More Linux than Windows

  • Comments posted to this topic are about the item More Linux than Windows

  • It appears that Microsoft is moving towards an open cross platform environment.  A variation on WORM technology where WORM is Write once and run on many OS.  It will take time but it appears to be their strategic direction.  Some of the excellent Window Tools will either become  collateral damage  or sunsetted in favor for the cross platform tools that you sited in your editorial.

    Too bad that all of the excellent window tools couldn't be Dockerized with a GUI which could work cross platform instead of VDI.

    • This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by  Peter Heller.
  • I've been in both worlds for a while. Most of my work is Windows based, while most of my home and hobbies are Linux based.

    Each has it's strengths and weakness. I actually use Linux (Fedora and Ubuntu) as my home laptop and workstation, it's been easier to manage, admin and update than Windows. At home, I only resort to Windows when absolutely required to use it, mainly when dealing with specific documents and applications for outside concerns.

    PowerShell is a big win for Windows, mainly because Microsoft has invested the time to build the hooks into the OS environment  and the larger services, (AD, Exchange, SQL Server, etc...) that utilize it. Bash and Python are an awesome combination on Linux and BSD.

    Linux wins the server war due it's infinite custom-ability by users/companies and low costs. I can deploy on a supercomputer or a headless embedded board out in a field. I can use a multitude of OSS software and not be beholden to one or two corporations. I can build a community mesh-network for less than $100 a node with cheap hardware and OSS.

    On the flip-side, there is nothing in the OSS/Linux world that touches Excel. Excel is Microsoft's greatest tool. Other industry specific applications that are Windows only come to mind as well. And the community in the SQL Server world is one of the most sharing with experience, documentation and knowledge. I can configure and utilize other RDMS like Postgres, but I'm going to have to dig hard for the information and best practices.

    And now I'm off to use VS Code on Linux...

     

    • This reply was modified 5 years, 4 months ago by  chrisn-585491. Reason: Sp
  • Peter Heller wrote:

    Too bad that all of the excellent window tools couldn't be Dockerized with a GUI which could work cross platform instead of VDI.

    Turbo does this for apps on MacOS. Not sure if it's on Linux.

    https://turbo.net/

  • Ever since SQL on Linux was announced I have thought that Windows is on a declining path.

    The final hurdle for many organisations will be a native Linux version of AD.  Once we have this then Windows becomes legacy.  There may be a few important apps still on Windows, (Excel is vital for many) but I think these will get ported to Linux within the next 5 years or become available only on Azure.

    Is it too early to book a place at the Windows retirement party?  Will 2024H2 be the last Windows Server and Windows 10 release, or am I hopelessly optimistic or pessimistic.

    Original author: https://github.com/SQL-FineBuild/Common/wiki/ 1-click install and best practice configuration of SQL Server 2019, 2017 2016, 2014, 2012, 2008 R2, 2008 and 2005.

    When I give food to the poor they call me a saint. When I ask why they are poor they call me a communist - Archbishop Hélder Câmara

  • I actually do use Linux as a Desktop PC at home. This is more of a hangover from when I was living at my parents for an interim period and wanted a PC I could use as a media centre. I bought myself a little NUC PC, fitted it to the back of a TV, and installed Ubuntu on it. I didn't want to "fork out" for Windows as it seem pointless for what I wanted it for; which was more of a device to be able to run streaming services on and play any personal videos I had as well.

    After I moved back out I rebuilt the PC with a more desktop use in mind; I still had my old Windows 7 PC (which had been in storage), but like I said it was old and struggling so I took the time to learn how to use the Ubuntu. I really enjoyed it, and haven't really gone back to Windows (at home since)

    Since then I have 2 3B+ Pis that are running OpenLDAP and I'm trying (so far without success) to get an AD properly up and running. Something i'm looking forward to as SQL Server 2019 supports OpenLDAP and will likely be of great benefit once I (or likely someone far more clever than I) documents the process end to end.

    I finally got around to building a new desktop in June and I stuck to Ubuntu again; this time using the Kubuntu build. I must say that KDE Plasma is a really nice working environment. I use it is a home PC but also spin up containers (using LXD) all the time; it's so good for sandboxing.

    Will Linux take over Windows for the home environment? No, I doubt it. Gaming is a huge industry on Windows, and although Steam supports Ubuntu (that almost went out the window a couple of weeks ago) many other providers don't; and not every windows game runs (well) on Ubuntu.

    From a SQL Server perspective I still really miss SSMS on Ubuntu; and I wish it was available. ADS is a poor replacement for it. There';s still a lot of functionality on SQL Server on Linux that's missing, and I doubt we'll see those for a few more versions.

    From just a Server itself point of view though, yeah, I can see more things using it. The Linux environments, especially those containerised and when running without a GUI, are very lightweight meaning that what ever is running on it has less contention for resources. i think it'll be a while before we see movements from big Microsoft users to Linux distros. Maybe if/when "easy" AD comes, like EdVassie mentioned, that'll help people move across.

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • I think that the authentication on Linux is still a hassle. I know some people have it working, but it certainly isn't easy right now. That will get lots of people to move servers to Linux, but I don't think Linux as a front end moves until Excel moves. 😉

     

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor wrote:

    I think that the authentication on Linux is still a hassle. I know some people have it working, but it certainly isn't easy right now. That will get lots of people to move servers to Linux, but I don't think Linux as a front end moves until Excel moves. 😉  

    Considering that you have Microsoft Office on Mac, it actually surprises me that it's not on Linux yet. But, I suppose you could say that Microsoft Excel (Online), along with Word and PowerPoint, is already available on every Operating System (that has access to a good web browser).

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • That's not good enough for most CPAs, my Mom, and lots of other business users. The online version seems to be a last resort for most people.

    I wonder if we'll move to more Linux. Already lots of people use iOS and Android for tasks, including business ones. Those are *Nix or Linux based, so maybe it's closer than we think.

  • Steve Jones - SSC Editor wrote:

    That's not good enough for most CPAs, my Mom, and lots of other business users. The online version seems to be a last resort for most people.

    I don't disagree there. The Online version is a nice alternative (and I do use it at home instead of Libre Office), but it's not as good as the installed client.

    Thom~

    Excuse my typos and sometimes awful grammar. My fingers work faster than my brain does.
    Larnu.uk

  • I don't think the war for the desktop is over yet. MS has put so much time and energy into cross platform tools and server apps running on Linux that I think Windows will follow Mac and become a port. I mean they already have a linux subsystem running in Windows. Development for both a Linux kernel and the NT kernel will become problematic....with the NT kernel being the odd one out.

     

  • Perhaps, but that might mean the Windows continues to thrive on the desktop. You can run any Win/*nix/OSX app, but still on Windows.

    The Windows shell and environment is pretty familiar for most people, and loads of legacy stuff there. Not sure the desktop will move anywhere else. Macs gained nice market share, and they are nice machines, but their limited hardware the last few years and the overwhelming amount of Windows sw has pretty much ended the war.

  • Yes indeed, linux is nothing on the desktop environment. Lack of drivers and uncompatibility to run applications is the big deal to adopt this powerfull OS. But in the servers there is another history.I have the oportunity to have db production servers running on Windows and Linux/Unix servers. Both are mision critical operations.I don´t remember how often I need to reboot my windows boxes compared to just a few of the linux´s. Linux offers a great stability better than windows. Period. I will not talk about DB performance due to this is a SQL forum, but Oracle over Oracle´s Linux, oh my good Lord! Is an expereience that you have to test.I perfectly know that, at this point, people started to think in terms of dollar. And it is true. Windows/SQL offer are cheaper, and it is a good platform: You get what you paid. In my opinion, the fact to get SQL running on Linux, gives the huge advantage to the linux world. Perhaps a definitive advantege, at least in the DB servers world.

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