8 ms·

My go-to question is: Am I able to use Linux? This tells you a lot about the company. I avoided some Windows-only jobs in the past :)

lapetitejort 5y ago
I like to ask what version of software they're running, and why. You might catch some change-adverse or bleeding-edge jockeys that way.
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  My favorite question as an interviewer is "What's your favorite OS of all time and why?"; the what is almost irrelevant and there are no right or wrong answers, but the whys are always useful/interesting (my favorite is probably a guy who raved about AIX's apparently amazing backup functionality).
  - wink 5y ago
    I raise you a "I like SuSE Linux because it's free". To this day I don't know what to make of this answer. But that was only one of many answers that led to us not continuing with that candidate. That day I changed my stance "there are no wrong answers", but I've also asked this in the past and it can yield some good conversation material.
    - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
      To be clear, I meant that there are no wrong "what" answers, but there are definitely "why" answers that would reflect badly on a candidate.
ipaddr 5y ago
I've avoided jobs that are Mac only. Life is too short.
- Steltek 5y ago
  Even if you're allowed to use Linux, you still end up getting a Mac to support your coworkers. I suppose I can be grateful that Docker Desktop is slowly fading away. Sadly Homebrew is too essential to die and the ${g} prefix remains for random commands.
  - pseudoramble 5y ago
    > I suppose I can be grateful that Docker Desktop is slowly fading away. May I ask why you're grateful? I'm pretty inexperienced with Docker/Kubernetes/containers in general. So there's probably a good reason I'm unaware of. Docker Desktop was nice for me to run the one or two basic things I needed. I've moved away due to the licensing changes, but I'd like to understand why it was a problem.
    - Steltek 5y ago
      MacOS Docker had performance problems and odd limitations because it was really a Linux VM under the hood (Darwin can't run containers) and any host passthru stuff needed that additional hypervisor translation, which wasn't always perfect either. People raising bugs against "production" wouldn't tell you that they found it their Macbook so you'd go on a wild goose chase thinking it was a real issue and not simply MacOS sucking. Alternately, you'd write a script to do something (flash hardware, etc) and it wouldn't work because Certified Real UNIX(tm) doesn't have /proc or /sys. Now you're asked to port the script to Mac, which depending on the task might be wildly more difficult, but if you don't willingly bash your head against Apple's hatred for low level hacking, you're not a team player or something.
      - pseudoramble 5y ago
        Gotcha. Thanks that helps. I can definitely see that translation between the VM and the container being a problem.
nemoniac 5y ago
Good question! My answer would be, not only will you be able to use Linux, you will have to use it. What does that tell you about my company? ;)
jaaron 5y ago
Really depends on the sort of "windows-only" jobs you're thinking of. My startup is mostly Windows, but that's because we're doing AAA game development and still have some tooling that is Windows only at this stage. I find that with WSL2, I can do everything I need. A fair bit of my day is spent in emacs.
- dec0dedab0de 5y ago
  Really depends on the sort of "windows-only" jobs you're thinking of. I was hoping you were going to follow that up by saying you're working on a robot to clean vertical glass.
  - tragictrash 5y ago
    Underrated comment of the century
- yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
  This is probably just a personal thing, but that just defines which areas of our industry I probably don't want to work in. And WSL isn't helpful, because the goal for me isn't "run Linux", but "don't run Windows"; WSL won't save you from MS forcing updates down your throat, changing your browser to edge, spying on you, and sticking ads all over the system.
  - mcny 5y ago
    > WSL won't save you from MS forcing updates down your throat There was only one corporate laptop running windows 10 I've encountered during the pandemic that does not use policy to disable automatic updates and that is Microsoft. In my experience, everyone who pays for Windows Enterprise blocks automatic updates. I think Windows Home still can't into Hyper-V and therefore you have to go through hoops to install WSL 2 and docker, right?
    - mook 5y ago
      Windows Home doesn't haven proper access to Hyper-V, but installing WSL 2 is relatively easy (and documented); Microsoft made special provisions for that. You can't use Docker to run Windows containers, but Linux containers (using WSL 2) seems to work fine.
mrtranscendence 5y ago
One of my former coworkers who's an absolutely huge Apple guy recently left for another job. When I asked him whether he could use a Mac he told me he didn't know and hadn't asked ... he must've really wanted that job. Or really hated his old one. I'd take a job that let me use Linux, but I too am a Mac guy at heart. I had a short stint on Windows not long ago and hated it. Where I work now they'll give developers Macs by default, though getting blanket approval for data scientists has been an uphill battle, stupidly enough.
- blahyawnblah 5y ago
  Windows with WSL2 is great. Have you tried that? VSCode can run from WSL2 and have access to its file system
  - tragictrash 5y ago
    Tell me you don't use Linux without telling me you don't use linux Wsl is pretty terrible in my experience. your better off using a vm you manage yourself. Every vendor has shared folders. Each one can use a x server to display programs in your windows window manager.
    - ygjb 5y ago
      Oh please. Tell me you are a Linux zealot without telling me you are a Linux zealot. Its a tool in the toolbox. I use Linux everyday on servers at work, two desktops at home, and servers for my partners businesses. My main personal notebook is a windows device w/WSL and my main work notebook is a MacOS device, because at the end of the day, I need my computer's to just work, painlessly. WSL is great for alot of Linux userspace stuff and is a fantastic CLI for interacting with and managing remote servers, alongside the ease of Windows. Of course it's not as performance, and had some edges, but I happily accept the trade-offs due to great driver support and the flexibility to run almost any software on one device.
      - tragictrash 5y ago
tpmx 5y ago
I was hired to create a software department in a well-funded , but "old" hardware-oriented company with ~100 employees. In retrospect it's "funny" how much time I spent trying to get the company to accept that developers should be able to use e.g. Linux/Mac, rather than Windows. It tooks several weeks of actual time spent. Insane. I got there eventually. It's one of those things you don't expect, having worked with smart and flexible software people your entire previous work life. These hardware people were smart, but also incredibly "square", for the lack of a better term. Everything was so insanely rigid. So much more to tell, but in general: be aware that hardware company culture is very, very different. I don't think it's possible to change the culture unless you change the CEO.
colordrops 5y ago
I won't take a job with Apple for this reason.
BeetleB 5y ago
I thought that way before my current job. I learned the error of my ways. In companies like mine, you'll get a Linux account on a server, and will not have root privileges. So you're quite limited on the SW you can easily install (try installing Emacs with all its dependencies from source). Since then, whenever I shifted teams, I'd pick ones where I don't have to use Linux. At least I can customize my Windows laptop easily, and Emacs works just fine on it.
- wink 5y ago
  That's a weird experience. 100% of companies I worked for (or where I worked with a customer's computer, so not just 3-4) it was: Windows = managed, user account, pain (sometimes exceptions for developers, sometimes not) Linux = you have root on your machine.
  - BeetleB 5y ago
    My windows laptop is "managed" in terms of forced IT updates, etc. But I can install whatever I want and have Admin privileges. They do scan the SW and if they see obvious problems (installed a SW that is not free for commercial use), I'll get an email about (show proof that the team purchased a license). I can't make deep changes (e.g. reinstall the OS), and would likely get in trouble for disabling the antivirus, but there hasn't been anything I wanted to do on it that I couldn't.
  - phendrenad2 5y ago
    This really bothers me when I see it. I've had coworkers who used Linux. Like you say, IT mostly left them alone. They had root and were free to install anything. That seems like a huge security hole. Keeping Linux, especially desktop Linux, patched is non-trivial, and I wouldn't leave that up to the average web developer.
bo1024 5y ago
had a great gig at microsoft, answer was yes
Osiris 5y ago
Is it common for jobs to restrict your choice in development environment? In 15 years I've never been required to use any particular operating system.
- tdeck 5y ago
  There are a lot of companies that are absolutely Windows only shops. There are also lots of tech companies where everyone gets a Macbook and that's what you use, although I suppose you could use Linux if you're able to hack up the dev enviroent to work yourself.
HelloNurse 5y ago
Everyone has their own allergies. I can live without Linux, but I'd ask whether there is any IBM software involved.

lapetitejort 5y ago

I like to ask what version of software they're running, and why. You might catch some change-adverse or bleeding-edge jockeys that way.

yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
My favorite question as an interviewer is "What's your favorite OS of all time and why?"; the what is almost irrelevant and there are no right or wrong answers, but the whys are always useful/interesting (my favorite is probably a guy who raved about AIX's apparently amazing backup functionality).
- wink 5y ago
  I raise you a "I like SuSE Linux because it's free". To this day I don't know what to make of this answer. But that was only one of many answers that led to us not continuing with that candidate. That day I changed my stance "there are no wrong answers", but I've also asked this in the past and it can yield some good conversation material.
  - yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
    To be clear, I meant that there are no wrong "what" answers, but there are definitely "why" answers that would reflect badly on a candidate.

ipaddr 5y ago

I've avoided jobs that are Mac only. Life is too short.

Steltek 5y ago
Even if you're allowed to use Linux, you still end up getting a Mac to support your coworkers. I suppose I can be grateful that Docker Desktop is slowly fading away. Sadly Homebrew is too essential to die and the ${g} prefix remains for random commands.
- pseudoramble 5y ago
  > I suppose I can be grateful that Docker Desktop is slowly fading away. May I ask why you're grateful? I'm pretty inexperienced with Docker/Kubernetes/containers in general. So there's probably a good reason I'm unaware of. Docker Desktop was nice for me to run the one or two basic things I needed. I've moved away due to the licensing changes, but I'd like to understand why it was a problem.
  - Steltek 5y ago
    MacOS Docker had performance problems and odd limitations because it was really a Linux VM under the hood (Darwin can't run containers) and any host passthru stuff needed that additional hypervisor translation, which wasn't always perfect either. People raising bugs against "production" wouldn't tell you that they found it their Macbook so you'd go on a wild goose chase thinking it was a real issue and not simply MacOS sucking. Alternately, you'd write a script to do something (flash hardware, etc) and it wouldn't work because Certified Real UNIX(tm) doesn't have /proc or /sys. Now you're asked to port the script to Mac, which depending on the task might be wildly more difficult, but if you don't willingly bash your head against Apple's hatred for low level hacking, you're not a team player or something.
    - pseudoramble 5y ago
      Gotcha. Thanks that helps. I can definitely see that translation between the VM and the container being a problem.

nemoniac 5y ago

Good question! My answer would be, not only will you be able to use Linux, you will have to use it. What does that tell you about my company? ;)

jaaron 5y ago

Really depends on the sort of "windows-only" jobs you're thinking of. My startup is mostly Windows, but that's because we're doing AAA game development and still have some tooling that is Windows only at this stage. I find that with WSL2, I can do everything I need. A fair bit of my day is spent in emacs.

dec0dedab0de 5y ago
Really depends on the sort of "windows-only" jobs you're thinking of. I was hoping you were going to follow that up by saying you're working on a robot to clean vertical glass.
- tragictrash 5y ago
  Underrated comment of the century
yjftsjthsd-h 5y ago
This is probably just a personal thing, but that just defines which areas of our industry I probably don't want to work in. And WSL isn't helpful, because the goal for me isn't "run Linux", but "don't run Windows"; WSL won't save you from MS forcing updates down your throat, changing your browser to edge, spying on you, and sticking ads all over the system.
- mcny 5y ago
  > WSL won't save you from MS forcing updates down your throat There was only one corporate laptop running windows 10 I've encountered during the pandemic that does not use policy to disable automatic updates and that is Microsoft. In my experience, everyone who pays for Windows Enterprise blocks automatic updates. I think Windows Home still can't into Hyper-V and therefore you have to go through hoops to install WSL 2 and docker, right?
  - mook 5y ago
    Windows Home doesn't haven proper access to Hyper-V, but installing WSL 2 is relatively easy (and documented); Microsoft made special provisions for that. You can't use Docker to run Windows containers, but Linux containers (using WSL 2) seems to work fine.

mrtranscendence 5y ago

One of my former coworkers who's an absolutely huge Apple guy recently left for another job. When I asked him whether he could use a Mac he told me he didn't know and hadn't asked ... he must've really wanted that job. Or really hated his old one. I'd take a job that let me use Linux, but I too am a Mac guy at heart. I had a short stint on Windows not long ago and hated it. Where I work now they'll give developers Macs by default, though getting blanket approval for data scientists has been an uphill battle, stupidly enough.

blahyawnblah 5y ago
Windows with WSL2 is great. Have you tried that? VSCode can run from WSL2 and have access to its file system
- tragictrash 5y ago
  Tell me you don't use Linux without telling me you don't use linux Wsl is pretty terrible in my experience. your better off using a vm you manage yourself. Every vendor has shared folders. Each one can use a x server to display programs in your windows window manager.
  - ygjb 5y ago
    Oh please. Tell me you are a Linux zealot without telling me you are a Linux zealot. Its a tool in the toolbox. I use Linux everyday on servers at work, two desktops at home, and servers for my partners businesses. My main personal notebook is a windows device w/WSL and my main work notebook is a MacOS device, because at the end of the day, I need my computer's to just work, painlessly. WSL is great for alot of Linux userspace stuff and is a fantastic CLI for interacting with and managing remote servers, alongside the ease of Windows. Of course it's not as performance, and had some edges, but I happily accept the trade-offs due to great driver support and the flexibility to run almost any software on one device.
    - tragictrash 5y ago

tpmx 5y ago

I was hired to create a software department in a well-funded , but "old" hardware-oriented company with ~100 employees. In retrospect it's "funny" how much time I spent trying to get the company to accept that developers should be able to use e.g. Linux/Mac, rather than Windows. It tooks several weeks of actual time spent. Insane. I got there eventually. It's one of those things you don't expect, having worked with smart and flexible software people your entire previous work life. These hardware people were smart, but also incredibly "square", for the lack of a better term. Everything was so insanely rigid. So much more to tell, but in general: be aware that hardware company culture is very, very different. I don't think it's possible to change the culture unless you change the CEO.

colordrops 5y ago

I won't take a job with Apple for this reason.

BeetleB 5y ago

I thought that way before my current job. I learned the error of my ways. In companies like mine, you'll get a Linux account on a server, and will not have root privileges. So you're quite limited on the SW you can easily install (try installing Emacs with all its dependencies from source). Since then, whenever I shifted teams, I'd pick ones where I don't have to use Linux. At least I can customize my Windows laptop easily, and Emacs works just fine on it.

wink 5y ago
That's a weird experience. 100% of companies I worked for (or where I worked with a customer's computer, so not just 3-4) it was: Windows = managed, user account, pain (sometimes exceptions for developers, sometimes not) Linux = you have root on your machine.
- BeetleB 5y ago
  My windows laptop is "managed" in terms of forced IT updates, etc. But I can install whatever I want and have Admin privileges. They do scan the SW and if they see obvious problems (installed a SW that is not free for commercial use), I'll get an email about (show proof that the team purchased a license). I can't make deep changes (e.g. reinstall the OS), and would likely get in trouble for disabling the antivirus, but there hasn't been anything I wanted to do on it that I couldn't.
- phendrenad2 5y ago
  This really bothers me when I see it. I've had coworkers who used Linux. Like you say, IT mostly left them alone. They had root and were free to install anything. That seems like a huge security hole. Keeping Linux, especially desktop Linux, patched is non-trivial, and I wouldn't leave that up to the average web developer.

bo1024 5y ago

had a great gig at microsoft, answer was yes

Osiris 5y ago

Is it common for jobs to restrict your choice in development environment? In 15 years I've never been required to use any particular operating system.

tdeck 5y ago
There are a lot of companies that are absolutely Windows only shops. There are also lots of tech companies where everyone gets a Macbook and that's what you use, although I suppose you could use Linux if you're able to hack up the dev enviroent to work yourself.

HelloNurse 5y ago

Everyone has their own allergies. I can live without Linux, but I'd ask whether there is any IBM software involved.