The DevDiscuss Podcast begins with an interview and ends with commentary from listeners — and we like to feature the actual voices from our community!
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“Why do you or don't you use Linux?”
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Top comments (39)
I went from MacOS to Linux because I no longer believe Apple is the ultimate dev-machine or targeted at pro-users. Plus, Apple and it's closed eco-system is something I can't get behind. Which is all pure personal opinion of course.
After my switch the only regret I have is that I waited this long. The benefit of Linux is that there's so much you can do to make it your own or create your ultimate work environment. Starting with the right distro, DE and making everything exactly how you want it.
Added bonus: FOSS.
I was a long time linux user, so switching would not be difficult.
Only reason I'm sticking to macOS is because of the hardware.
Genuine questions :
If I get good answers to these, I will switch (I've already tried live booting my MBP with various linux distros, so there is that)
I don't really notice battery life because I'm mostly at the (home) office. I do feel like PopOS was pretty good on my Dell and so is Manjaro. Especialy when I switch to Intel only.
Hidpi and mainly a mix of hidpi and lodpi screens is still kind of an issue. This should be resolved when Wayland is fully done.
You should give PopOS a try if you're on a hidpi screen. It's pretty good. I switched back to Manjaro with Gnome because I prefer arch based distros and their package management. But I don't feel much difference in performance tbh.
Gnome has optional fractional scaling (which is on by default in PopOS and which you need to add yourself in Manjaro - takes like 5mins) and I use a 4K screen in my Dell with an external 4K monitor and everything works great. Can set different scaling for both screens etc.
Thanks. Will try PopOS (I used to think it was mainly for System76 machines)
My second hand/repaired HP Envy does about 10 hours on battery running Ubuntu? Workload is rarely too heavy, but my son plays Minecraft on it, and it drives a TV, so not a trivial amount of processing.
Wow. Which version of Ubuntu ? Did you do any tweaks ?
laptop-mode
or something ? (I haven't used linux in over 5 yrs, so not sure if that is still a thing)Nah, I mean, the monitor often stays off? The meter says 4.something hrs, but it lasted over 10 hrs after the power went out the other day, and he'd been playing on it for a bit. It's got an 8 cell battery and a non-original SSD, running Ubuntu Groovy. I was very impressed, as I've never had another laptop last near that long.
A lot of people are saying something about privacy In Linux by using Google , Gmail or chrome , I don't buy it, for me Linux is much much easier then other OS, first software delivery using package managers, second window managers, third vim , fourth minimalism ,I know that my laptop is running only what I want , also , with window manager and minimal setup gnu/Linux doesn't require a lot of resources , I will be happy to discuss it with you, sorry too lazy to record a voice message
My computer is bloated and filled with pirated software. This includes the Window itself. It slows down my computer so much to the point that deleting fies won't help. Besides, no one uses that computer anymore.
I cannot upgrade my computer because I am broke. So I delete everything to install Linux (Currently,I use popOS but I want to use Endeavor or Void.) Everything seems to be faster. I hope I can get a chance to upgrade my PC as well because my Macbook is not suitable for gaming. Even Minecraft heats my Macbook so much.
Have been a Linux user for around 5 years now and there is no going back for me. I have been long term windows user before that wnd I also use a mac from time to time for work but those can't compare to Linux when it comes to freedom and the satisfaction you get out of doing anything exactly the way you want
My dev.to post summarize it
dev.to/deepu105/my-beautiful-linux...
What is funny is that I am a .Net Developer, and I have been using Linux as my daily driver for about five years now. I have made the switch because of Windows Update and I stayed because of the power Linux gave me, and everything runs smoothly even though my laptop have nine years. I don't miss anything from Windows, and I have been able to do everything I had to do on it
I am using Linux for the last 3 years because it is faster than Windows 10. As a computer science student, I do a lot of coding and for me, Linux is a much better platform for writing a piece of code of any programming language, there is no need of setting programming environment for each and every IDE's like in windows 10, just install the compiler/interpreter of language and run where you want.
Yep! I just published a new article on DEV about my journey from Windows to Linux:
Article No Longer Available
I also wrote about the Linux terminal a few weeks ago:
Linux Terminal: The Ultimate Cheat Sheet
Mauro Garcia ・ Jan 25 ・ 15 min read
Among many reasons why you should at least try Linux:
You may consider not using Linux if:
I use Linux in My laptop as well as desktop. I started with Linux 20 years ago because I liked its philosophy and there is no copyright violation, no cost, and it serves my purpose completely.
I am not technical person so I can not contribute but I speak and popularise it.
I use Linux. But also Windows. I prefer Linux for a variety of tasks as it much better supports the concept of a general purpose computer. Like others have said, I can eek out a few more years of usability from hardware by switching to Linux. My VMs run Linux as well as my CI and CD pipelines, (either in a VM or Linux container.)
I don't use Linux for my primary human interface systems. Those are windows, as that is what it is best at. Presenting tools and interfaces to the user. (and games, I know there are Linux games and many games for Windows can run in Linux, but its not worth my time when something that works is right there)
For any kind of server process, Linux is ideal. Server processes that require Windows mean I'm looking for an alternative.
A lot of the utility comes from extensive package repositories, open source software, mature build tools and scripting for automation.
Windows has power-shell, but it's often not straight forward, and relies on the applications you're using having good APIs or command line tools which can be a hindrance when missing.
I live and die by command-line utilities, Python, and Docker. These don't work well in Windows (even using WSL), so this leaves Linux and Mac as my options. The limited hardware choices for Mac mean that I'm better served by Linux for most things.
I use Linux not because windows or mac sucks, i use it because I like my pc with minimal bloat and spyware. And it's much better to use linux for web development than using WSL etc.
Terminal saves my time and my laptop specifications are average so Linux works flawlessly on it.
I've used Linux since it was distributed on floppy disks (yeah, I'm old). Soon after, I dumped Windows for good.
Today, I use Linux for everything, including posting this comment from Android, if you think about it. I also use it for work as my company offers everyone their choice of OS.
Why I use Linux? It is about choice. About always having another way of doing things. Always a better way of doing things. Ii is, in a word, Freedom itself.
The short answer, I use Linux because my brother introduced it to me. This includes dvorak, vim, and the internet. Basically everything we know as modern computing today my brother showed me in the 90's.
Why I continue to run Linux, I will summarize as: if it isn't working reboot and it will continue to not work. To me this is a statement of consistency. It is unfortunate that it means a fix needs to be identified and applied, but I think I am all the more knowledgeable because of it.
This last year I built an AMD system and no longer have a dual boot to Windows. Unfortunately my day job is in Windows.
I use Linux, on my personal laptop, on my gaming PC under WSL, on servers and in Docker containers for development.
I use it because it's convenient and more user-friendly than alternative systems - though I'm well aware that one one user feels is "friendly" is different to another.
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