> I've used linux on my desktop for 20 years, I don't understand this "have to reboot to do something windows related", I guess I just use computers for very different things to you.
I read this more charitably, not as saying "why would someone need to use Windows?" but more "I don't need to use Windows, so I don't regard it as a universal need". (That, in turn, came from mmm_grayons's post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24050677 :
> And use what instead? I generally use linux on my desktop but have to reboot fairly often to do something windows-related. Libreoffice botches document formatting every time I use it on something above "hello, world." Lots of stuff still only works on windows, though wine compatibility is getting better.
which I read, again perhaps unfairly, as suggesting that it is unrealistic for people to consider a computer workflow that doesn't involve Windows.)
Perhaps still more charity (or clarity) would have been appropriate, but the explicit acknowledgement that there are different purposes for which different people need computers seems to me to defuse much of what one might perceive as hostility or dismissiveness there.
> I read this more charitably, [...] "I don't need to use Windows, so I don't regard it as a universal need"
That's extremely charitable, because the comment implies they cannot at all understand how someone would need to use Windows, and they offer 20 years of personal experience to reinforce that. Even in the most charitable case it denies the existence of Windows-only software simply by not ever personally having a need for it.
> which I read, again perhaps unfairly, as suggesting that it is unrealistic for people to consider a computer workflow that doesn't involve Windows.)
I think so too that your read is a bit unfair, as the OP even says they're desktop Linux users but need Windows in some cases. Myself I've used Linux as my main desktop OS for 15+ years, and I still had times I needed to use Windows. I've definitely run into issues with e.g. LibreOffice myself, as they mentioned.
> Perhaps still more charity (or clarity) would have been appropriate, but the explicit acknowledgement that there are different purposes for which different people need computers seems to me to defuse much of what one might perceive as hostility or dismissiveness there.
Even if "I don't understand..." and "I guess I just use computers for very different things to you" isn't intended to be snarky, the commenter doesn't even attempt to understand why anyone would need Windows to do something. They couldn't think of a single thing? Visual Studio development or use? DirectX? Working on drivers for Windows? Some appliance that comes with software not supported by wine? Adobe software? AutoCAD?
> > I don't understand this "have to reboot to do something windows related"
Ah, I see. Right now that comment https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24051085 says:
> Of course Windows-only things are only on Windows. But a lot of Windows-only things have non-Windows-only alternatives.
, which seems less inflammatory. EDIT: Oh, wait, I see—I think you're going a couple more levels up, to https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24050905 :
> I've used linux on my desktop for 20 years, I don't understand this "have to reboot to do something windows related", I guess I just use computers for very different things to you.
I read this more charitably, not as saying "why would someone need to use Windows?" but more "I don't need to use Windows, so I don't regard it as a universal need". (That, in turn, came from mmm_grayons's post https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24050677 :
> And use what instead? I generally use linux on my desktop but have to reboot fairly often to do something windows-related. Libreoffice botches document formatting every time I use it on something above "hello, world." Lots of stuff still only works on windows, though wine compatibility is getting better.
which I read, again perhaps unfairly, as suggesting that it is unrealistic for people to consider a computer workflow that doesn't involve Windows.)
Perhaps still more charity (or clarity) would have been appropriate, but the explicit acknowledgement that there are different purposes for which different people need computers seems to me to defuse much of what one might perceive as hostility or dismissiveness there.