users will trot out the same tired old excuses why shite doesn't work. They will blame it on Microsoft, the User, the hardware anything other than the accepting the fact that because everyone has their own idea what a distro looks like, the whole community is fragmented. Fragmentation causes problems, instability and compatibility issues.

I've heard it for 15 years now. If I have to use Linux (I do unfortunately), it is whatever the latest LTS of Ubuntu is because it mostly works (it is still shite though).

> And even in windows you will have pretty the same hardware problems, just with the different set of hardware, which you were lucky to avoid. Shit like this [1] [2] is pretty common in windows world as well.

Cherry picking nonsense. The only driver I've needed to install in the last 5 years is my video card driver (I am rocking a 1080Ti, which is rather nice) and a wireless driver in my laptop which took all of 5 minutes to install.

Windows will download the drivers from the internet if it can find them.

> Most of the time you just have an OEM preinstalled for you or even an OS preinstalled on a very particular hardware (macos).

No I installed Windows myself. I always wipe and do a clean install. I've done my own install of MacOS in the past as well (not much point though as they don't fill the OS full of shit).

I've heard all of these arguments before. They are all deflecting blame away from what is the Desktop Linux community. I'd heard these arguments back in 2003. Nothing has changed much in 15 years.

Maybe in 15 years time when Desktop Linux still doesn't work correctly you might get wise to the myriad of reasons why it will never work.

Hopefully I will have retired to somewhere like Cambodia by then.

2) Two it creates fragmentation. Fragmentation creates defects and incompatibilities.

As I gotten older I pretty much realised that unless it is backed by a professional company I am not using it. There has been consistent stream of fiasco, drama and general unprofessional bullshit in the realm of open source I am quite happy I've mostly stuck to doing the majority of my work with .NET and SQL Server.

After yesterday's NPM fiasco sorry but it is your project. You should fix the problems or don't release it out in the world.

No. This is the fundamental misunderstanding of the point I was making. So I am going to make it crystal clear. The problems I've had with installing slack, I've had with Spotify, Steam, Dropbox and there are quite a few others I am sure I've forgotten.

If you create a program for MacOSX, Android, iOS etc. You can be sure that there are certain APIs available to you and you can be pretty confident that your program is going to work if built against those APIs. Your users can be confident if they download your application there is a pretty good change it is going to work.

Sure with Android there will be device specific issues, or if it is a Windows PC they may have faulty hardware or a bad installation. However the chances that the application is going to work is much higher than GNU/Linux because fragmentation in what the user base runs is much lower. That is just the reality of the situation.

Nothing remotely equivalent exists for Linux. Have the wrong distro ... there probably isn't a package. Have a slightly older distro ... There probably isn't a package for you.

Even with attempts such as Flatpack, SnapStore etc. The same situation is present. This is because of the nature of any GNU/Linux distro is that they are all fragmented in terms of underlying libraries, kernel versions, UI versions, package managers etc.

It is a mess. It will always be a mess as long as people don't recognise it as a real problem. I doubt it will get solved in our lifetimes.

If you want to make smart ass remarks about it while ignoring the real issue so be it.

> The whole "I found a problem in a vendor's app so I'm going to blame the entire OS and platform instead" attitude. This attitude stinks.

Thanks for taking me out of context. I was specifically talking about user environments which are supplied by those who control the distro. Please don't be disingenuous.

> Your buddy couldn't (or wouldn't?) click through a few menus or type "browser" into the KDE equivalent of the Start Menu, and you cite that as a problem in Plasma, and then say that you prefer PowerShell? Bizarre.

People become familiar with certain user interfaces. Saying that everyone should just understand how to use a new interface even if it mimicks (btw poorly) another OS which is ubiquitous really shows that their lack of touch with the majority of users.

Lots of users can have real problems moving between versions of one application. That why user interface guidelines, best practices, user testing and user interface design are its whole own field in this industry. Pretending because something looks superficially the same means that someone should be able to use it is ridiculous. Also KDE Plasma it doesn't really look like Windows or works like it, KDE plasma UI is what happens when a teenager that has just learnt how to use Photoshop effects tool has gone mad with gradients and bloom effects, the whole thing is a mess visually.

In response to powershell comment. It is normally easier to just learn a shell like bash on a *nix system and just use that then try using the absolutely awful UIs they normally provide you with. The same is true with Modern Windows. Each time there is a update to Windows 10 they have changed the location of some control panel option for the umpteeth time. So I already know how to use powershell and install the management tools, it is normally easier FOR ME to use that rather than try to navigate the labyrinth of control panel options.

This the attitude I always get and it stinks. I have sitting on my desk at home an Amiga 1200 (released in 1994). I can download a lha archive with a program in it, extract it and run it. Amiga OS was cutting edge in 1987ish. I still can't do that with a popular flavour of Linux like ubuntu.

I don't think it is unreasonable to expect to be able to download a package from the internet that is marked as "Ubuntu 18.04", use the package manager to install it and for it to work properly.

There is also about 3 or 4 different methods (that are somewhat official) to install applications. Which is crazy.

This problem only exists on Linux.

> Plasma, the desktop I recommended for end-users, has solved these problems. Years ago.

Good for you. Not everyone is running the same setup.

The whole "Works For Me" attitude. Again this attitude stinks.

> I simply don't believe that you know someone who understands how to use Windows and yet couldn't open a web browser on KDE Plasma.

I still have some usage hangups on Windows since the Windows 2000 days and I have a lot of problems with newer versions of windows because I just get confused with the interface. It isn't that uncommon tbh. In the end I've learnt enough powershell now it not an issue for me.

For a developer such as myself it is easier to just install WSL, run a VM or use something like vagrant or Docker and just put up with the odd annoyances that Windows 10 presents you with.

No I am not. I was just saying that the only thing I've hadn't have work out of the box was some dodgy PCI card from China. It is literally the only thing in the last ten years that wasn't a video card that didn't work out of the box for me.

> Besides, linux hardware support is incredible nowadays, and most of the time if you have problems with linux, you would have them with windows as well (aka, oem drivers for crappy nonstandard custom hardware).

I've been using *nix now for about 20 years. I still have the same problems with plugging in things like headsets that I had 10 years ago. The headset I am using is a £30 headset that you can buy in almost any supermarket and that is just an example of the problems that you will face on a daily basis.

I have a bog standard Dell Latitude laptop (refurb business model). Everything is intel. Yet I still have problems with Power management on popular distros like Ubuntu and Fedora. Everything works fine in Windows Vista and Above. I get screen tearing on my desktop machine because X is utter crap. Also any application can completely kill X, I had it happen the other day.

I am sure I could fix some of these issues. But I just don't care enough anymore.

> Also, RedHat cares about desktop, and canonical cared a lot. Nowadays RedHat is involved in a proper hybrid graphics support, gnome desktop etc. In some areas linux is lagging behind, for example accessability is still not the best, though gnome people are very concerned about it (that was one of the major reason for using a full gnome shell for login).

Redhat used to sell the distro as a desktop Linux that you could buy in a store like PC world, so did Suse and quite a lot of other distros (Mandrake, Lindows, Corel). Very few people bought them, they didn't make any money and they vanished in about 2004/2005ish IIRC. The vast majority of income that Redhat makes is support contacts.

As for the gnome team, they threw away years of work when they moved to Gnome 3. That must be 10,000s of man hours. That is nuts. I don't trust a team that throws away years worth of code, user testing and bug reports. I know it been forked into Mate, but that is besides the point.

I've been using Linux/Unix for about 20 years now. There are still loads of things that just do not work and I really expect them to work.

I am not talking about specialist hardware. I am talking about things like a USB headset I have (works fine on Windows and MacOSX without having to install any additional drivers). Doesn't work on Linux.

I installed Slack using the deb package (on ubuntu). Won't start, no idea why. Just segfaults. So I have to use the browser version of slack.

X will still hang with certain applications. Sometimes I close the Lid and the laptop never wakes up.I still get screen tearing when moving windows around. This stuff was fixed years ago on Windows.

Now I could fix these things. However it hours of messing around when I could use a Linux VM on my Mac of WSL on Windows these days.

> The average user can handle KDE Plasma just fine.

No they can't. My friend (who can use Windows 7 just fine), when on my Linux PC and I have it setup pretty much like Windows and he couldn't work out how to open the web-browser. He isn't a dummy either. He has a masters in Aerospace Engineering and uses Matlab regularly. We are both 36 years of age.

I generally don't require any better than Markdown and for larger documents I just LaTeX.

However I am normally sent work documents with all sorts of macros from other companies (embedded forms) to fill out for things like payments, right to work etc. These require Microsoft Office. Originally when I started I thought I could get away with Libre Office. It worked at best 50% and these weren't complex macros (I inspected them myself).

None of these forms are outside the norm of what a HR department, University faculty office or most medium to large companies use.

Only a very small percentage of what is a shrinking market uses it uses it on the desktop.

It will never happen. The only company that has really invested into anything close to Desktop Linux is Google and it is Chrome books which are pretty much a walled garden.

While it was better than it was 15 years ago, there are still dumb problems like "Why doesn't by usb headset work?" or "Oh X shat itself again with my GPU". Whereas with Windows I can reinstall the GPU drivers while playing a youtube video. The only thing I haven't had work is some cheapo chinese Serial PCI card from fleabay.

You lack communication.

When you get a crap spec like the ones you have obviously got. You should reject it with the exact reasons why the spec was insufficient.

Tell them politely and clearly what is insufficient about it. If you have a direct superior approach them first with your concerns about each spec and get them to help you to setup a meeting where you hash out the specifics.

There is no magical answer to getting this right. You just need to learn when to be assertive and just be clear, concise, logical and polite and ask for clarification if something is unclear.

It works wonders.

It simply said "Make a working clone of this webpage, zip it up and file it to us".

I could have just nicked the jQuery code (this was before a lot of the frameworks have taken off and everyone abused jQuery and I worked at a place that used vanilla js for performance).

https://pastebin.com/NvGm89cR

Indian developers in the UK have essentially got won the Willy Wonka Gold ticket as the salaries in the UK are much higher and they just work 12+ hours a day and keep their heads down. There is a higher number of female developers in my experience come over. But that could be just my impressions.

1. The deaths under communism (of which there were millions were directly caused by communism). In the Soviet Union, Land was taken from the peasants that had finally got themselves some property and those that protested were killed. The land was then given to those that didn't know how to farm it. Millions died.

In Maoist china there was "The great leap forward" again there was a massive famine because of Agricultural collectivisation. Part of this was the four pests campaign. Millions died, we are talking 25-40 million people.

I am not even counting things like the holodomore yet.

All of these were a direct consequences of the collectivisation and tyrannical communist system.

Your complaints about the negatives of capitalism are simply vagaries about secondary effects and the odd time that Western powers have been tyrannical. It is neither convincing or provides a base for sensible discussion. it is simply what-aboutery when you consider the number of people that perished. Also you are using the term capitalist incorrectly yet again.

As for the claim am obfuscating issues away. I can point directly to policies/order made by tyrants that led to the death or millions. In response I get vagaries back about secondary effects.

This sort of comparison is a complete nonsense.

2 Regarding the NHS and to quote you "your definition of failure, undefined". I had defined it. They had consistently missed targets for a number of years despite cash injections. Almost anyone sensible would say that was a failure.

3. Again more vagaries about secondary effects. This is how you fix those secondary effects, you put in sensible legislation / regulation. BTW the un-intended consequence of the "Four pest campaign" is that many well known insects that destroyed crops had no natural predators (in this case I believe it was sparrows IIRC). So the unintended consequence of a policy I can directly point that killed 25-40 million people, yet you present to be vagaries about health care and wars which maybe tangentially related to the economics of capitalism.

Read some history, read some philosophy and get your terminology correct please.

4.

> I'm talking of the people/organizations that own the bulk of property and/or own most the money or resources. I'm talking "banking crisis, 2008" type of people/orgs. Those are the capitalists.

You are using the term capitalists incorrectly yet again. A capitalist is some that simply believes in free trade, wage labour and the pre-requisites like individual rights and property rights. You mean a social political elite and banking cartels. BTW your views align more with Steve Bannon btw.

5. Thank you for the well wishes. I have taken my destiny into my own hands. I work freelance and my fortunes are wholly up to me. If it doesn't work out well there is a whole world of opportunities out there I am a fairly smart person.

Capitalism has brought a huge population of the world out of poverty in the last century.

Wars over resources isn't capitalism, most starvation last century was caused by communism. Lack of medical care, I have no idea what this has to do with free trade and property rights. On the subject of healthcare, I live in the UK and the NHS fails to deliver adequate care and constantly doesn't meet targets, even though there is an ever increasing amount of tax payers money invested in it. So social healthcare doesn't work and the NHS is probably one of the better examples in the world.

Capitalism is just the results of free trade and property rights.

> And.. the citizens end up trading one master (capitalist) for another (communist overseer).

What are you talking about? If you live in a capitalist system in the west you have individual rights and property rights. Nobody is your master, anyone can start their own business and be their own boss.

If you wanna work for a large megacorp so be it. Not for me, I started my own small IT business. I make enough monthly to pay myself a decent pension (funded by myself), my own healthcare and buy myself property next year (just a regular house nothing fancy but it is mine, I won't be renting anymore if all goes well).

> The rest of this "Crony" vs Corporate" seems like a word definition war. How about some good definitions before we move on

I have given the correct definitions and have linked or quoted them in my replies. You can look them up, I have used the common definitions. Our other friend I have no idea what definitions he was using.

This is for two reasons

1. I don't like silly games in interviews. You aren't respecting me or my time before I am working for you, you aren't likely to while I am working for you.

2. I personally like to be left alone while working on something. Then again I find scrum calls etc a total waste of time.

However I've been to job interviews where they force me to code live in front of several people and I couldn't get half a line of code out before one of them will chip in with a "suggestion" breaking my train of thought. The code they want me to write is some algorithm that they have expected you to memorise.

I normally leave the interview frustrated and even when offered the job I turned them down because the hiring process has given me a bad taste.