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It really depends on your prior experience. If you're a programmer that's used to working with a command line-based Unix environment, the open tools will feel a

by rvense 6y ago

It really depends on your prior experience. If you're a programmer that's used to working with a command line-based Unix environment, the open tools will feel a lot more familiar than the proprietary ones.

bsder 6y ago
That's actually a really good point. When someone says "beginner", I never think of someone who already knows the Unix command line. I've been doing this for far too many years, and I'm struggling to think of anybody I know who does FPGA work and knows the UNIX command line--even among the experienced hands.
- necovek 6y ago
  I think us "old hats" using GNU/Linux from the 90s are increasingly getting interested in the hardware side of things. You are likely too biased in the Windows world, which is exactly what HN is not (probably! I have no data to prove that, just a hunch based on the discussions I took a part of on HN).
  - bsder 6y ago
    Well, my beard is very grey an I am a recovering sysadmin ... as they say. :) However, none of my colleagues in hardware design really know UNIX--neither junior nor senior. And what's with the downvoters in this thread? Stop downvoting people because you disagree with them--COMMENT, DAMMIT. I'm beginning to suspect that the HN "You're posting too fast" limit gets hit too quickly and people can only upvote/downvote so they default to that.
    - necovek 6y ago
      I think many people default to downvote-when-disagree. It's partially the "like/dislike" culture, but I think it's mostly because it's the opposite of upvote-when-agreeing. I agree with you that downvotes are useless when one simply disagrees and don't help the author or the reader learn. With the "flag" feature though, I am not sure I see the point of downvoting at all (other than when someone repeats the same disproven argument in the thread): upvoting is there to indicate "me too", but any such thing turns into a popularity context.

by rvense 6y ago

bsder 6y ago

That's actually a really good point. When someone says "beginner", I never think of someone who already knows the Unix command line. I've been doing this for far too many years, and I'm struggling to think of anybody I know who does FPGA work and knows the UNIX command line--even among the experienced hands.

necovek 6y ago
I think us "old hats" using GNU/Linux from the 90s are increasingly getting interested in the hardware side of things. You are likely too biased in the Windows world, which is exactly what HN is not (probably! I have no data to prove that, just a hunch based on the discussions I took a part of on HN).
- bsder 6y ago
  Well, my beard is very grey an I am a recovering sysadmin ... as they say. :) However, none of my colleagues in hardware design really know UNIX--neither junior nor senior. And what's with the downvoters in this thread? Stop downvoting people because you disagree with them--COMMENT, DAMMIT. I'm beginning to suspect that the HN "You're posting too fast" limit gets hit too quickly and people can only upvote/downvote so they default to that.
  - necovek 6y ago
    I think many people default to downvote-when-disagree. It's partially the "like/dislike" culture, but I think it's mostly because it's the opposite of upvote-when-agreeing. I agree with you that downvotes are useless when one simply disagrees and don't help the author or the reader learn. With the "flag" feature though, I am not sure I see the point of downvoting at all (other than when someone repeats the same disproven argument in the thread): upvoting is there to indicate "me too", but any such thing turns into a popularity context.