[tex-live] OT: Why use Windows

[David Kastrup]

Juergen Fenn <juergen.fenn at GMX.DE> writes:

> Reinhard Kotucha <reinhard.kotucha at web.de> writes:
>
>> Sorry, but I didn't met a Windows user yet who is really happy with
>> Windows.  Windows users are a special species:  They are completely
>> unhappy with Windows but they are not much motivated to try anything
>> else. 
>
> Not quite sure whether we are a special species. Sooner or later
> you'll find that some application you really need is not available
> for other platforms, so you stick to Windows. Back when I had Linux
> in a dual boot installation I had to reboot to Windows so often it
> just didn't make much sense any more to run Linux for teXing only. I
> also cannot say that I am completely unhappy with my platform of
> choice. In the first place it is very easy to get support in any
> form for Windows systems.

How so?  I find that the kind of documentation accompanying Unix-like
systems is more suitable for engaging one's own brain in solving
problems.  There are files documented in manual pages, and editable
files, too.  In Windows, stuff tends to stick in binary files in
unknown and undocumented locations, and you click around for accessing
them.  There are "knowledge database" articles which might spell out
where to click around to achieve a certain effect, but I find this
less than satisfactory.  If you clicked around too much or imprudently
and incoherent cruft managed to accumulate in binary files due to
that, you are best off reinstalling the system.

The kind of support that is actually affordable to private persons is
usually of the "blind leading the blind" variety due to the closed
nature of Windows.  In contrast, getting high-quality information from
other private persons seems to work better for me with free software.

Also I don't see a satisfactory replacement for the man page
infrastructure (which every separately distributed application can and
usually does employ) on Windows.

Could you spell out the kind of support you find easy to get for
Windows?

-- 
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum