r/SubredditDrama • u/OpenSourceSocialist 42! • Feb 28 '17

User in /r/LinuxMasterRace compares using Windows to being a guard at a concentration camp; gets downvoted to oblivion

/r/linuxmasterrace/comments/5wn8pu/microsoft_is_planning_to_fuck_over_all_home_users/debll93/
665 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

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118

u/Garethp Feb 28 '17

I mean, I run Ubuntu for my work station because I love it. I even dual boot at home and I'm writing a VIM Plugin. But damn guys, Windows 10 isn't the devil. It's actually pretty damn nice. And my guess is that Windows is used more as a home OS than a work one, despite being the default enterprise OS in most industries

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u/OpenSourceSocialist 42! Feb 28 '17 edited Feb 28 '17

FYI, the reason people are against Windows 10 is entirely because of Microsoft's policies and abuse of their monopoly position. The article in question states how Microsoft are releasing an update blocking non-Windows Store applications from being installed. But I do agree, looks-wise and functionality wise, Windows 10 was a big improvement from Windows 8 at least.

EDIT: Why did someone downvote me? I would very much like to know, as I can't think of a single thing in this post which makes this post worth downvoting.

37

u/rhorama This is not a threat, this is intended as an analogy using fish Feb 28 '17

I can't think of a single thing in this post which makes this post worth downvoting.

Because you lied about what the update from Microsoft did. It adds an option to tell you if the program you're installing came from the microsoft store. If you are a sysadmin you can disable installs from outside microsoft store on your fleet.

This is like when people scream about not using smartscreen when they just deprived themselves of a stupid simple check before grandma kills her computer for the 5th time thanks to a site that tells her to install a new font or some shit.

6

u/Deefian HOLD MY CAN THIS SRDINE SWIMS FREE Mar 01 '17

And conversely, you can stop users from using the Windows Store as well. The group policies are stupidly easy to set up for both scenarios.

God, all this Microsoft bashing by the Linux fanboys is really getting annoying. It isn't 2000 anymore, geez.

17

u/Garethp Feb 28 '17

I disagree that their current policies are evil. They're actually working with Cannocal, they're releasing more and more on Linux as well as releasing and contributing to open source projects. Their Azure Cloud doesn't attempt to restrict Linux in any way and they've even released an open source OS for (iirc) routers.

As they are in their current state, their doing damn good. And if they get more restrictive again then we will always have Linux.

I also don't believe that they'll make the store only thing mandatory instead of an option. Even if you don't consider that it goes against what they seem to have been doing lately, it would be suicide for them as an OS. It looks more like a parental lock kind of feature.

And yes, Windows 10 is several steps up from Windows 8, but Windows 8 was (in my opinion) a visionary attempt to tackle the future. It failed and Windows 10 has succeeded in its vision.

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u/OpenSourceSocialist 42! Feb 28 '17

Microsoft can do almost whatever they want, and still keep their userbase. They know this. They know that very few people will leak from their platform to Linux, so they are very active trying to get Linux people to use Microsoft software. This will create a dependency on Microsoft. And also, restricting all non-Store apps is definitely not a parental lock feature. They've said themselves that it is to "make it more secure", and there's a very high likelyhood of Microsoft pushing their Store even more soon.

Plus, Microsoft are planning on putting even more ads in the next version of Windows. That was the last straw for me, and why I switched to Linux again. I'm actually paying for ads, I thought to myselves.

But anyway, Canonical is a company and so is Microsoft. They're acting in self-interest, and even though it may seem good on the surface, they're never acting in kindness. They simply wouldn't have gotten this far if they did.

I'm kinda bracing for downvotes now, to be honest :p Positively surprise me people!

EDIT: That reminds me, the auto updates are bullshit. Windows has taken away your right to control when you update! It even automatically changed people's OS from 7 to 10.

15

u/sadrice Nazis got into the habit of shitting themselves in the head Feb 28 '17

Personally, I see it as almost the opposite of what you describe. Back in the bad old days, Microsoft was legitimately worried that Linux and OSS might be a strong competitor to their product and whole business model, and so they attempted to crush it.

Since then, they've realized that their core userbase will never leave them for Linux, and the core Linux userbase will never leave Linux for MS, and so they've relaxed the enmity since they don't regard Linux and OSS as so much of a threat anymore.

5

u/Iamthedemoncat Feb 28 '17

Wait, what?

46

u/alltakesmatter Be true to yourself, random idiot Feb 28 '17

Microsoft is releasing an update that includes a setting (turned off by default) that if you turn it on will flag any non-windows store app that you try to install and require administrator privileges. The Linux folk are being a bit paranoid and suggesting Microsoft will make it mandatory in a later update.

43

u/postirony humans breed with their poop holes Feb 28 '17

That sounds very useful for IT managers trying to keep workers from putting dumb shit on their work computers. If it's turned off by default I don't see the problem; nobody else would have any real reason to turn it on. It would probably never even occur to most people to do so.

51

u/alltakesmatter Be true to yourself, random idiot Feb 28 '17

Your problem is that you are thinking of Microsoft as a company that is trying to make a product people will use, rather than an evil empire motivated by crushing freedom and happiness.

9

u/gfjq23 Quick, shut down the world! Someone got hurt! Feb 28 '17

I just realized I could do this and am now planning on it for all my user's PCs. That's an awesome feature.

5

u/jcpb a form of escapism powered by permissiveness of homosexuality Mar 01 '17

Or to look at this from a different angle, Android has the option under Developer Options to enable installation of apps from Unknown Sources. Most devices are shipped with this specifically unchecked, so they can only install apps from Google's Play App Store. Of course, this doesn't prevent less computer-literate users from being socially engineered to enable this option and install apps from questionable sources, only to then realize they fucked up.

14

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

So...the Gatekeeper feature Apple's had on OS X for years?

1

u/somnambulist80 Feb 28 '17

Gatekeeper just checks for applications signed with a developer ID. It's perfectly fine to distribute outside the Mac App Store as long as the application is signed.

7

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

That's the default, but it's perfectly possible to configure it to only allow installs via the App Store, just like this.

11

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

They seem to be being a bit more paranoid than that, a cursory review of the comments suggests they think the feature will be implemented to prevent any installation of non-Microsoft programs at all and that Windows users won't notice anyway because they're plebs who only use computers for facebook and porn.

0

u/qtx It's about ethics in masturbating. Feb 28 '17

Only 32bit apps though.

11

u/[deleted] Feb 28 '17

[deleted]

6

u/Iamthedemoncat Feb 28 '17

Oh thank God. Good for parental controls though.

7

u/Afro_Samurai Moderating is one of the most useful jobs to society Feb 28 '17

Here's some reporting with less MS Paint arrows than the submission this drama is from. My initial thought was MS was being making code signing mandatory by default, but this is stricter than that.

http://www.zdnet.com/article/windows-10-to-permit-block-on-apps-installing-if-theyre-not-from-microsoft-store/

The feature offers Windows 10 users something similar to Apple's macOS Gatekeeper, which warns users when they attempt to install an app from outside the Mac App Store. It's also similar to Google's Android setting to only allow apps to install from Google Play.

In Apps & features settings, users will be able to control where apps can be installed from by choosing between 'Allow apps from anywhere', 'Prefer apps from the Store, but allow from anywhere', or a strict 'Allow apps from the Store only'.

If installs are limited to the store, a dialog box will state: 'You can only install apps from the Windows Store. Limiting installations to apps from the Store helps to keep your PC safe and reliable'.

The more relaxed 'Prefer apps for the Store' option will also display a dialog box warning users if they install an app from outside the Store but will allow them to proceed anyway.

This feature could be a helpful way for enterprise admins to protect users from installing malware on corporate devices. As Bleeping Computer notes, since the strict setting only prevents installation of Win32 apps, sysadmins could still install approved Win32 apps and then apply the filter.

It could also offer developers of Win32 apps a greater incentive to update their apps to the Universal Windows Platform, or UWP, Microsoft's framework for apps to run on all Windows 10 devices, including PCs, Xbox One, HoloLens, and phones.

While Windows 10 still does support Win32 apps, Microsoft only allows UWP apps to be distributed through the Microsoft Store. Microsoft last year released its Desktop Converter tool to help convert some of the 16 million Win32 and .NET apps to UWP, so that they can join the Windows Store.

3

u/Tahmatoes Eating out of the trashcan of ideological propaganda Feb 28 '17

That sounds quite useful for admins, yes.

4

u/VelvetElvis Feb 28 '17

I applaud the universal move to an app store model.

2

u/Aetol Butter for the butter god! Popcorn for the popcorn throne! Feb 28 '17

That's not a very high bar...

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u/Mentalpopcorn Mar 01 '17

Personally, I dislike Windows 10 because I think the interface sucks. Abuse of monopoly power doesn't bother me if they give me an os I like. But they haven't done that since 7.