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Ask HN: I'll be starting with a new job soon but their machines have Windows

Basically, I've got a job to write code using Node.js, AngularJS, Rails, PHP and so on. However, all their computers have Windows and I'm not comfortable using it to write code. I asked if I could use Linux but they said I can't bring my own laptop, they said I could develop on a VM though. What are the disadvantages of using a VM? I find it disappointing they won't let me install Linux on it. Any workflows I should now when developing on VM? Thanks.

ColinWright 11y ago
Connect via VPN to your machine somewhere else and do it all over the net?
noonespecial 11y ago
My dev enviro is a debian VM that matches our servers with xfce. This on an older Mac via VMware fusion 5. I don't really like OS X so I almost never switch out. Once I full screen the vm I can't tell the difference. Even with videos. (I don't play games so I'm not sure there). I'd say a vm is a perfectly viable option. Plus you'll have the builtin option to hop back to windows and see your work as the unwashed masses will see it in a blink.
cdvonstinkpot 11y ago
Being that VMs usually have terrible disk I/O, I've found that it helps noticably to set the Windows host to increase the amount of memory it uses for the disk cache. There's the setting in 'My Computer" > 'Advanced', plus a little-known registry (or group policy- I don't recall off the top of my head) setting that increases it quite a bit more than the GUI-fied switch. You can find it on Google easily enough. -my 2 cents
- brudgers 11y ago
  Given the way Linux uses physical memory and swap space, pumping up the amount of RAM available to the VM might provide more fine grained control [1]. Since the implication is the developer will be primarily in the VM, constraining the physical memory available to Windows somewhat is less likely to impact performance particularly if Windows configuration is tailored to the usage scenario. [1] And RAM is cheap.
S4M 11y ago
You can use cygwin as a shell, then you will mainly be using a text editor, a browser and a shell that is similar to the Unix shell, so it will not be fundamentally different from Linux - from the user point of view.
- arnold_palmur 11y ago
  Second this, as a long OSX & Vim user, cygwin was a HUGE relief for the switch to PC for a new job. Definitely an essential piece of software now.
honest_joe 11y ago
Run from such a company. You are just an asset to them that has to obey. You are not doing a nuclear research and there's not a reason for them to force you.
- brudgers 11y ago
  Professional programming is a team sport.
  - honest_joe 11y ago
    That has nothing to do with what i have said.
- kasey_junk 11y ago
  Thats a pretty drastic position to take. There are any number of reasons why a company might require Windows that are perfectly reasonable. Everything from "Our clients demand it" to "we are governed by obscure legislation foo that requires software of type bar, and the best we found was goo on Windows." I'd mark it down as an oddity and ask why they have such a requirement. Their response may turn it into a red flag, but the simple requirement doesn't.
- matt_s 11y ago
  This could be said of any company, even ones that let you choose your own workstation. You're fooling yourself if you think that the OS on the workstation indicates some sort of difference in your employer. If they mandated Macs with OSX would it make any difference? They are still mandating something and you are still an employee. Also, use vagrant and build your own custom box to match your production environment's OS flavor, web, app and db server versions. Even if you are on a Mac you should do this.
kasey_junk 11y ago
I've worked in VM environments and they are fine for some degraded definition of fine. You can certainly get most everything done with them if thats what you want. I'd argue a little bit that in this day and age, that unless you have some very specific Linux requirements its a valuable career skill to be able to develop on multiple platforms.
- grover_hartmann 11y ago
  It's not that I can't develop software on Windows, I could if I really wanted to. It's just that GNU/Linux happens to be my preferred environment for writing code, and I see nothing wrong with that.
  - brudgers 11y ago
    I guess the question becomes, is the work important enough to switch? If it isn't then maybe the money is good enough, but that's a bit of a different standard. If the work isn't important and the pay isn't good enough, then there's no reason to take the job.
chewxy 11y ago
Vagrant is your friend. I switched from a linux env to my current job which has a MS stack. Took a few months before I fully got my windows env up and running, and in the meantime Vagrant tided me over
dreaminvm 11y ago
Almost everything is the same using a VM, with the bonus of VM functionality like cloning and changing the hardware specs.
- grover_hartmann 11y ago
  Changing hardware on Linux is very seamless, unlike Windows.
starshadowx2 11y ago
Are you allowed to use a LiveCD/boot off a USB?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- grover_hartmann 11y ago
  Probably not, the use of personal hardware is forbidden, and I think that includes personal USB drives as well.

ColinWright 11y ago

Connect via VPN to your machine somewhere else and do it all over the net?

noonespecial 11y ago

My dev enviro is a debian VM that matches our servers with xfce. This on an older Mac via VMware fusion 5. I don't really like OS X so I almost never switch out. Once I full screen the vm I can't tell the difference. Even with videos. (I don't play games so I'm not sure there). I'd say a vm is a perfectly viable option. Plus you'll have the builtin option to hop back to windows and see your work as the unwashed masses will see it in a blink.

cdvonstinkpot 11y ago

Being that VMs usually have terrible disk I/O, I've found that it helps noticably to set the Windows host to increase the amount of memory it uses for the disk cache. There's the setting in 'My Computer" > 'Advanced', plus a little-known registry (or group policy- I don't recall off the top of my head) setting that increases it quite a bit more than the GUI-fied switch. You can find it on Google easily enough. -my 2 cents

brudgers 11y ago
Given the way Linux uses physical memory and swap space, pumping up the amount of RAM available to the VM might provide more fine grained control [1]. Since the implication is the developer will be primarily in the VM, constraining the physical memory available to Windows somewhat is less likely to impact performance particularly if Windows configuration is tailored to the usage scenario. [1] And RAM is cheap.

S4M 11y ago

You can use cygwin as a shell, then you will mainly be using a text editor, a browser and a shell that is similar to the Unix shell, so it will not be fundamentally different from Linux - from the user point of view.

arnold_palmur 11y ago
Second this, as a long OSX & Vim user, cygwin was a HUGE relief for the switch to PC for a new job. Definitely an essential piece of software now.

honest_joe 11y ago

Run from such a company. You are just an asset to them that has to obey. You are not doing a nuclear research and there's not a reason for them to force you.

brudgers 11y ago
Professional programming is a team sport.
- honest_joe 11y ago
  That has nothing to do with what i have said.
kasey_junk 11y ago
Thats a pretty drastic position to take. There are any number of reasons why a company might require Windows that are perfectly reasonable. Everything from "Our clients demand it" to "we are governed by obscure legislation foo that requires software of type bar, and the best we found was goo on Windows." I'd mark it down as an oddity and ask why they have such a requirement. Their response may turn it into a red flag, but the simple requirement doesn't.
matt_s 11y ago
This could be said of any company, even ones that let you choose your own workstation. You're fooling yourself if you think that the OS on the workstation indicates some sort of difference in your employer. If they mandated Macs with OSX would it make any difference? They are still mandating something and you are still an employee. Also, use vagrant and build your own custom box to match your production environment's OS flavor, web, app and db server versions. Even if you are on a Mac you should do this.

kasey_junk 11y ago

I've worked in VM environments and they are fine for some degraded definition of fine. You can certainly get most everything done with them if thats what you want. I'd argue a little bit that in this day and age, that unless you have some very specific Linux requirements its a valuable career skill to be able to develop on multiple platforms.

grover_hartmann 11y ago
It's not that I can't develop software on Windows, I could if I really wanted to. It's just that GNU/Linux happens to be my preferred environment for writing code, and I see nothing wrong with that.
- brudgers 11y ago
  I guess the question becomes, is the work important enough to switch? If it isn't then maybe the money is good enough, but that's a bit of a different standard. If the work isn't important and the pay isn't good enough, then there's no reason to take the job.

chewxy 11y ago

Vagrant is your friend. I switched from a linux env to my current job which has a MS stack. Took a few months before I fully got my windows env up and running, and in the meantime Vagrant tided me over

dreaminvm 11y ago

Almost everything is the same using a VM, with the bonus of VM functionality like cloning and changing the hardware specs.

grover_hartmann 11y ago
Changing hardware on Linux is very seamless, unlike Windows.

starshadowx2 11y ago

Are you allowed to use a LiveCD/boot off a USB?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
grover_hartmann 11y ago
Probably not, the use of personal hardware is forbidden, and I think that includes personal USB drives as well.