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N.B.: the "switch to Windows" is from macOS and not from Linux, just in case anyone was wondering. I think it's very interesting that the availability of Linux

N.B.: the "switch to Windows" is from macOS and not from Linux, just in case anyone was wondering. I think it's very interesting that the availability of Linux on Windows helped the author choose Windows.

eksemplar 9y ago
The switch stories are always either “from Mac-OS” or “to Linux”, the former being a “oh no you didn’t” and the latter being “I’m with cool birds now” narrative. It’s basically non-stories because your OS matters as little as what programming language you use. Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice.
- jnsaff2 9y ago
  Yea, I made the jump from osx to Linux switch more than a year ago because of the hardware situation. I also have dual boot windows just for Lightroom. It was a bit of tinkering just because I decided to go for a bit esoteric distribution (NixOS) and also switch to tiling (i3 and sway). It’s different, I think it’s much better and tiling really keeps the clutter at bay. I am very happy with the setup and when I have to use OS X (still have the old MacBook pro for time on the road) I don’t enjoy it any more.
- arca_vorago 9y ago
  >It’s basically non-stories because your OS matters as little as what programming language you use. >Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice. I do what I want and you can't tell me what to do! I think RMS was and is right and computing should not be viewed through a purely pragmatic lense, and I'm going to keep mentioning the importance of foss and copyleft to the future of computing and how it enables freedom for the user until I see fit to stop. I think OS choice greatly matters. I say this as a senior sysadmin who has had to support all 3 major OS's for over a decade. Windows 10 was the final straw for me and I went completely gnu/linux and haven't looked back since except to feel sorry for all the stockholm syndrome I see in those chained to those ecosystems.
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    The RMS message is different though. It is not about any specific OS or platform, it is about making sure the owner/admin is the final arbiter of what can or can't be done on that computer (now and into the infinite future).
    - arca_vorago 9y ago
      >it is about making sure the owner/admin is the final arbiter of what can or can't be done on that computer Which you can't do with Windows, and only to a certain degree with osx.
- oliwarner 9y ago
  > but don’t become a fucking missionary That might work for you and your choices but when you talk to developers whose software doesn't support your choice because "nobody uses it", and there are no native alternatives, you quickly see the fight is real. The odd bit of platform evangelism is the reason we don't all have to use Windows. It's the reason we have a choice at all.
- slantyyz 9y ago
  >> Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice. I find that people naturally tend to want others to be like them. It doesn't matter whether its politics, religion, OS, camera brand, camera sensor size, programming language, diet fad or whatnot. Maybe it makes them feel better about the choices they made?
  - digi_owl 9y ago
    More like people want external confirmation that they made the right choice.
owenwil 9y ago
As someone who made the same jump, Windows wasn't really a viable platform for non-dotNet developers until that happened. The state of Linux on the desktop is, frankly, a disaster — I spent months on trying to make it work, but wow, it's not worth the time.
- joosebox 9y ago
  Linux on Windows is still a disaster? It's been something I want to play around with but haven't had the chance yet.
  - ranqet 9y ago
    The fact that there is a wall between the Linux stuff and Windows stuff (“You can't edit a file that originates from the Linux userland inside Windows.”) sounds very hacky to me.
    - walshemj 9y ago
      Just do a samba share from the Linux vm to windows
      - tracker1 9y ago
        It's not a VM, it's like the inverse of WINE... it's a compatibility layer... and that one piece (not being able to edit files in the LSW from windows/gui) is what keeps me off of it.
        walshemj 9y ago
        Oh why not use windows pro and hyper-v then and run a Linux vm then that's assuming you don't run a small whitebox server to do your dev on?
        tracker1 9y ago
        I do.. and samba to use a GUI editor against files in the VM. That said, there's the overhead of a full VM... some of the same reasons one would use WINE instead of a full Windows VM.

eksemplar 9y ago

The switch stories are always either “from Mac-OS” or “to Linux”, the former being a “oh no you didn’t” and the latter being “I’m with cool birds now” narrative. It’s basically non-stories because your OS matters as little as what programming language you use. Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice.

jnsaff2 9y ago
Yea, I made the jump from osx to Linux switch more than a year ago because of the hardware situation. I also have dual boot windows just for Lightroom. It was a bit of tinkering just because I decided to go for a bit esoteric distribution (NixOS) and also switch to tiling (i3 and sway). It’s different, I think it’s much better and tiling really keeps the clutter at bay. I am very happy with the setup and when I have to use OS X (still have the old MacBook pro for time on the road) I don’t enjoy it any more.
arca_vorago 9y ago
>It’s basically non-stories because your OS matters as little as what programming language you use. >Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice. I do what I want and you can't tell me what to do! I think RMS was and is right and computing should not be viewed through a purely pragmatic lense, and I'm going to keep mentioning the importance of foss and copyleft to the future of computing and how it enables freedom for the user until I see fit to stop. I think OS choice greatly matters. I say this as a senior sysadmin who has had to support all 3 major OS's for over a decade. Windows 10 was the final straw for me and I went completely gnu/linux and haven't looked back since except to feel sorry for all the stockholm syndrome I see in those chained to those ecosystems.
- digi_owl 9y ago
  The RMS message is different though. It is not about any specific OS or platform, it is about making sure the owner/admin is the final arbiter of what can or can't be done on that computer (now and into the infinite future).
  - arca_vorago 9y ago
    >it is about making sure the owner/admin is the final arbiter of what can or can't be done on that computer Which you can't do with Windows, and only to a certain degree with osx.
oliwarner 9y ago
> but don’t become a fucking missionary That might work for you and your choices but when you talk to developers whose software doesn't support your choice because "nobody uses it", and there are no native alternatives, you quickly see the fight is real. The odd bit of platform evangelism is the reason we don't all have to use Windows. It's the reason we have a choice at all.
slantyyz 9y ago
>> Pick the one that works for you, but don’t become a fucking missionary or tie your personality to your brand of choice. I find that people naturally tend to want others to be like them. It doesn't matter whether its politics, religion, OS, camera brand, camera sensor size, programming language, diet fad or whatnot. Maybe it makes them feel better about the choices they made?
- digi_owl 9y ago
  More like people want external confirmation that they made the right choice.

owenwil 9y ago

As someone who made the same jump, Windows wasn't really a viable platform for non-dotNet developers until that happened. The state of Linux on the desktop is, frankly, a disaster — I spent months on trying to make it work, but wow, it's not worth the time.

joosebox 9y ago
Linux on Windows is still a disaster? It's been something I want to play around with but haven't had the chance yet.
- ranqet 9y ago
  The fact that there is a wall between the Linux stuff and Windows stuff (“You can't edit a file that originates from the Linux userland inside Windows.”) sounds very hacky to me.
  - walshemj 9y ago
    Just do a samba share from the Linux vm to windows
    - tracker1 9y ago
      It's not a VM, it's like the inverse of WINE... it's a compatibility layer... and that one piece (not being able to edit files in the LSW from windows/gui) is what keeps me off of it.
      - walshemj 9y ago
        Oh why not use windows pro and hyper-v then and run a Linux vm then that's assuming you don't run a small whitebox server to do your dev on?
        tracker1 9y ago
        I do.. and samba to use a GUI editor against files in the VM. That said, there's the overhead of a full VM... some of the same reasons one would use WINE instead of a full Windows VM.