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Insofar as an OS is really a visible middleware layer that lets you run application software and manage files, I don't know if the lack of applications can be h

by Kadin 9y ago

Insofar as an OS is really a visible middleware layer that lets you run application software and manage files, I don't know if the lack of applications can be hand-waved away; that's a very tough nut to crack. Though, for developers, it's definitely a viable option since most modern development tools (at least for the web and Android, not so much for Windows, Mac, or iOS) are cross-platform. But it's a much harder sell to someone doing, say, financial analysis or data modeling, where they absolutely must use Excel or SPSS. I've seen lots of modern companies where developers have a mix of platforms, but it tends to become a monoculture of either Win or Mac when you get into front (biz dev, marketing, etc.) or back office (AP, AR, finance, HR, etc.) functions.

Mikeb85 9y ago
> Insofar as an OS is really a visible middleware layer that lets you run application software and manage files, I don't know if the lack of applications can be hand-waved away; that's a very tough nut to crack. Yes and no. For most people, Linux is more than ready to be their only OS. There's no lack of functional software. I went through University only using Linux on my computer. Edit - For example, most of the profs use LibreOffice, for sharing everyone uses Google docs, statistics and economics homework was done with R (Excel and Stata were the other options), all CS homework could be done on Linux. The only place I had to use Windows at all was a single course (Finance) where Excel was taught. I still just used LibreOffice then transferred the files to a school computer to make sure the output was correct. ---------------------------------- The only problem is that certain software still has the public's mind-share. > But it's a much harder sell to someone doing, say, financial analysis or data modeling, where they absolutely must use Excel or SPSS. Excel sucks and SPSS does run on Linux.

by Kadin 9y ago

Mikeb85 9y ago

> Insofar as an OS is really a visible middleware layer that lets you run application software and manage files, I don't know if the lack of applications can be hand-waved away; that's a very tough nut to crack. Yes and no. For most people, Linux is more than ready to be their only OS. There's no lack of functional software. I went through University only using Linux on my computer. Edit - For example, most of the profs use LibreOffice, for sharing everyone uses Google docs, statistics and economics homework was done with R (Excel and Stata were the other options), all CS homework could be done on Linux. The only place I had to use Windows at all was a single course (Finance) where Excel was taught. I still just used LibreOffice then transferred the files to a school computer to make sure the output was correct. ---------------------------------- The only problem is that certain software still has the public's mind-share. > But it's a much harder sell to someone doing, say, financial analysis or data modeling, where they absolutely must use Excel or SPSS. Excel sucks and SPSS does run on Linux.