Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Comparison of Windows and Linux (3rd nomination)


 * The following discussion is an archived debate of the proposed deletion of the article below. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review).  No further edits should be made to this page.

The result was   delete.  Sandstein  08:09, 30 October 2011 (UTC)

Comparison of Windows and Linux
AfDs for this article: 
 * – ( View AfD View log )

The topics covered in the article appear to be an original synthesis with no basis in reliable sources WP:OR WP:SYNTH. Since the topics covered are determined by OR the article will always be a battleground to decide what is included. The critieria for the topic is OR so the article is inherently unencyclopedic. The topic covered is also ill-defined, it appears to treat Microsoft Windows and Linux as if a single version exists of each; multiple versions of Microsoft Windows exist and thousands of distributions of Linux exist. The comparisons that do exist compare specific Linux distributions to specific Microsoft Windows distributions. It would appear to me then that any articles on comparisons should then compare specific Linux distributions to other specific Microsoft Windows distributions. I have not seen any sources that show a comparison of Microsoft Windows and Linux with all generality so that the article meets WP:N. Bear in mind: this article is not a comparison of operating systems, it is a comparison of the Linux and Microsoft Windows operating system families. As it stands the article content is very susceptible as fast paced development means that the article will be continually out of date and requiring rechecks on all technical content within months of it being posted; the release cycle of Ubuntu for example is 6 months. In summary; Notability for a comparison of the Operating system families has not been shown. The topics chosen are a synthesis. The topic is ill defined. The article is inherently susceptible to becoming out of date. IRWolfie- (talk) 21:42, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Note I have to refrain from casting a vote for now; I only want to comment that I'd rather see the article split apart and merged with the corresponding articles instead of all the content deleted. --DanielPharos (talk) 21:46, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Question. Can any of this material be merged into comparison of operating systems? Neutralitytalk 22:54, 22 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Note: This debate has been included in the list of Software-related deletion discussions.  • Gene93k (talk) 23:56, 22 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Keep an extreemly legnthy article with 229 sources, I feel it sould be given a chance, a rewrite by an expert on the subject would be a nessesity, but there is a lot of material to work with, alot of it can be eliminated but much of it can be salvaged. – Phoenix B 1of3 (talk) 03:27, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The article has already been given plenty of chances and time, see the previous two nominations where similar comments were made. IRWolfie- (talk) 16:08, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The 229 sources establish the notability of Windows and Linux respectively, not this article's subject. - SudoGhost 21:37, 23 October 2011 (UTC)

How many of the sources actually compare Windows and Linux? - SudoGhost 07:19, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Very few of the sources do. IRWolfie- (talk) 16:03, 23 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete (I switched my opinion and have deleted my arguments and with them IRWolfie's rebuttals. I archived this discussion on the talk page, if IRWolfie should want to reiterate it). Reason for switching to delete: It is apparent that this page will continue to be misused for petty rants and WP:UNDUE attempts at spreading fear, uncertainty and doubts. I still consider the topic worthy of notice but keeping it clean is unrealistic. Useerup (talk) 15:50, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete. The topic is notable, but the article is WP:OR in spades, and uses hardly any sources that make such a comparison themselves. If someone finds this page useful as basis for a remotely policy compliant article, they should ask the closing admin to userfy the material to themselves or to a suitable WikiProject. Have mörser, will travel (talk) 20:59, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * DELETE IT PLEASE! The user Useerup has too much time at his/her disposal to search high and low for delibarately biased facts which claim Windows is better than Linux at everything.  Every time I add an edit which proves something, there is a dispute because the truth hurts and then the Windows fanboys like Useerup (and others) will do *anything* to remove the edit.  I find it rather pathetic.  The page is full of biased facts and the real truth will only come about after users' try Linux - Ubuntu in my opinion - and be able to just switch on the computer without the constant slowdowns and viruses which Windows users' have to constantly endure.  I get the feeling the article is attracting people who have connections with Microsoft.  Looks like I will have to play Useerup at his/her own games and keep up the war until breaking point!  TurboForce (talk) 21:22, 23 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Delete - The article appears to be a WP:SYNTH and WP:OR nightmare, and when you strip away all of this, what little is left is suitable for Comparison of operating systems, but doesn't warrant enough for a separate article. The comparison of Windows and Linux has been discussed by media, yes.  However, this makes the subject notable within the context of a relevant article, not a synthesized mishmash of different viewpoints comparing a recent reference on one side with a years old reference on the other. - SudoGhost 21:37, 23 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete - such an article is undue weight to the dispute itself.Jasper Deng (talk) 21:53, 23 October 2011 (UTC)


 * Userify for decommissioning - After reading the discussion up here, I've decided to vote for deletion, and moving it to my user page, so I can take it apart and merge the good parts into the corresponding articles. Why? Well, without any good external sources on which to hang up the structure of this article, there's always be claims of synthesis. Also, since the article pitches one OS against the other, it'll always attract fanboys that aren't knowledgable about the other OS, and they'll add bad claims, or outright biased material. And of course, it attract users thinking this is some kind of war. Even though there might be room for an article about this on Wikipedia (I think the subject is notable), I don't think we've found a good way to have it here. Thus, my vote. --DanielPharos (talk) 06:41, 24 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Comment. If parts of the article end up merged into other articles, what seems to be the case, then we can only replace this article with a redirect. We can't delete the article because of the Wikipedia's copyright policies and licensing. Apart from this, I agree with the idea to delete/redirect the article, as most of the content has been determined by who has most time to push his OR. 1exec1 (talk) 21:54, 25 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete, and burn with fire - Comparison articles have no place on Wikipedia.WP:NOTGUIDE, WP:NOTCATALOG. - The Bushranger One ping only 04:47, 29 October 2011 (UTC)
 * Delete, for various reasons:
 * If we just stick to the sources, we can hardly present the issue in a neutral view since windows has much more coverage, and most sources can't really be treated as neutral nor they do deep analysis of the issues.
 * If we go beyond the sources, that falls under "original research" and is not allowed/recommended
 * Comparisons are (by definition) biased because they compare features the reviewer/analyst consider important and that varies by person. (Example: Some people would not care at all about issues like source code or licensing, while for others this will be the most important issue. Or price: rich people, or "pirates" will not care, but people like CEOs of companies will certainly care)
 * It is very hard to compare "Windows and Linux". Even if we take "linux" in this context as "most linux distributions", it would be extremely hard to compare such different distros merged together as a "group" ("Linux family") to the MS Windows family. --SF007 (talk) 02:40, 30 October 2011 (UTC)
 * The above discussion is preserved as an archive of the debate. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as the article's talk page or in a deletion review). No further edits should be made to this page.