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In the 15 or so years Ive been writing code, Ive never had a moment where I was like, damn, I cant write this code I am tasked to write because my damn operatin

by S_A_P 10y ago

In the 15 or so years Ive been writing code, Ive never had a moment where I was like, damn, I cant write this code I am tasked to write because my damn operating system is not adequate. I use Windows, Linux and OSX/MacOS, and I am pretty agnostic on the whole deal. I have use cases for each, and cant really understand the religious nature of this discussion. Cant we call this sort of article what it really is? Im mad because I dont think apple is thinking of my needs anymore. It could be because Ive changed or theyve changed, but either way Im going to write an article to to justify my feelings, even if my arguments dont hold water.

loup-vaillant 10y ago
> I have use cases for each, and cant really understand the religious nature of this discussion. Linux: Free Softwaaare! (My favourite) MacOS: It Just Wooorks! (And is damn pretty) Windows: Gaaames! (And a host of other programs) Another way to look at it is, Linux is Hippie, Windows is Business, and MacOS is Beauty. Of course it will get religious: if you deliberately chose one platform, you likely care about its strongest suit enough to shun the other two. Most free software advocates will use GNU/Linux, and urge everyone to follow suit. They're virtuous. Most people who need such and such software will use Windows, because they have work to do, dammit. They're practical. Apple users are… I don't know, loyal? Apple does have strong followers. Me, I still feel a little guilty about my Windows desktop. But… games…
- WayneBro 10y ago
  I am a die-hard Windows user and I don't care about games as much. In my opinion, Windows is just the best all around OS. While I do use Mac and Linux wherever third parties require it - I prefer Windows by far. I also think it's the most practical choice for anybody that needs a solid general purpose OS. Some other thoughts: - I like the Microsoft business plan the best - they don't want to lock me into hardware like Apple and their stuff isn't infinitely fragmented like Linux. - Windows has the best all around UI and they cater to power users. Meanwhile, Apple hates power users and Linux thinks that "power user" means programmer/beta tester. - The vast, vast majority of businesses use Windows desktops and not Mac or Linux. These are my customers. - There are very few useful things that I can't do with Windows. Meanwhile, I can find hundreds of things that Mac and Linux can't do (or can't do easily/well) that Windows can.
  - iLemming 10y ago
    Windows is still not very developer friendly. Devs like to use their command line tools: bash, zsh, tmux, git, etc. They like their Vim and Emacs configs, not everyone uses Visual Studio monstrosity. Devs want to be in control, there's no good alternatives on Windows for things like Karabiner, Hammerspoon and Alfred. I was just like you. For many years I thought Windows is the best. Until one day I broke out of my bubble. I feel free, nothing will make me go back. Unless MSFT decides to make it compatible with Linux.
    - WayneBro 10y ago
      Meh. I have a Mac Pro a MacBook Pro and multiple Linux boxes. I use them all for different things. Windows is still the best all-around general purpose OS in my opinion.
    - keldaris 10y ago
      I generally much prefer working on Linux due to all the reasons you listed, with one exception... I don't think I will ever find a solution that's remotely as pleasant as writing complex template-heavy C++ code in Visual Studio 2015 + Resharper. No vim setup I've ever seen comes remotely close to the amount of convenience you get.
      - iLemming 10y ago
        Convenience is very subjective. I have used Resharper and Visual Studio although not for C++ but for C#. I still remember how it used to take me a solid hour just to install VS. And then Resharper - since Visual Studio is nothing more but the hosting environment for it. And that's if everything is alright. When something goes wrong you'd have to reinstall the entire OS (maybe even twice, because you checked the box with SQL Management Tools or whatnot and that apparently broke something else). Opening the project would take longer than compiling it (so don't close the IDE, like ever). And don't even think about upgrading - it will break bunch of older projects. So please read this blogpost by Scott Hanselman (or some other MSFT celebrity) - it explains how to keep all three different versions of Visual Studio on the same machine without losing your mind. Nowadays, I do most my work in Emacs and I can find, navigate, and edit code with extreme ease - without having to click around, with fingertips staying in the home row of my keyboard. That I'd say is extremely convenient. Visual Studio? Meh. I've seen that, I've been there. I'm happy I'm out.
- saghm 10y ago
  I'm a hardcore Linux user, but free software has very little to do with my rationale for using it (although I do in general prefer open source software to proprietary, I've found I'm more worried about "free as in free beer" than "free as in freedom"). For me, customization is the deal-breaker. OS X is, for lack of a better term, very opinionated about how I should be using the system (GUI/mouse oriented interfaces for installing and updating things, fullscreen being a built-in windowing option but not maximization, etc.). As my tastes don't seem to coincide exactly with the choices that any one OS/distro makes, my only option to have exactly the setup I want is to use a fairly minimal distro and then configure it from the ground up with the choices I want. I have no trouble understanding that most people are perfectly fine with using a preconfigured system (OS X, Windows, Ubuntu, etc.), but it's just not for me.

by S_A_P 10y ago

loup-vaillant 10y ago

> I have use cases for each, and cant really understand the religious nature of this discussion. Linux: Free Softwaaare! (My favourite) MacOS: It Just Wooorks! (And is damn pretty) Windows: Gaaames! (And a host of other programs) Another way to look at it is, Linux is Hippie, Windows is Business, and MacOS is Beauty. Of course it will get religious: if you deliberately chose one platform, you likely care about its strongest suit enough to shun the other two. Most free software advocates will use GNU/Linux, and urge everyone to follow suit. They're virtuous. Most people who need such and such software will use Windows, because they have work to do, dammit. They're practical. Apple users are… I don't know, loyal? Apple does have strong followers. Me, I still feel a little guilty about my Windows desktop. But… games…

WayneBro 10y ago
I am a die-hard Windows user and I don't care about games as much. In my opinion, Windows is just the best all around OS. While I do use Mac and Linux wherever third parties require it - I prefer Windows by far. I also think it's the most practical choice for anybody that needs a solid general purpose OS. Some other thoughts: - I like the Microsoft business plan the best - they don't want to lock me into hardware like Apple and their stuff isn't infinitely fragmented like Linux. - Windows has the best all around UI and they cater to power users. Meanwhile, Apple hates power users and Linux thinks that "power user" means programmer/beta tester. - The vast, vast majority of businesses use Windows desktops and not Mac or Linux. These are my customers. - There are very few useful things that I can't do with Windows. Meanwhile, I can find hundreds of things that Mac and Linux can't do (or can't do easily/well) that Windows can.
- iLemming 10y ago
  Windows is still not very developer friendly. Devs like to use their command line tools: bash, zsh, tmux, git, etc. They like their Vim and Emacs configs, not everyone uses Visual Studio monstrosity. Devs want to be in control, there's no good alternatives on Windows for things like Karabiner, Hammerspoon and Alfred. I was just like you. For many years I thought Windows is the best. Until one day I broke out of my bubble. I feel free, nothing will make me go back. Unless MSFT decides to make it compatible with Linux.
  - WayneBro 10y ago
    Meh. I have a Mac Pro a MacBook Pro and multiple Linux boxes. I use them all for different things. Windows is still the best all-around general purpose OS in my opinion.
  - keldaris 10y ago
    I generally much prefer working on Linux due to all the reasons you listed, with one exception... I don't think I will ever find a solution that's remotely as pleasant as writing complex template-heavy C++ code in Visual Studio 2015 + Resharper. No vim setup I've ever seen comes remotely close to the amount of convenience you get.
    - iLemming 10y ago
      Convenience is very subjective. I have used Resharper and Visual Studio although not for C++ but for C#. I still remember how it used to take me a solid hour just to install VS. And then Resharper - since Visual Studio is nothing more but the hosting environment for it. And that's if everything is alright. When something goes wrong you'd have to reinstall the entire OS (maybe even twice, because you checked the box with SQL Management Tools or whatnot and that apparently broke something else). Opening the project would take longer than compiling it (so don't close the IDE, like ever). And don't even think about upgrading - it will break bunch of older projects. So please read this blogpost by Scott Hanselman (or some other MSFT celebrity) - it explains how to keep all three different versions of Visual Studio on the same machine without losing your mind. Nowadays, I do most my work in Emacs and I can find, navigate, and edit code with extreme ease - without having to click around, with fingertips staying in the home row of my keyboard. That I'd say is extremely convenient. Visual Studio? Meh. I've seen that, I've been there. I'm happy I'm out.
saghm 10y ago
I'm a hardcore Linux user, but free software has very little to do with my rationale for using it (although I do in general prefer open source software to proprietary, I've found I'm more worried about "free as in free beer" than "free as in freedom"). For me, customization is the deal-breaker. OS X is, for lack of a better term, very opinionated about how I should be using the system (GUI/mouse oriented interfaces for installing and updating things, fullscreen being a built-in windowing option but not maximization, etc.). As my tastes don't seem to coincide exactly with the choices that any one OS/distro makes, my only option to have exactly the setup I want is to use a fairly minimal distro and then configure it from the ground up with the choices I want. I have no trouble understanding that most people are perfectly fine with using a preconfigured system (OS X, Windows, Ubuntu, etc.), but it's just not for me.