4 ms·

I'm a Linux user who prefers open-source tools. I not a fan of Microsoft's programs, tools, editors, etc. What would you suggest I do to be productive with C#?

ninjis 2y ago
JetBrains Rider
freedomben 2y ago
It's remarkably disappointing to see this question downvoted. I had the same thought, but this makes me wonder if it's just a bad culture fit from the start. I've been Linux-only now for 15 years and haven't used an IDE in well over 10. I use vim (neovim now) exclusively. Given my characteristics, should I just squash my curiosity and do a pass on C#? Do C# people not see value in open source? Is there low tolerance in that community for people who have those values?
- misswaterfairy 2y ago
  Strong advocate of open source here. That said, in an enterprise setting, for all of Microsoft's other faults, C# is damn near bullet proof. Some enterprises, like mine, can't rely on community supported tooling for life-critical systems. If something breaks, we're near instantaneously on the phone to a dedicated support rep to fix the problem. I learned C# and Java years ago during my IT degree but had long since forgotten them. The enterprise I work in uses C# a fair bit. Only started to pick up C# again in the past few months, and holy heck, I forgot how pleasurable it is to work in C# again. If the third-party components used in some software I help maintain supported JetBrains Rider, I'd use it in a heartbeat. Visual Studio (not Code...) is okay, though I'm not tripping over myself to use it. PyCharm and IntelliJ have spoiled me.
- JamesBarney 2y ago
  The reason c# has such a weak open source system is two fold. Supply and demand. From a supply stand point source enthusiasts have historically hated Microsoft. From a demand standpoint everyone uses the Microsoft variant because it's easy to use and hire for. There's a ton of documentation. Lots of issues are at the seems of different libraries, applications or frameworks you use. And in the Microsoft world it's frequently all the same. Everyone uses the same identity library, the same webserver, the same cloud, the same database, the same orm. If you're into learning technology it's not for you. But if you're into learning about domains and business instead of tech or like having free time it's a great stack. Doesn't work well for b2c because of the cost, but works really well for b2b.
- PKop 2y ago
  >Do C# people not see value in open source? C# and dotnet are open source so what on Earth are you even talking about? >squash my curiosity Maybe increase your curiosity and try something new, change the 15 year trend and use an IDE. JetBrains Rider is great and cross platform. "tolerance in that community for people who have those values" More likely is they don't worry about this nonsense and just get work done, making a great language, platform and tools used extensively and productively in many companies. Why should they "think about you at all" as the meme goes? Talk of culture, values, community, tolerance, "your characteristics". This all reeks of injecting extraneous personal feelings where they don't need to be. How about you just try the language, if you actually care to do so, and worry about the rest later?
- Bognar 2y ago
  C# has an official language server and an unofficial one (that unfortunately seems less maintained now). It works just fine with neovim. Funny enough, it's the efforts of Omnisharp and the VSCode team that has so significantly improved the experience of using various other languages in open source editors due to the creation of LSP.
PKop 2y ago
JetBrains Rider and get over your hangups so you can be productive. Now, you'll have to pay these professional developers for their work making an excellent cross platform IDE for you but you can leverage their work (and Microsoft's great language and platform tools) for your own benefit so it's a win/win. Beyond that, no offense but I don't think C# devs don't owe you anything, it's on you if you have criteria that excludes you from using all these awesome things. If your religious beliefs are a sticking point, then so be it.
neonsunset 2y ago
If your goal is to avoid anything touched by msft employees, then the answer is you can't use C#. Just like you can't use Java if you want to avoid Oracle because of their predatory practices, or can't use Swift if you want to avoid Apple, or can't use Go if you want to avoid the AdTech company. In fact, just limiting to MS you probably can't use Java or C/C++ either as they have contributions to compilers for both. But this is rather silly, so I'm going to assume the question is more reasonable "What can I do as a Linux user to have positive experience with C#?". In this case, the response is very simple - you just install the SDK (sudo apt/dnf install dotnet-sdk-8.0) and then pick either VS Code and base (and free and MIT) C# extension (you do not need DevKit) or combine csharp-ls and Neovim. Other text editors that support LSP will also work. Nothing else is required. Rider is suggested but it is absolutely optional, especially if you are not looking for that kind of high-tier IDE and prefer simpler (and faster) text editing experience.

ninjis 2y ago

JetBrains Rider

freedomben 2y ago

It's remarkably disappointing to see this question downvoted. I had the same thought, but this makes me wonder if it's just a bad culture fit from the start. I've been Linux-only now for 15 years and haven't used an IDE in well over 10. I use vim (neovim now) exclusively. Given my characteristics, should I just squash my curiosity and do a pass on C#? Do C# people not see value in open source? Is there low tolerance in that community for people who have those values?

misswaterfairy 2y ago
Strong advocate of open source here. That said, in an enterprise setting, for all of Microsoft's other faults, C# is damn near bullet proof. Some enterprises, like mine, can't rely on community supported tooling for life-critical systems. If something breaks, we're near instantaneously on the phone to a dedicated support rep to fix the problem. I learned C# and Java years ago during my IT degree but had long since forgotten them. The enterprise I work in uses C# a fair bit. Only started to pick up C# again in the past few months, and holy heck, I forgot how pleasurable it is to work in C# again. If the third-party components used in some software I help maintain supported JetBrains Rider, I'd use it in a heartbeat. Visual Studio (not Code...) is okay, though I'm not tripping over myself to use it. PyCharm and IntelliJ have spoiled me.
JamesBarney 2y ago
The reason c# has such a weak open source system is two fold. Supply and demand. From a supply stand point source enthusiasts have historically hated Microsoft. From a demand standpoint everyone uses the Microsoft variant because it's easy to use and hire for. There's a ton of documentation. Lots of issues are at the seems of different libraries, applications or frameworks you use. And in the Microsoft world it's frequently all the same. Everyone uses the same identity library, the same webserver, the same cloud, the same database, the same orm. If you're into learning technology it's not for you. But if you're into learning about domains and business instead of tech or like having free time it's a great stack. Doesn't work well for b2c because of the cost, but works really well for b2b.
PKop 2y ago
>Do C# people not see value in open source? C# and dotnet are open source so what on Earth are you even talking about? >squash my curiosity Maybe increase your curiosity and try something new, change the 15 year trend and use an IDE. JetBrains Rider is great and cross platform. "tolerance in that community for people who have those values" More likely is they don't worry about this nonsense and just get work done, making a great language, platform and tools used extensively and productively in many companies. Why should they "think about you at all" as the meme goes? Talk of culture, values, community, tolerance, "your characteristics". This all reeks of injecting extraneous personal feelings where they don't need to be. How about you just try the language, if you actually care to do so, and worry about the rest later?
Bognar 2y ago
C# has an official language server and an unofficial one (that unfortunately seems less maintained now). It works just fine with neovim. Funny enough, it's the efforts of Omnisharp and the VSCode team that has so significantly improved the experience of using various other languages in open source editors due to the creation of LSP.

PKop 2y ago

JetBrains Rider and get over your hangups so you can be productive. Now, you'll have to pay these professional developers for their work making an excellent cross platform IDE for you but you can leverage their work (and Microsoft's great language and platform tools) for your own benefit so it's a win/win. Beyond that, no offense but I don't think C# devs don't owe you anything, it's on you if you have criteria that excludes you from using all these awesome things. If your religious beliefs are a sticking point, then so be it.

neonsunset 2y ago

If your goal is to avoid anything touched by msft employees, then the answer is you can't use C#. Just like you can't use Java if you want to avoid Oracle because of their predatory practices, or can't use Swift if you want to avoid Apple, or can't use Go if you want to avoid the AdTech company. In fact, just limiting to MS you probably can't use Java or C/C++ either as they have contributions to compilers for both. But this is rather silly, so I'm going to assume the question is more reasonable "What can I do as a Linux user to have positive experience with C#?". In this case, the response is very simple - you just install the SDK (sudo apt/dnf install dotnet-sdk-8.0) and then pick either VS Code and base (and free and MIT) C# extension (you do not need DevKit) or combine csharp-ls and Neovim. Other text editors that support LSP will also work. Nothing else is required. Rider is suggested but it is absolutely optional, especially if you are not looking for that kind of high-tier IDE and prefer simpler (and faster) text editing experience.