My current homescreen setup
I have a 4 year old HP pavilion which until recently, was craving for an upgrade. I had also been wanting to get rid of Windows for the longest time, so killing two birds with one stone, I replaced the existing HDD with a new SSD and performed a clean install of Pop_os! developed by System76 on it (No dual booting). I now use the HDD as an external USB drive with the help of a case, eliminating any worry of data backup.
So why did I not just reinstall Windows on the new SSD ? Well let me explain
1. Linux is completely free.
This holds good not only for the operating system and the kernel, but also for all the software that come bundled with it. When I first bought my laptop, I realized that it did not come with the MS office suite free which means critical functionality like editing documents, excel sheets etc were locked.
I had to turn to open sourced alternatives like LibreOffice writer, which is coincidentally the default document editing application on most Linux distributions. Not to mention the plethora of paid/proprietary software on windows including Antivirus (Which you probably wont need for Linux as malware affecting Linux is rare, probably owing to its unpopularity currently).
2. Pop_os! gets out of your way.
Gnome multitasking with virtual desktops
While the Gnome desktop environment, the default for pop OS, has its fair share of criticisms, it does hold true to its values of getting out of your way to get work done. Gnome has focused on building a very minimal yet functional desktop environment which is intuitive enough for the average user. The layout may be a bit jarring due its departure from the traditional windows design, but once you start using it, you’ll learn to understand that its almost smartphone-esque in its look and feel.
If the default design and working is not up to your liking, then you can tweak and customize it however you want. You can get it to behave like MacOS or Windows complete with a start menu. This is one of the advantages of having a completely open sourced operating system, is that you have complete freedom over its customization. Think of it as downloading new launchers/icon-packs/skins on your android phone. You can have it look however you want if you are willing to put in some time for personalisation.
Notifications panel.
Notifications are located at the center of the top bar and applications are accessed through an application drawer.
Pop OS, as of its 20.04 release, has also released a window tiling manager that is baked into the operating system by default. This allows you to tile and organize all open windows at the click of a button which is extremely useful when multitasking.
It provides a comprehensive list of keyboard shortcuts that are easy to pick up and dare I say even quite intuitive. Here are some shortcuts that I use everyday (while some are similar to windows shortcuts, it is worth noting that the default gnome is built in such a way that it encourages their use better than windows in my opinion) :
super : Opens recent applications view.
super + tab : cycles through open applications.
When in tiling mode
super + g : toggle floating mode.
super + arrow key : toggle between active windows.
super + O : change window orientation.
These were just a few, however you can find the rest on System76’s website
3. Linux is very powerful and secure
It should not come as a surprise that the kernel used by most servers as well as all phones using android is much more powerful and capable than Windows.
Linux supports all the major programming languages ( C/C++, Python, Java, JavaScript etc) in a much more developer friendly way and possesses a much more powerful and versatile terminal than windows. Since Linux was built with servers and server administrators in mind, one can navigate the entire operating system using just the terminal. Something which would be an immense pain in the neck in Windows.
The terminal might seem daunting for someone who has never used it before, but the beauty of user friendly distributions like Pop OS is that you don’t have to! You can navigate and control the OS through the GUI like you would in windows or MacOS. However, that doesn’t mean that you can’t benefit from at least trying the terminal out. So here are some basic commands that can help boost your productivity :
cd - used to change directories
ls - list directory contents
pwd - print name of current/working directory
rm - remove files or directories
mkdir - make directories
rmdir - remove empty directories
clear - clear the terminal screen
touch - change file timestamps ( Can be used to create a new file)
kill - send a signal to a process ( provide the PID as an argument)
top - display Linux processes (task manager)
4. Linux is lightweight
Compared to Windows, Linux uses far less memory on boot and that results in a much more responsive system, even when several applications are open and/or running in the background.
Memory usage with terminal and screenshot app open
A lot of my development, especially in my most recent internship, involved using an android emulator which takes upto 2gb of your ram since its basically a virtual machine. This coupled with windows’ almost 4gb ram usage on boot was a recipe for disaster. Linux not only overcomes this but also provides an option to make it an even better experience. The Android Emulator can use hardware acceleration features to improve performance, sometimes drastically.
5. Package managers are way more organised that .exes and .msis
The main way of installing software on Linux is through package managers. Think of package managers as an app store like the Google play store or Apple’s app store except all the applications are free and so are the updates. You can install/update/remove/purge applications with just a single line of command on the terminal and not have to worry about installers, exe files etc.
It is also much more secure than windows as you are required to enter the lock password anytime you download/install or uninstall a new piece of software. This way is certainly better than displaying a pop up saying “Do you want to allow this app to make changes to your device ?”.
So instead of scouring countless websites to find that one 64_bit.exe all you need to do is sudo apt install anything you need.
6. Linux is developer friendly
This is probably the main reason why I switched over. Linux simply does a better job of supporting developer activities a lot better than windows. Installing new development environments be it Flutter, Angular, React, Android etc is made extremely easy and painless with the terminal and package managers.
In Windows, you might have to configure environment variables, build paths, sdk paths manually all of which is automated in Linux. So with the environment setup out of the way and taken care of, I can focus on actually developing software.
Oldest comments (85)
I love it when people talk about and promote Linux!
Kudos
Appreciate it !
I'm also using pop os and the only thing I hate is it used mac os's like keyboard shortcuts
Linux is one love ❤️❤️❤️
I love linux, the only reqson I keep using windows are some applications that only work on windows.
Just "sudo apt install" them and they'll work perfectly (Or so the author of this would have you believe :p)
Jajajajajaja i wish
My personal laptop is Ubuntu, my work laptop is Windows, but I spend a solid 80% of the time in a Ubuntu VM for development, and the remainder of the time is usually in Chrome on GitLab or emails. I really struggle to use Windows having spent so long within Linux - hardly any of it makes sense.
I just wish more devices were available with Linux installed by default. Or at least with a solid spec. The best I can usually find at any sort of sensible price only have 16GB RAM, and tend to be 13.3" screens. I'd love a 15.6" lightweight Linux laptop with 32GB RAM. It's the only reason I give serious consideration to joining the dark side next time (and going MacBook Pro)
I think Linux is great for servers and for beginners. What I miss from any Linux distro is lack of support from big companies such Microsoft (but it's changing) or Adobe so we don't have still things like MS Office and Photoshop. I was using Ubuntu for 2-3 years and that was really great experience. But then I decided to switch fully for MacBook and MacOS and it is much much better software for programming. I tried to work with Windows but .. it's Windows :(
Idk, I'm forced to use a Mac for work and to this day still do all my personal projects on Linux. Nearly every proprietary software has a FOSS alternative for your Linux distro and I find them just as useful.
I know it all comes down to preferences and what tasks need to be done, so it's not like I'll disqualify your view on mac being the best for development, but for me it certainly isn't as I am far more productive on a Linux machine any day
Same: work laptop = MacOS, personal laptop = Linux.
Microsoft is slowly moving to a SAAS method. The browser based Office 365 will eventually fully replace the full Office suite.
Me too! I have installed Ubuntu just as a recovery system in case Windows dies (it happened once because my HDD is slowly dying)... However, I loved Ubuntu and it's speed (I do Android development) and so it became my main system, and I barely touch Windows now.
However after trying macOS for a while, I plan to switch to a Mac from Linux cuz it's just beautifully amazing for programming and you can find those popular apps there (though i hate how Apple suddenly starts removing support for some widely used technologies, for security and modernity).
The only thing that delays me is the sky-high price for those MacBooks.
Linux is great!
I used PopOS 20.04 for awhile, but its cryptic bootloader and install made multi-booting difficult, and the PopOS store was lacking.
Those awesome features you're describing are really Gnome, and you can use Gnome on a lot of distros.
When you're ready to try something different, consider Debian :)
You should try Manjaro also. It helped to update my kernel to the latest one to support the new AMD processor with GPU.
I use Endeavor OS (a flavor of Arch Linux) and absolutely love it. I use it along with Citrix to remote in to my company's Windows network for work.
I'm also a big fan of Endeavour! I installed in once when I wanted Arch on a machine in a rush and I was pleasantly surprised. It imposes very little of its own infrastructure and just gets out of the way.
Manjaro is a fine distro, and I give big props to the team, but I often felt like I was fighting the Manjaro parts of the system. This is, I think, my own fault for not taking the time to read their fine documentation, so no insult to their hard work, but with Endeavour, things work like I expect. I never have to work around their tooling (or even use any of it), and that's huge.
Endeavour is pretty great generally but especially so for getting a clean and fairly minimal arch system spun up quickly. I know the Arch purists are grumbling right about now, but aren't they always? 😎
Linux are the best life savers for old machines and makes them match the performance same as new ones(most of the time). As a developer one should know Linux, as after development most of the time the deployment and management is done on a Linux running server.
I appreciate the way you covered all the major keys points for newbies.
Appreciate the positivity
I'm glad to see another pro-Linux post. I've always used Windows and still do just because I'm used to it. Reading these kinds of articles make me really consider moving to Linux in the future. 🐧
Glad to hear your interest in Linux! I'd still say if you're dependant on games or proprietary software that's not available on Linux like the Adobe suit or MS office, you'd want to hold off on completely switching over. But then again, there's always the option of dual booting
With the exception of a few titles -- namely ones with invasive and draconian anti-cheat tools that are actively hostile toward Linux -- games work just fine under Linux.
There are definitely subtle compatibility issues between MS Office and the open source alternatives, so if 100% compatibility is necessary and if one needs features the MS Office web apps don't (yet?) provide, then that's a non-starter, but for the most part, either the web apps or LibreOffice and its ilk are sufficient. For example, I literally just bought the first MS Office license in over a decade, and it was only because I needed specific, cutting edge, and highly proprietary Excel functions that couldn't be used anywhere else.
Adobe unfortunately has been hostile to the prospect of supporting Linux, so that's definitely a non-starter if you need it, specifically. Interestingly enough, the need for Adobe products specifically has, in my experience, dwindled dramatically in a great many industries as better tools have arisen, most of which are cross-platform or web-based.
Am I the only one who wants to mention WSL2? I switched from Ubuntu to Windows+WSL2(Ubuntu dist) and I have no problems at all. I have all the functionality of Linux plus access to professional software like Adobe CC.
I love linux and gnome. I use linux from 10 years ago (or more) only linux. And I’m dev too. I never miss win or macos (I have macbook pro 2 years).
Some comments may only be visible to logged-in visitors. Sign in to view all comments.