[tex-live] OT: Why use Windows

[Juergen Fenn]

David Kastrup <dak at gnu.org> writes:

>> 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.
[...]
> Could you spell out the kind of support you find easy to get for
> Windows?

1. It took me years to learn how to read a manpage. Let's face it:
   Most people will never be able to use unix-like online help files.

2. I work in the legal profession where Windows prevails. Everyone
   around runs Windows. I have become rather experienced, but it was a
   great help in the beginning to know that literally everyone you
   meet knows how to use Windows + MS Office. It was the right choice
   to opt for Windows, then. No regrets. But it was the wrong choice
   to opt for MS Office. So I corrected the latter, but not the
   former. 

3. The more experienced you are the less you rely on external,
   personal support. Linux may be more widely spread in the, say,
   "technical" community, but not elsewhere.

4. At least to me it is much easier to select hardware for Windows
   than for a Linux system. I think this is very much the same for all
   users outside the IT community.

5. Isn't this all OT here? ;-)

Regards,
Jürgen.