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Ubuntu on Windows

(blog.dustinkirkland.com)
2049 points bpierre | 1 comments | 30 Mar 16 16:35 UTC | HN request time: 0.21s | source
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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.

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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.

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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.

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1. 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.