Microsoft has developed a low level Linux subsystem

[bitseeker]

On VirtualBox, I use seamless mode so that applications on the guest OS coexist with the desktop of the host OS. It's almost seamless and enables me to work on files shared between operating systems without the compatibility issues of layers such as Wine or WSL.

Plus, it's fun when someone sees your screen and can't quite figure out what OS you're running.

[nctnico]

I did try the Linux in Windows 10 in my virtualbox Windows 10 and it seemed pretty dodgy at the moment.  Crashed the VM several times and programs didn't run as well as they do under native linux. It did remind me of running wine under linux. Not everything works right now.

IMHO that is a Windows 10 problem. As far as I can see MS did change some things under the hood and that isn't 100% right yet. As usual better wait for the first service pack.

[orin]

I regularly use Linux, OS X, and Windows. They do some things well and suck at other things. They all drive me crazy at some point, but in different ways. In the end, they're just tools and you just pick the right tool for the right job. At least with virtual machines, there's no longer a need to reboot to switch between them.

Well said.

At work, I have one computer running Windows and one Mac Mini.  A third computer usually runs Centos Linux with Windows 10 in a VM.  Sometimes it runs Windows 7 natively - depends whether I want to use the NI GPIB analyzer which has no Linux support.  At home, a Mac Mini and a laptop running Windows 7.

The software I write at work runs on Windows, OSX, iOS and Android.  Read that again.  I write software that works on Windows, OSX, iOS and Android.  There's no one best OS; they all drive me crazy at some point as well.

I started with Unix in the early '80s.  Went to Windows in the mid to late 80s.  I'd rather program to the Win32 API than the Unix API and realize: I grew up with the Unix API.  For example, you want an unnamed semaphore?  In Win32, CreateSemaphore().  What to use on Linux and OSX/iOS?  Oh, the calls are there in the header files for OSX/iOS, but they just aren't implemented.  You have to fake them with a counter and condition variables.

I'm not saying Windows 8/10 aren't disgusting.  They are.  Microsoft, listen:  "A desktop is not a tablet is not a phone".  Apple get it.  OSX and iOS have similarities, but OSX isn't dumbed down to the extent Microsoft have dumbed down Windows 10 to make it look the same on the desktop and on a phone.

[Karel]

I regularly use Linux, OS X, and Windows. They do some things well and suck at other things. They all drive me crazy at some point, but in different ways.

But one drives me more crazy than others...

[NiHaoMike]

If you want to use the latest GPU or non-standard-class USB gadgets, Linux has no chance at all. Every sane consumer gear maker will develop driver for Windows or OSX or both, only few do the same thing for Linux, so if you are not using standard class driver or stock driver, may god be with you.

I got my GTX 970 about a month after it was released and it just worked on Gentoo since day one. Granted, some management/debug tools like nvidia-smi didn't work properly until a driver update later, but it more or less performed as it should for actual usage.

Obscure/specialized USB hardware is another thing. But those generally work in a VM, very helpful for reverse engineering. And some stuff like webcams more or less tend to just work with Linux since they have to support embedded devices like smart TVs that run some sort of Linux. The trend of many users switching to mobile platforms helps a lot when Android is Linux.

Now I wonder if it would be possible to use KDE on Windows and get a good desktop environment (e.g. the all so useful always on top button) while still being able to use Windows for the only reason why anyone wants to use Windows - running Windows apps. There was some talk about that idea from years back but it didn't go very far because many KDE developers don't use Windows...

[bitseeker]

I regularly use Linux, OS X, and Windows. They do some things well and suck at other things. They all drive me crazy at some point, but in different ways.

But one drives me more crazy than others...

Yep. Saying anything more than that makes some folks restless.

[setq]

This works for me as a platform selection choice:

If you're being paid by the hour, use Windows.

If you're being paid to complete the job or do something for yourself, use Linux.

If you're being paid to look pretty, use OSX

[nctnico]

I started with Unix in the early '80s.  Went to Windows in the mid to late 80s.  I'd rather program to the Win32 API than the Unix API and realize: I grew up with the Unix API.  For example, you want an unnamed semaphore?  In Win32, CreateSemaphore().  What to use on Linux and OSX/iOS?  Oh, the calls are there in the header files for OSX/iOS, but they just aren't implemented.  You have to fake them with a counter and condition variables.

I just use a cross-platform framework so I don't have to deal with platform specific issues like these.

[setq]

Exactly that.

Then again, Windows... It's hard to work out if you should use CreateSemaphore or CreateSemaphoreEx! Oh so it turns out Ex only works on Vista and above which is from 2007 so suddenly my app bombs out on XP. Oh have to back out that API. Eventually you end up with a subset of Windows 3.1's win32 subsystem that sort of works, you hope.

Or semget(2) which has been around since SVID issue 2 which appeared in 1986... reference: https://archive.org/download/bitsavers_attunixSVIfinitionIssue2Volume21986_13992976/System_V_Interface_Definition_Issue_2_Volume_2_1986.pdf

Win32 is the most fucked up thing I've ever dealt with.

[Karel]

For example, you want an unnamed semaphore?  In Win32, CreateSemaphore().  What to use on Linux and OSX/iOS?  Oh, the calls are there in the header files for OSX/iOS, but they just aren't implemented.  You have to fake them with a counter and condition variables.

Tip: http://doc.qt.io/qt-5/qsemaphore.html

[nctnico]

Never used other VMs, but VBox does not support isochronous USB, which means all fancy audio gears won't work.

It seems Virtualbox got support for isochronous USB a couple of years ago.

[thm_w]

Of all of my customers only one doesn't use Linux. A while ago someone did a poll on this forum and it turned out only 30% is Windows only so I guess Linux is big in engineering. According to the article someone linked to Microsoft is trying to get a piece of the engineering cake because they are loosing big time there and IMHO for a good reason.

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/what's-your-main-operating-system/ 56% windows, 23% linux.

Mentioning a 15 year old OS (windows xp) is not really relevant. Even if it still has 10% marketshare.
https://www.netmarketshare.com/operating-system-market-share.aspx?qprid=10&qpcustomd=0

[nctnico]

You forget the 11% that switches between the two (and it seems the poll got more votes since I last looked at it).

BTW what is the difference between Windows 7 or 10 and XP? They all get slower and slower over time (which is why a new version feels so snappy and quick because it is a fresh install) and all are buggy when released. Actually each version is just worse than the previous one because underneath it is still the same turd with all the old layers of chrome plating still lurking under the skin. There is not much sense in calling Windows XP a 15 year old OS because any Windows version released after Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.5 is a mix of both (released >20 years ago) with added layers on top and/or a different skin. After all the API had to stay the same for legacy software support so there is only so much Microsoft has been able to really change.

[MT]

This works for me as a platform selection choice:

If you're being paid by the hour, use Windows.

If you're being paid to complete the job or do something for yourself, use Linux.

If you're being paid to look pretty, use OSX

If your'e being paid to look obsolete, use Atari!

[setq]

Hahaha yes.

[enz]

...
The only thing I still need to get working is programming the flash on NXP microcontrollers from Linux but that is easy enough to do from a VM running Flashmagic on Windows XP so there is no real pressure there.
...

Maybe  LPC21ISP can be of use here?
Link: https://github.com/capiman/lpc21isp

Martin

[bitseeker]

This works for me as a platform selection choice:

If you're being paid by the hour, use Windows.

If you're being paid to complete the job or do something for yourself, use Linux.

If you're being paid to look pretty, use OSX

If your'e being paid to look obsolete, use Atari!

Depends who's looking. Vintage gaming!

[rstofer]

So I installed the Bash add-on along with gcc and gfortran.  It turns out that some of my grandson's homework problems had equations of the form H(t) = 100 + 75 * exp(-t/20) * cos(pi/4 * t). The problem wanted solutions for several values of t.  For an old FORTRAN programmer (started back in '70), this is as good as it gets!  A statement function, a few invocations and, voila', the answers!

Code: [Select]

      program bungee
      parameter (pi = 3.14159)
      parameter (pi4 = pi / 4.0)

      H(t) = 100. + 75.*exp(-t/20)*cos(pi4*t)

      print 1, 0,H( 0.)
      print 1, 1,H( 1.)
      print 1, 2,H( 2.)
      print 1, 4,H( 4.)
      print 1, 6,H( 6.)
      print 1, 8,H( 8.)
      print 1,12,H(12.)
    1 format(i2,2x,F10.6)

      end program bungee

 0  175.000000
 1  150.446594
 2  100.000084
 4   38.595192
 6   99.999786
 8  150.274002
12   58.839130

It just doesn't get any better than this!

[setq]

Anything is better than Fortran. All it does is suck faster than any other language

[rstofer]

Anything is better than Fortran. All it does is suck faster than any other language

And yet it is still used for scientific applications after 60 years of hanging around.   There simply is no faster way to get the wrong answer!

“I don't know what the language of the year 2000 will look like, but I know it will be called Fortran.” —Tony Hoare, winner of the 1980 Turing Award, in 1982.

"FORTRAN was the language of choice for the same reason that three-legged races are popular." - Ken Thompson, 1983 Turing Award Lecture

[bitseeker]

Woah, FORTRAN. It's been ages since I've written anything in that.

[rstofer]

Woah, FORTRAN. It's been ages since I've written anything in that.

And it's still fun!

I started with FORTRAN IV in 1970 on an IBM 1130.  Fast forward 35 years and I built an FPGA version of the 1130 that runs all of the original software including the FORTRAN compiler.  I still like programming in FORTRAN IV and my machine runs 125 times faster.  The next incantation on an Artix 7 will double the speed (I think...).

There is a class of problems for which FORTRAN is the easy way to get results, especially when it only takes a statement function and a couple of parameters.  For the sample above, I chose not to use an array with matching DATA statement just for clarity.  I have since rewritten the programs to use the DATA statement with an array and a DO loop.

I messed around with these sample problems with the intent to show my grandson an alternative to banging away on a calculator and hoping you got all the keystrokes correct.  Once a model program is written, similar programs are just cut and paste.

[bitseeker]

Yes, a little code goes a long way, whichever language you choose.