IT (and old IT) discussion

[py_megapixel]

Fire up Notepad and remove the network cable.

Or, if you want the ultimate in minimalism, forgo graphical interfaces entirely and just run Vim at the command line. (Or do what @Journeyman mentions, but not everybody has a home computer from the 80s lying around, or wants to use one)

N.B: I don't think Windows has a command line that you can access from outside the GUI. Oh well, I guess you could make the command-prompt window full screen, but I'm not even sure it'll let you do that.

If I was writing this from a Windows machine, I'd check, but I'm not. I became fed up with Windows being simultaneously utterly obtuse and too clever for its own good a very long time ago, and switched to linux.

 

[najaB]

I don't think Windows has a command line that you can access from outside the GUI. Oh well, I guess you could make the command-prompt window full screen, but I'm not even sure it'll let you do that.

Not since Windows 98, no. You can make the command prompt take up the full screen if you want though (not actual text mode though).

 

[SS4]

Or, if you want the ultimate in minimalism, forgo graphical interfaces entirely and just run Vim at the command line. (Or do what @Journeyman mentions, but not everybody has a home computer from the 80s lying around, or wants to use one)

N.B: I don't think Windows has a command line that you can access from outside the GUI. Oh well, I guess you could make the command-prompt window full screen, but I'm not even sure it'll let you do that.

If I was writing this from a Windows machine, I'd check, but I'm not. I became fed up with Windows being simultaneously utterly obtuse and too clever for its own good a very long time ago, and switched to linux.

I'm just imagining writing a full letter in vim when I can barely use it to edit the sudoers file. Normally I just use nano like a chump.

Pretty sure windows does not let you go straight into the cli but you can maximize the command prompt screen. On an aside I found windows always acted like it was the owner of the machine instead of me - always doing what it wanted to do and windows 10 is much worse for it (It's on a work machine - I've ran Linux for years on my personal devices). Powershell is a joke compared to a proper Unix shell too

 

[najaB]

Powershell is a joke compared to a proper Unix shell too

Got to disagree with you there, Powershell is closer to a full programming language than a script interpreter with it's complex data structures and control structures.

 

[nlogax]

Pretty sure windows does not let you go straight into the cli but you can maximize the command prompt screen. On an aside I found windows always acted like it was the owner of the machine instead of me - always doing what it wanted to do and windows 10 is much worse for it (It's on a work machine - I've ran Linux for years on my personal devices). Powershell is a joke compared to a proper Unix shell too

Moving beyond Powershell I find WSL on Windows 10 to be pretty damned good, even running with Win10 running as a VM. There's less and less need for a pure Linux system these days,

 

[py_megapixel]

Moving beyond Powershell I find WSL on Windows 10 to be pretty damned good, even running with Win10 running as a VM. There's less and less need for a pure Linux system these days,

But you still have Windows there in the background being generally obtuse and doing what it pleases.
As Microsoft becomes more and more anti-consumer, I'd argue there is actually more and more need for a pure Linux system.

I personally can't stand the Windows command line for the sole reason that it's different to the Unix one. The number of times I've tried to `ls` a directory, or type a path with `/` instead of `\`, or `sudo` something...

 

[najaB]

I personally can't stand the Windows command line for the sole reason that it's different to the Unix one. The number of times I've tried to `ls` a directory, or type a path with `/` instead of `\`, or `sudo` something...

'ls' and using / as your path separator both work in Powershell.

 

[py_megapixel]

ls and using / as your path separator both work in Powershell.

Do they? I hadn't realised... I'll have to try that at some point. I guess I just assumed that it would behave the same way as in the "Command prompt" application... which, thinking about it, seems somewhat redundant.

(No, that hasn't persuaded me to switch back to Windows... )

 

[nlogax]

(Sorry, I appreciate this is getting well off-topic - maybe we should have a dedicated IT thread )

Still not sure I understand the reluctance for Win10. Run bash and away you go, there's a proper Ubuntu kernel under the hood.

 

[py_megapixel]

(Sorry, I appreciate this is getting well off-topic - maybe we should have a dedicated IT thread )

Still not sure I understand the reluctance for Win10. Run bash and away you go, there's a proper Ubuntu kernel under the hood.

Doesn't let me turn off Microsoft's tracking, does it... neither does it allow me to disable forced automatic updates, or remove the demands every time I log in to associate a Microsoft account with my computer, or remove the general tendency for Microsoft to try to shove things down my throat all the time, or uninstall the bloatware that Microsoft insists on preinstalling and taking up a huge chunk of the available storage space with.

I'm also slightly concerned about MS applying their famous "Embrace/Extend/Extinguish" strategy to Linux on the desktop...

By the way, is that by any chance Ubuntu emulated in a Windows virtual machine running on a Mac? That's a lot of layers...

 

[nlogax]

Most of those things are fixable / tweakable, and usually fairly easily so unless you happen to be locked down by central policies.

Linux has been extremely successful and you can't avoid the inevitable party crashing by the likes of MS for those that want the best of both worlds in a single endpoint. And yes.. Ubuntu / WSL2 under Win10 under Fusion. You should hear the fans on this Macbook right now.

 

[dgl]

Of course Microsoft had a Unix variant many moons ago until, I believe, they were forced to give it up. Was called Xenix and from what I've read was the most successful (in terms of installed licences) than any other version at the time, so essentially they had most of both the desktop and professional/server market at the time.

 

[RichT54]

I only have one device that runs Windows:



I bought it to replace a Psion Revo that fell apart. It runs Windows Mobile 6 and was painfully slow even when new. Totally eclipsed by smart phones, does anyone else still have a "Personal Digital Assistant"?

 

[dgl]

I never found the Windows Mobile/PPC devices all that slow, I had a couple that were smartphones, one even had GPS.
Interestingly most of the Windows Mobile/PPC devices (all models after 2000?) ran on Intel ARM processors, the Xscale, that they had acquired form DEC. Later on Intel would have to sell this division due to monopoly concerns. So for a while Intel had both the desktop and mobile market in near monopoly.

 

[nlogax]

I only have one device that runs Windows:

View attachment 88916

I bought it to replace a Psion Revo that fell apart. It runs Windows Mobile 6 and was painfully slow even when new. Totally eclipsed by smart phones, does anyone else still have a "Personal Digital Assistant"?

Oh, memories. I had a very early iPaq at a previous job. It had a pcmcia slot into which you could insert a (quite hefty) wifi card. Battery life was..hilarious.

 

[najaB]

Doesn't let me turn off Microsoft's tracking, does it... neither does it allow me to disable forced automatic updates, or remove the demands every time I log in to associate a Microsoft account with my computer, or remove the general tendency for Microsoft to try to shove things down my throat all the time, or uninstall the bloatware that Microsoft insists on preinstalling and taking up a huge chunk of the available storage space with.

All of those can be turned off or removed.