Hacker News new | past | comments | ask | show | jobs | submit login

See, even living inside a web browser, there are terribly large difference between Ubuntu and Windows 7.

For example, not too long ago I had a bug which caused firefox to crash due to a flash problem. The fix involved having to download the source, editing the launch file and build it.

While this very thing is what draws many of us to Linux, it is the same thing that would push the majority of consumers away.




While I never had to resort to such a bugfix for Firefox, I'd like to point out that with windows/IE you would not even have the option for such a bugfix.


Windows/IE runs Flash well (much better than Linux/Firefox), so you'd never need that option.


Incidentally that is one of the reasons for disliking closed source software. It is impossible to fix Flash on Linux because it is not open. Once you open that Pandora's Box (using closed source software), all sorts of nasty side effects ensue.

(That said, I think the closed source Flash player has improved on Linux, too, and some people even get by with open source clones).


It's quite possible that instead of crashing, you will end up with a spam zombie.




Guidelines | FAQ | Lists | API | Security | Legal | Apply to YC | Contact

Search: