DEV Community

Discussion on: Setting Up a Fresh Ubuntu 21.04 Desktop as Personal Computer

Collapse
 
geobrodas profile image
Georgey

Can someone really tell me,
Why Linux??
If it's that important, can you hook up some link for me to refer??

Collapse
 
ryanatk profile image
ryan atkinson

Without fences & walls, you don't need Windows & Gates

Collapse
 
ndom91 profile image
Nico Domino

Why Linux? Its simple - it makes computing fun again, the fact that you and only you own what you do on your computer is a great side-effect, but not the main attraction imo.

Collapse
 
ryanatk profile image
ryan atkinson

It's open source, relatively easy to use and customize, and there are more opportunities to learn thru exploration. If you just want to use Microsoft & Apple consumer-focused software, then Linux is maybe not for you. But if you like to break & fix things to learn how they work, Ubuntu is the best! Also you can typically get away with a much slower (cheaper) computer that might not be able to run Windows.

Collapse
 
vince_bighire_tools profile image
Vince Fulco (It / It's)

Permissioning and directory traversing just seems easier too.

Collapse
 
klvenky profile image
Venkatesh KL • Edited

If someone had asked me this question 2 years ago I would have given a straight forward answer startup time. It's back in those days when my 16gb, i5 processor powered laptop(with a brand new SSD) used to take atleast 3-5 minutes to boot up & be usable. I mean, the startup was slow & is there was a TTI(Time To Interactive) for OSes windows would go at last.

However my perspective has changed recently. I use Ubuntu as my daily driver as it's what we use at work. Recently I've noticed that startup time & reboot time of windows have come down significantly. So now my points to use any linux system for development would be as below

  1. Being able to install docker & nvm comfortably. I use them in a daily basis so, it's better if it's easy to install & use.
  2. Being as close to your production environment, Unless you're hosting your applications on windows servers.
  3. Being able to work on even a decently powered machine(Average processor + 4-8 gb of memory + hard disk drive).
  4. Finance budgets. I know this doesn't apply to big oraganizations as they purchase licences in bulk, but startups which are not having great baking may consider running with minimal finances. So the developer machine bay not be brand new MacBook at all.
  5. Personal comfort. I've been using Ubuntu for almost 5+ years in a row. So I'm more comfortable there so that's an obvious choice.

If at least 3/5 comes as a Yes, then go for a Linux machine.
Point 4 is very prominent though of others. If you have budget you'd obviously go for a MacBook, so you may not even reach this place. So chill out.

Cheers 👍

Collapse
 
unfor19 profile image
Meir Gabay • Edited

WSL2 is quite a game-changer. I used Ubuntu about a year ago, and then I found WSL2, from that moment, I ditched Ubuntu and now I'm using Windows with WSL2.

If you're not developing anything, then Ubuntu (or "Linux") is probably something that you don't essentially need. But for developers ... Working on a UNIX system is quite basic and a must, that's why macOS is also great for development.