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    Ubuntu on Windows

    (blog.dustinkirkland.com)
    2049 points bpierre | 12 comments | 30 Mar 16 16:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.413s | source | bottom
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    takeda ◴[30 Mar 16 19:39 UTC] No.11392296[source]▶
    Surprised I don't see anyone else mentioning this.

    This looks to me like typical Microsoft strategy that they utilized a lot 25 years ago.

    1. when not leader in given market, make your product fully compatible with competitor

    2. start gaining momentum (e.g. why should I use Linux, when on Windows I can run both Linux and Windows applications)

    3. once becoming leader break up compatibility

    4. rinse and repeat

    Happened with MS-DOS, Word, Excel, Internet Explorer, and others.

    replies(23): >>11392494 #>>11393099 #>>11393276 #>>11393408 #>>11393449 #>>11393546 #>>11393585 #>>11394255 #>>11394392 #>>11395372 #>>11395436 #>>11395525 #>>11395526 #>>11395634 #>>11395700 #>>11395784 #>>11396366 #>>11396861 #>>11397608 #>>11397942 #>>11398467 #>>11398629 #>>11403675 #
    more_original ◴[31 Mar 16 06:29 UTC] No.11395372[source]▶
    > 2. start gaining momentum (e.g. why should I use Linux, when on Windows I can run both Linux and Windows applications)

    Remember OS/2 2.x? It could run Windows 3.x binaries, including GUI programs. The result was that noone wrote programs for OS/2. Windows programs would run both on Windows and on OS/2, so why write another one for OS/2?

    Why should anyone port Linux programs to Windows now? Just write for Linux and it will work both on Windows and on Linux. So now you actually have more reason to target Linux.

    replies(4): >>11395516 #>>11395701 #>>11395859 #>>11397986 #
    1. partycoder ◴[31 Mar 16 07:15 UTC] No.11395516[source]▶
    That same phenomenon sort of happens with WINE. Many software just suggests you: run it under WINE, so they just focus on Windows.

    Not that I am against WINE. I think it allows me to just ditch Windows entirely.

    I run StarCraft II on WINE 1.9 at a higher framerate than what Windows provides. That was probably the only reason I would use Windows for.

    replies(4): >>11395695 #>>11395704 #>>11395705 #>>11395715 #
    2. broodbucket ◴[31 Mar 16 08:13 UTC] No.11395695[source]▶
    Out of curiousity, do you use wine-staging and the CSMT patches?
    replies(1): >>11395717 #
    3. creshal ◴[31 Mar 16 08:15 UTC] No.11395704[source]▶
    TeamViewer, e.g.; their official Linux version is simply the Windows build with a bundled WinE. As a result, it has a horrible UX, making me even less likely to pay their outrageous license fees.

    It's a lose-lose situation in cases like this.

    4. ajdlinux ◴[31 Mar 16 08:15 UTC] No.11395705[source]▶
    I doubt any game developer decides not to release a Linux version purely because "oh, Wine exists".
    replies(3): >>11395710 #>>11395789 #>>11408215 #
    5. creshal ◴[31 Mar 16 08:18 UTC] No.11395710[source]▶
    Game developers no idea, application developers yes. TeamViewer and Softmaker Office are programs I ditched in frustration because their official Linux "ports" are the Windows versions bundled with a bugged WinE wrapper around them.
    replies(2): >>11396308 #>>11401928 #
    6. YokoZar ◴[31 Mar 16 08:19 UTC] No.11395715[source]▶
    It's not quite the case that using Wine is an alternative to porting. Sometimes the port itself simply bundles Wine. Some say that this "doesn't count", but when Wine works well users can't tell the difference between this and a port that required rewriting things.
    7. partycoder ◴[31 Mar 16 08:20 UTC] No.11395717[source]▶
    I use wine-staging yes.
    8. jarcane ◴[31 Mar 16 08:36 UTC] No.11395789[source]▶
    Mac game "developers" do. :(

    Thanks to TransGaming and Cider, a lot of Mac "ports" are just a Windows executable running in their proprietary fork of Wine. To predictably awful result.

    9. asddubs ◴[31 Mar 16 11:18 UTC] No.11396308{3}[source]▶
    I think game developers are a bit of a unique case, because a large chunk of the linux gaming community is pretty hostile towards wine ports. There is no linux proprietary application community
    replies(1): >>11399077 #
    10. fl0wenol ◴[31 Mar 16 17:49 UTC] No.11399077{4}[source]▶
    > There is no linux proprietary application community

    Except in CAD, academic tools, analytics, mod/sim, graphics, industrial automation... basically anything that used to run on Unix or might use a fortran library somewhere.

    11. YokoZar ◴[01 Apr 16 01:26 UTC] No.11401928{3}[source]▶
    The problem here is that Wine is buggy, not that application developers aren't all rewriting everything.
    12. baobrien ◴[01 Apr 16 20:18 UTC] No.11408215[source]▶
    It's not a game, but LTSpice from Linear doesn't have a Linux release because it runs on wine; though, they do try to make sure it works on wine.