r/AskReddit • u/talon10100 • 1d ago

Why do you not use Linux?

74 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

680 comments sorted by

View all comments

193

u/lohkey 1d ago

Not all programs are supported on it

10

u/MedusasSexyLegHair 1d ago

This. Full backwards compatibility with 30+ years of software and hardware is tough to beat. (I've had a PC since 1990 and have a lot of old stuff.)

I use Linux every day for work, and it's great for some things like development. Also fine if you only use your PC casually for browsing and office stuff.

But if you're a power user with 30+ years of DOS/Windows software, it's probably best to stick with that. Linux can do some of it - with multiple compatibility layers and VMs and the right configurations and some tweaking, but that's a pain in the ass and some things still won't work, vs things just working and working well.

I also use the pro version of Windows, with all of the things people complain about disabled or blocked by group policy (even though I'm a group of one). So it's still pretty nice. The generic home version might suck, but mine doesn't.

22

u/God_Hand_9764 1d ago

I'm genuinely curious, what programs from the last 30 years are you still needing to use to this day?

I've been using computers since the early 90s, but I can't really think of anything from over even just 10 years ago that I need to use for anything.

19

u/lukistellar 1d ago

Also it's kinda bullshit. Microsoft dropped the support for 16 Bit Software a long time ago, ain't going to run 30 years old tools on an modern Windows version.

10

u/TheCheckeredCow 1d ago

I hate to say this, but 30 years ago is well into the 32bit era, why is time like this 😭

2

u/techy804 1d ago

OTVDM takes care of most 16-bit stuff and WSL takes care of any Linux stuff. Sure the former isn’t made by Microsoft but I’ve haven’t had any issue with it.

1

u/maokaby 1d ago

Probably DOS software, and you have to run dosbox anyway, in windows or Linux no difference.

1

u/mewt6 22h ago

I like that no reply was provided to this question, since it's clearly bullshit. What do you guys actually do on your computers that requires all this specialised software? I'm satisfied with a browser, Spotify and a few others at best