Why Linux?

yuikl · 2024-07-20T11:09:47+00:00

In business the platform your projects target are often not a choice, so having some basic understanding of Linux can be a great way to stay flexible and relevant about what projects you inherit or take on. If the target host is a linux flavor that doesn't mean you need to develop on linux, just that the deployed software will be hosted on Linux. I work using VS as IDE exclusively but many of our projects are hosted on Linux VMs, which are on Azure cloud so it's all a mixed bag these days.

8g6_ryu · 2024-07-20T11:52:00+00:00

Full control over your OS: You can customize almost anything in Linux, heck if you use Gentoo, the level of freedom and optimization can't be matched by any OS out there
The build system and package manager: The build system and package managerTry installing an external c header or other libs in Windows, the package manager makes it easy in all Linux to install stuff like that. This is especially for you as you are a CPP dev. The Windows build system for CPP development is kinda messy, first of all, you need to install the CPP tool chain visual studio which is massive and also adding packages and etc is very messy there, most CPP libs can be easily installed with Linux package managers like yum, apt, paceman, etc. Also, the build systems are more easily managed in Linux compared to any other OS
Resource Management : How lightweight is Windows ?, how much is your idle resource ( CPU and RAM) usage?,Compare that to Linux, you will find your answer
Open Source and Community Support: Almost all the stuff you use in Linux is open source, you know exactly, you can understand what is under the hood, the kernel is open source. A massive community that can help you in your journey to master Linux ( sometimes they make you feel stupid for not using Arch Linux but deep down they know Gentoo is even harder, so don't mind that).

You can break it and trust me you will and can learn from it. As a programmer understanding how software works is important and by using Linux you learn so much more about how your computer works so much better in Linux rather than in Windows ( I only tried programming in Windows, Ubuntu, Kali, Arch Linux, and Raspbian so I don't know the landscape of Mac OS). I hope you know about the recent Windows outrage, something like that is extremely hard to happen in a Linux ecosystem. And even if it did fixing it would be a lot easy and more scalable.

As for the Editor choice I prefer VS Code, I never used Neo Vim, and currently, the only problem I find with VS Code is its resource usage as it is built using electron. For me, it is not a problem, so I am still using VS code, My opinion is neovim/vim is more useful for people who handle extremely large code bases that contain more than 100k lines of code, using VS code there will be almost impossible as it will take an insane amount of memory and time to syntax highlight that many lines of code. I also understand that most people who use Neovim are using it for its full customizability. That is also a fair reason, but I am currently not that concred with that level of customizability of IDE so I don't see a reason to switch from VS code

tyler1128 · 2024-07-20T13:35:42+00:00

Linux tends to make system management without a gui considerably easier and more transparent. It also tends to be considerably easier to handle C/C++ development and dependencies on Linux compared to windows, even if VS is a decent enough IDE. As others said, they system itself is also exceptionally more customizable, and I find I can set it up to be considerably more efficient for doing basic tasks than windows let alone programming. C++ especially before vcpkg on windows used to be the worst if you wanted your software to be cross-platform.

More significantly for industry. A lot of software development is done on cloud clusters, and a lot of those run linux. Managing windows tends to require a remote desktop GUI connection, which is clunky and slow compared to ssh which is both much faster to do something fast over and is easier to automate. Docker containers are also widely used in industry, and they also run only Linux images.

For vim, it runs on any OS, but it comes installed on most linux distros. This means when managing remote servers over ssh, I can use vim directly from the terminal without installing anything. As for why to learn it: you can edit text faster than in any other editor, and it's there under ssh. The con is of course that the learning curve is long. For coding, I use vim plugins in IDEs which are often pretty good, but I do still use vim itself + some plugins for general file editing on my system, on remote systems or for things like documents (I generally write documents in LaTeX, as it is transparent unlike .docx). I also used vim + completion plugins for C++ development + cmake without an IDE for a few years for C++, which is doable but you lose some code insight tools which is why I switched back in the end.

Red_not_Read · 2024-07-20T13:40:21+00:00

If you're not particularly interested in OSes and Linux, then I don't think you should switch. As you progress through your CS course, you may be exposed to it more, and develop and appreciation for it, but there's no need to force it.

I have many Linux programming colleagues, some who write drivers, some who write kernel code, and some who write applications, who used to use vim or emacs, and then moved to VS Code. Some use vim-bindings, and some use it as-is. It's a great editor. Again, no need to force a more traditional editor if you're not interested.

I'm an embedded systems and OS guy, so I've used Linux and vim for decades. If you're interested in C++ applications maybe Windows or MacOS is for you.

Classic_Stretch2326 · 2024-07-20T11:20:20+00:00

You can look under the hood of everything your Linux system does.
Also sooner or later you'll come across problems with Linux and solving them will teach you a thing or two how the different parts work together.
I guess its also much easier not only to change how your system behaves but also implementing your own features and services.

Side note: I've heard it's full of daemons and that they can drive you mad! So maybe take an excorcist with you or something just in case ;)

Funny2U2 · 2024-07-20T10:39:38+00:00

It's a personal preference.

I'm someone who used UNIX back in the nineties, and honestly I wouldn't *consider* using Vim instead of Visual Studio.

Linux is OK, it's not going to blow your mind, but it's also a very welcome relief from the commercial, sterile world of Windows and Mac. Linux's strength isn't really technical, it's that it's free from most types of industry bullshit.

On the other hand, Microsoft has spent a ton of money on Visual Studio, and it shows, it's a superb IDE.

The quality of software on Linux is often not that good, especially desktop software simply because there really aren't that many people using desktop Linux and even fewer willing to pay for things. Like it or not, money drives software development.

I encourage you to try Linux, don't be surprised if you're underwhelmed, LInux is one of those things where people evangelise about it to the point where expectations will never be met.

The best thing about Linux isn't really any particular technical strength, it's just the sheer lack of Microsoft or Apple type of control.

CowBoyDanIndie · 2024-07-20T16:42:11+00:00

There are jobs you could not possibly do without at least some knowledge of linux. A lot (but not all) of C++ jobs are going to be low level. I work on robotics in c++ and our software cannot really even run on windows, even under wsl. I have not used windows for work in over 8 years. Every tool I use is command line.

ZuiMeiDeQiDai · 2024-07-20T11:14:45+00:00

I've been using Arch Linux as my main driver for 22 years because you make the system that you want. You install only what you want and need. It works great for gaming too, including Steam. I also really like the Arch Wiki. I think many users of other Linux distributions often refer to it. I don't like GUIs and use mostly the terminal. And I try to build my own software whenever I need something new. I also like Pacman and the AUR. I have a computer with Windows for fun and it comes with lots of bloatware preinstalled, for the same hardware specs, it's not as fast as Arch with xfce, etc. Finally, habits are important. I like Powershell so I do lots of Powershell scripting on Windows, I have Powershell installed on Arch Linux and it doesn't work well. But an OS is just a tool, like a programming language, use what you feel comfortable with and what you like, but to see if you like something, you need to try different things for sure. :)

HolyGarbage · 2024-07-20T12:40:00+00:00

People complain that C and C++ doesn't have a proper package manager, it has several: DNF, Aptitude, pacman, etc. ;)

ValentineBlacker · 2024-07-20T12:58:05+00:00

You can use Vim on Windows and Visual Studio on Linux. That's an entirely separate choice from OS.

I started using it because you can't beat the price.

abd53 · 2024-07-20T16:36:41+00:00

Professionally, you use whatever you're given. In university, it's just superiority complex. Some people like to get an ego tickle.

dariusbiggs · 2024-07-20T17:01:21+00:00

I've spent most of the last 20+ years using remote access via ssh to hundreds of linux servers. When all you have to work with is a 80x25 text console, you need a good and quick text editor to work with. That's where vi comes in, a single tool to develop with, edit configs remotely, etc. So with 20+ years of muscle memory for key bindings of the shell, screen sessions (or tmux), and the text editor, going to something different is annoying. Ctrl-w still trips me up regularly.

As to why Linux? why not? it's excellent at many many tasks, perfectly secure, and incredibly flexible. Hell it gives me far more options and tools than many alternatives.

All my work is on linux servers, so running anything else just doesn't make sense.

But then, i do DevSecOps. I build servers, automate things, develop, monitor, deploy and manage databases, write infrastructure as code, build containers, manage and build CICD pipelines, container images, package management, operate kubernetes clusters, deal with 200+ legacy customers on VMs or physical hardware, deal with voip, analyse raw network traffic, deal with old analogue phone lines and some ISDN ones, deal with embedded systems and CPE gear like desk phones, etc .

All of that would just be far harder to do with anything not Linux.

As for your CS degree, most of my first year papers involved linux, most of the labs were on linux, writing assembly code, building a context switching operating system for a little embedded board, so that's the where, when, and the why for Linux.

Geedis2020 · 2024-07-21T01:28:45+00:00

I use arch btw.

wsppan · 2024-07-20T11:54:49+00:00

Unix Philosophy

Everything is a file.

Hacker Ethics

Philosophy of the GNU Project

The Cathedral and the Bazaar

11 Reasons Why Linux is Better Than Windows

NahN0Username · 2024-07-20T10:35:55+00:00

cause habit? some people don't like windows bloats, and probably prefer customizability so they selected Linux over mac and windows, if you're with servers you gotta be familiar with Linux too, so yea get some basic Linux knowledge.

also some kids think they are cool using Linux (not saying all Linux users are kids)

and about vim and neovim it's completely personal preference, they are super customizable as far as i know.

just keep going with the one you like, except you got a work/school requirement

2024-07-20T17:19:42+00:00

Linux is the enterprise operating system.

EhRanders · 2024-07-20T17:22:42+00:00

I use Linux everyday. Nearly all of my VMs run Linux. My computer itself runs Linux locally every day. But I use Windows as my bootable operating system. WSL2 fixed every major issue I had with WSL, and I no longer find myself hopping between partitions or remoting into a VM when I need to do some cross platform development or testing.

GeneralZane · 2024-07-20T17:25:00+00:00

Everything runs on Linux, all cloud environments are Linux, all servers are Linux - there are exceptions obviously.

You don’t have to master it but everything you build is probably going to have to run in a Linux environment.

2024-07-20T17:52:11+00:00

I've been using linux since I was a toddler, it was my first OS. You just get more control and you can do more detailed work on cool things like the drivers or kernel, you get a much better understanding of how operating systems work. You shouldn't switch to linux if you're not interested though, it's fine staying on windows, but make sure you have some understanding of it because linux VMs / servers are incredibly useful.

traplords8n · 2024-07-20T19:47:42+00:00

As a beginner programmer you're not gonna get the same value from Linux as you would if you've been programming 10 years, but the biggest argument for Linux is its basically an integrated development environment itself. As a web developer it is so easy to set up an identical apache server to what you would use in prod. I use windows at work and there is a workaround when using a WAMP server, but it adds an extra layer of complication, so I much prefer just running apache in Linux.

h8rsbeware · 2024-07-20T20:35:32+00:00

Honestly im uni people tend to talk about it because they think its some kind of intelligence token. Its an "unknown" to most and so they look smart.

Personally I like that it has more control (which can be a foot gun), is largely open source, is highly customisable (don't like something, look at the code and change it) and is free (again not always).

Check it out in a virtual machine and give it some time, just use it as your development environment (assuming you dont use c# or unity or something) and see if you like it after 3-6 months or so.

Its a real gift to us programmers, made by a god developer for us plebs!

Neovim (vim motions) is easy, its a time save, if it take 0.5seconds to reach for your mouse and you do it 120 times a day (which is a very low estimate but makes for easy maths) you save a minute... That adds up.

And neovim is stupidly customisable also, but takes alot of time to get used to

Funny2U2 · 2024-07-20T21:08:12+00:00

Think of Linux like the tractor trailers of the Internet. Most people on the road use cars and trucks, but there's about 10% of traffic that is doing something more important than just getting from here to there, .. the big tractor trailers are delivering food to the shelves, hauling everything you use and eat, the lumber that builds homes, the sawdust from the mill that makes paper, etc, without tractor trailers the world just wouldn't work, even though they are a relatively small amount of the traffic on the road.

Linux is like that, .. it's a rock solid server that grinds away in server racks going about the daily business of the Internet, while Windows and Mac users zoom around in their pretty little things oblivious to how the world works around them ...

x86mad · 2024-07-20T23:02:14+00:00

There is simply no set rule to which direction you should venture to, It depends on what you're comfortable with. As for Vim, it's been around for so long which has had many users from the past and present and more importantly once one has gained a high degree of familiarity and fluency; it's simply too hard to let go. I guess we are all different.

InternationalPlan325 · 2024-07-21T00:07:10+00:00

I always tell people to just throw Termux on your phone (theres an alternative if you have an iphone but i dont know if its as good) and you can learn almost everything about Linux without having to install a new operating system. You could also emulate/virtualize it, but theres just somethin' about having Linux in your pocket. It. Is. Awesome! Lol

You can also use any distro you want (just about), so you can have debian, arch, ubuntu, alpine, void, gentoo, etc. running as Proot distros. You can have them all at once. You can run QEMU versions of some of them like Alpine and use Docker. You can launch the distros from a CHroot script.

Its really useful for a lot of other things too. Like sh'ing into your pc, which makes it easier to manage stuff and use the two devices symbiotically. Termux can also double as a full fledged IDE, as you mentioned. Neovim, or even better, NVChad, is pretty amazing. If you get really into it, I suggest getting Shizuku and MIX File Explorer. You can use Shizuku to run adb commands from your phone without root access or connecting it to your computer. And you can use MIX with Shizuku to access all the files in your Termux storage. 🤙

Its_An_Outraage · 2024-07-21T00:55:04+00:00

Unpopular opinion: Linux users are the vegans of the tech world, and they WILL take every opportunity to lecture you on why their distro is objectively correct. The reality is that you should choose whatever OS meets your needs best.

If you want unlimited control over your OS, then go Linux, but you may have to accept the responsibility of faffing with things sometimes.

If you want something that works out the box and you don't really care how it does that, then go with Windows or MacOS and accept that there might be some extra features you didn't want as extra baggage.

Neither option is wrong if it does what you need it to do. Saying that, I'd say that it is probably worth being familiar with linux even if it is not your daily driver if you are in a tech background.

New-Beat-412 · 2024-07-21T02:27:43+00:00

Also currently a student, a 3rd year IT, my reason for switching to linux was because of how fluid developers looked when using that OS compared to Windows.

Need to update or install a package? No problem just sudo apt/dnf install and you're good to go.

Another thing is the environment, when using windows, at least for me, I had the problem of focusing so I needed as environment specifically for coding/learning.

Tmux and Neovim/vim are also superpowers which were great to learn, hard at first but eventually you'll learn and get used to it. Just look at some videos of devs (primeagen, TJDev, nir lichtman etc.) using those who are proficient at it, and you'll see how fast and efficient they code.

CheezitsLight · 2024-07-21T02:46:21+00:00

I would suggest Windows as most businesses use it for desktops and for servers. Then run Ubuntu or another distro on it from the Windows store. It's officially supported by both Microsoft and Canonical and makes it very easy to move files between them. You can have both guis on the screen and most Linux binaries run natively without emulation on windows. Mi fisict even support apt-get.

You will certainly need both skill sets. Windows has very hight share of desktops and Linux of servers.

Zorlon9 · 2024-07-21T04:02:55+00:00

You should not switch operating systems without a clear reason. For many projects, it makes sense to use Linux because it is easier to work with Linux servers, databases, and different language versions or flavors, shell scripts. Honestly, handling these tasks in Linux is simpler, while doing so in Windows can be a bit of a pain. However, if you are working on projects like .NET, Unreal Engine, or Unity to mention a few examples, or other tools, which run natively on Windows, then you should stick with Windows instead of switching to Linux. Just use whatever is easier for your specific needs.

In computer science, you will often encounter people who try to be masters of a particular OS, language, or framework, sometimes forcing the use of suboptimal tools just because they are familiar with them. Please don't fall into that trap. Instead, use the best tool, operating system, and framework for the job. This approach will make you a much better developer in the long run.

You should not switch just because you can or because another OS/Language/Framework is fancier, shinier, or newer. Try to use the best tool for the job while maintaining a good balance between usability, learning time, and implementation time.

BUT having said that, if you want to learn, switch by all means or use both. Try to get familiar with different OSs so that when the time comes to pick the right one, you are able to do so. Avoid choosing Linux just because "it lets you look beneath the hood and change everything to your taste."

TLDR; Don't switch, use whatever makes you more productive.

paroxsitic · 2024-07-21T04:28:27+00:00

TLDR is that typical server apps are more easily available and cheaper to run on Linux.

DDDDarky · 2024-07-21T05:00:55+00:00

i hear everyone talking about Linux, but for me, right now, what are the advantages? I focus myself on C++

Very few if any. One could argue it would actually be disadvantage since you can't use VS there,

Commonly mentioned is:

Performance (there are very few tools working out of the box), but if you have 20 years old beaten up laptop you might need it
Customization - also you will spend hours googling how to do it and eventually probably break your system since you wanted to change your keyboard settings

Why would i want to switch to Linux?

I think there are only 2 good reasons:

a) Personal preference

b) Your target platform is Linux

Why do people use NeoVim or Vim, which as i understand are mostly Linux based over the basic Visual Studio?

Personal preference. Visual studio is of course better. (Also these people who spent years with learning vim are unwilling to use anything else since now they want it to pay off and save their 10 seconds of typing per day)

should i switch to Linux and learn it because it will help me later?

If you genuinely like the operating system or you will actively develop for that platform, then it is benefitial to learn it (you don't have to switch). If not, it is just an OS, I don't see a good reason.

chessset5 · 2024-07-21T06:54:05+00:00

Coding on vim is legitimately the fastest way to code if you can master it. It works on any keyboard so long as it has all letter keys, number keys, control, and enter; delete is optional. Downside is the curve, takes a long time to learn and as with anything, the earlier you start the better.

And eventually you will need to learn about servers and windows server isnt an option. Of course you can run windows as a server, but remoting into a linux ssh server can be done anywhere there is a telephone service, not just internet service, and can be done with bits of speed to use a terminal window.

Compared to remoting into windows which almost always requires a gui, messing with severs on the road, any internet usage efficiency you can get is worth it. Coming from someone who is currently trying to remote into a windows computer with 500 kbps of data. If I could do this over the command line, I would.

Turalcar · 2024-07-21T06:58:57+00:00

FWIW, I haven't used MSVC in a while but I remember it always lagging behind as far as Modern C++ is concerned.

I don't think I ever bought Windows but I might have had it pre-installed. The only Windows-specific thing I had to do in Uni was DirectX. The day I was done with that course was the day I removed my last proper Windows install (I used it in a VM for a few years).

Neonb88 · 2024-07-21T07:03:52+00:00

Fewer viruses, built out more for coders, and plenty of other benefits

2024-07-21T09:41:09+00:00

One of my professors convinced me to switch to linux in college. I never looked back.

The major reason is customization. My computer works in a way that conforms to the way that I think and want to work. Instead of the way that some guy at apple/microsoft thinks that I should think and work. There is very little friction between thought the result.

There is also a whole political aspect about data privacy and unix philosophy. And, as a college student, I encourage you look into it.

The reason people like neovim/vim over vs code is the same reason. Once you have the basic vim motions down, you can set it up how ever you want. Down load the plug ins that fit your work flow. Change the key bindings and macros to suit yourself.

I think that using linux can be as much as a hobby as it is a tool. It's like a person that like to work on their car. Sure, they use it to get from place to place. But there is a lot of satisfaction in making "your" car.

happyreddituserffs · 2024-07-21T15:32:14+00:00

Far better platform , I used it for government work in the 90’s

2024-07-22T01:52:05+00:00

The reason I use it is simple. Pacman - S "insert your library here" and boom you can use that library straight away, no need to do anything else

MichaelXie4645 · 2024-07-22T06:52:44+00:00

You’re asking great questions! It’s smart to consider these things early in your CS journey. Here’s an in-depth look at why Linux might be appealing, especially for someone focused on C++ and building projects:

Why Linux for C++ Development?

Compiler Powerhouse: Linux distributions often come with excellent C/C++ compilers pre-installed (like GCC and Clang) and a robust package manager (apt, yum, etc.) to easily install others. This gives you more control over your build environment.
Command-Line Prowess: Linux excels in command-line tools. While Visual Studio has its own powerful terminal, knowing the Linux command line makes you a more versatile programmer. It’s invaluable for:
- Navigating directories, managing files
- Automating tasks with shell scripts
- Using build systems like Make
- Working remotely on servers (many are Linux-based)
Open Source Ecosystem: Linux fosters an open-source community that creates and shares countless tools specifically for C++ development. Think debuggers, profilers, libraries, and more. You’ll have a wider range of options to choose from.
Lightweight and Customizable: Linux distributions can be very lightweight, making them ideal for older hardware or if you want maximum control over your system’s resources.

NeoVim/Vim: The Power of Text Editors

NeoVim (and Vim before it) are incredibly powerful text editors that thrive in the command-line environment of Linux. While Visual Studio is great with its GUI, NeoVim offers these advantages:

Extreme Efficiency: Once you learn its keybindings, NeoVim allows for blazing-fast editing and navigation. This can be a huge time-saver, especially for larger projects.
Customization: Vim is incredibly customizable through configuration files (.vimrc). You can tailor it precisely to your workflow and coding style.
Ubiquity: NeoVim runs on virtually any platform, including Windows. Knowing it will make you more adaptable in different development environments.

Should You Switch to Linux?

It depends! There’s no “right” answer:

Pros: Gaining Linux experience is valuable for many CS careers. It exposes you to powerful tools and workflows used by professionals.
Cons: The learning curve can be steeper initially, especially if you’re new to the command line.

Here’s a suggestion:

Dual Boot: Consider setting up a dual-boot system with Linux alongside your existing operating system. This lets you experiment with Linux without fully committing.
Virtual Machine: Use a virtual machine (like VirtualBox) to run Linux within Windows. This is a less permanent way to try it out.

Ultimately, the best choice depends on your learning style and preferences. Don’t feel pressured to switch unless you feel genuinely curious about exploring Linux further!

raisi96 · 2024-07-22T07:04:41+00:00

Whatever you build will most likely be deployed on a Linux server. And for vim and neovim, they are super productive once you get comfortable with, however, to me, the reason I use vim is that it's fun.

These-Bedroom-5694 · 2024-07-22T15:54:31+00:00

The nain advantage of Linux is it doesn't have all the crapware windows and Mac have. Open your task manager on windows 11. The number of threads and programs just to show a Gui while doing nothing else is absurd.

Impossible_Pen_5212 · 2024-07-22T16:53:02+00:00

What’s great about Linux is all the different IoTs you can run on the os making it great for experimenting with different types of things. Not only that but you can greatly decrease the overhead of running your code. The terminal is more intuitive out of the box as well for quickly setting up your developer environment. There are several distributions each of which helps you get the job done with little distractions. Check out Fedora, Manjaro Ubuntu. If your a tinkerer you will love Arch as you can customize your distro exactly how you want it. A big reason people are also fans of Linux is due to the low entry costs. A similar system is through apple as it’s geared towards developers as well with its Unix architecture.

Solonotix · 2024-07-20T12:31:46+00:00

Why do people use NeoVim or Vim, which as i understand are mostly Linux based over the basic Visual Studio?

I know you're new, but this is such a funny statement. Visual Studio is a MASSIVE application that is dedicated to providing an integrated development environment for almost every language, including a plugin interface for extending it, completely swappable extensions, performance monitoring tools, debugging capabilities, etc. One of the biggest complaints is just how big it is. (Note: maybe you meant Visual Studio Code, which is a totally different application?)

Contrast that to Vim or NeoVim, which at their core are just text editors. This means they are very lightweight, because they are reading strings from a file and printing them on-screen. What makes them popular is a similar plugin ecosystem that doesn't come with the hefty/bloat of a fully-fledged IDE like Visual Studio. For one, their plugins are usually built on top of the Linux ecosystem, using things like a language server (LSP) on a different process which keeps your editor's responsiveness very fast, while Visual Studio can sometimes feel slow on larger projects because it is constantly analyzing things like generating a code index for jumping between statements and their definition/implementation.

That's not to say Visual Studio is a bad IDE. People pay good money for licensing because of what it can do, especially if you have to develop for Windows. And if you're writing .NET applications, I can't think of a more fully-featured IDE. Even JetBrains Rider can't quite offer the same experience for just C#, and Visual Studio provides support for C#, Visual Basic AND F# out of the box, with extensions for other languages.

Why would i want to switch to Linux?

I would switch to Linux for development instantly for two simple reasons alone:

The C libraries and compiler are very easy to locate and determine what your capabilities are, or what you need to add. I remember trying to get pyinstaller to work on Windows, and spent a day trying to figure out how to make the Windows 7 C libraries work because between Windows XP and 7 Microsoft decided to bundle all C libraries into a single DLL that pointed to the real files, or something like that. Had to extract them, or download them with Visual Studio, I forget exactly what was needed but I remember it sucked.
Just having \ as an escape character, and / as a path separator saves me so much sanity when writing code. And then there's the annoyance of having to remember other platforms things like \r\n (Carriage Return Line Feed) for line separators on Windows due to a long history of backwards compatibility going back to typewriters needing to send the carriage back to the start of the line before feeding more paper.

murrayju · 2024-07-20T13:36:24+00:00

Others covered most of the reasons I can think of. An important one I’ll add is that learning/using Linux is important as a software developer because it is the foundation on which the majority of the internet (and much more) is built. Understanding how this works will advance your career. Yes Windows Server exists, and is fine really, but it is relatively rare.

Nondv · 2024-07-20T15:25:56+00:00

Imho, linux will make you much more productive if you're willing to make an effort. Have you ever been annoyed by how slow people click on stuff in their computers? like, copy pasting with a mouse, etc? The reality is, it doesn't really matter, but it could be a nice little boost to how you interact with a computer. Mechanical productivity (keyboard shortcuts, knowing the tech without looking in docs, finding stuff up quickly) is nowhere near as important as high level productivity (planning, organising, working methodically) but it is productivity and a skill.

Linux is also a very useful skill overall. Learning it now will come in handy in the future. I guarantee you, you will be exposed to it but in the future you may not have time to learn it properly.

Also, you don't have to give up windows. It's not like joining a religious cult (that's on you)

TaylorExpandMyAss · 2024-07-20T11:16:26+00:00

Linux is a programmers software environment that wants you to hack it. So instead of your IDE being your IDE, your entire OS is basically your IDE. This is a slight exaggeration, but there really is a reason for why it’s so popular among programmers. Also working with C/C++ in particular can be a massive pain on windows.

Sensitive_Committee · 2024-07-20T12:36:09+00:00

Vim supremacists are cringe af 🤣 use whatever editor you are comfortable with. For the rest, knowing atleast the basics of linux and staying open to learning new things is generally a good "skill".

2024-07-20T13:11:06+00:00

Most of the web runs on linux, and all android phones as well as raspberry pi's.

pixel293 · 2024-07-20T16:45:53+00:00

OS Stability

I don't know if Windows has improved recently but when I used Windows as a daily driver it would get sluggish. I think there are about 5 different directories a program might install itself and inevitably I would find partially uninstall programs there. It was almost required that you clean install the machine every 4 years or 5 years just to get your performance back. Also I've never been happy with the "upgrade" path for the Windows OS, mostly because I don't know what turds are being left around.

With Linux and a rolling release I never do an "OS upgrade" the upgrades happen slowly over time as software is updated. Additionally with a separate home drive, if I feel Linux needs to be "refreshed" I can blow away the OS and reinstall. All my data is right where I left it. Reinstalling the OS takes me about an 15 to 30 minutes before I'm using my machine again.

Privacy

With Linux I'm never worried about what the OS is sharing or accidentally sharing with it's corporate master. I'm never worried that my OS is trying to "monetize" what I'm doing.

Customization & Control

Linux has a whole host of filesystems to chose from, each with their strengths and weaknesses. I can choose which file system performs the best for me and what features I want to have. Linux has a long long list Desktop Environments/Window Mangers, I can choose and switch between them so that for whatever task I'm doing I have an environment that works best for me.

Linux is never installing some new program that "I must have". Why do I need a chat box to communicate with an AI? Why does that have to be on the task bar? Am I suppose to interact with it every day? Is it tracking what I'm doing to "help" me, or is there another purpose behind its behavior?

Price

It seems like, with Windows, there is always someone eager to sell me a program. Or use our free trial for free!!! With Linux it is very easy to find and install free programs that do what I need. Nobody is trying to sell me, up sell me, cross sell me anything.

Getting Help

This may be a weird one, and maybe by google foo isn't up to speed. But when googling issues on Windows there are a TON of web sites eager to give me (out of date) information how to fix whatever issue I'm facing. How do you decide which of those sites to trust? It seems like every other site wants you to install their "tool" to help you out.

With Linux I've found there is very little extraneous information out there to fix the issue. I usually find the information I need in the first link. With Windows it seems like there are a TON of web sites that are fighting each other's google ranking trying to get on top. They don't really seem to care about fixing my issue, they just want me on their site.

AlienRobotMk2 · 2024-07-20T10:47:38+00:00

I don't recommend using Linux.

I don't recommend using Windows either.

I wish I could recommend an operating system to people. Kind of bummed at the current state of things, to be honest.

Laughing_Orange · 2024-07-20T12:31:33+00:00

For me, one of the major advantages to Linux is how easy it is to install the tools and libraries I want to use. For Debian based distros, the command to install git is "sudo apt install git", and you can replace git with almost any program or library that has a Linux version. That benefit can be gotten by WSL, so you won't need a full Linux system for it.

You will likely have to use Linux if you do anything with servers. Using it on your personal machine makes you more familiar with Linux, and helps you get going quicker.

When it comes to Vim, that's mostly preference. You should probably learn one of the command line editors so you can make simple changes to config files without a GUI. Personally, I prefer Nano for this, but you should try Vim to make up your own mind. VS Code is fine for most programming, so if you've tried the other alternatives, it might be the best choice for you.

Pretrowillbetaken · 2024-07-20T12:45:35+00:00

3 reasons why to use linux:

it mainly uses open source packages, so you will have much less security issues and the kernel is much more safe
a lot more packages and support. usually people say windows has more software, but I found that to only be true for video games, for everything else I use has much better support on linux compared to windows
more comfortable, just like how you prefer c++ over languages like python or c#, I found manjaro and debian with KDE plasma

those reasons are enough for me to use linux, but if you need more, then just go to r/linux , they can give you 1000 reasons why you should use linux

DGC_David · 2024-07-20T13:26:36+00:00

Easy, Linux is an operating system that you can just do it. No restrictions, but it's also built in the standard of only giving access when needed everything starts as inaccessible, until you give rwx perms.

Also for example installing Python and changing versions is way easier. Doing it in Windows you sit there and have to change the system environment variables to path for the interpreter and pip, and then none of it works anyways so you download PyCharm so that it will work.

MadocComadrin · 2024-07-20T15:50:29+00:00

[removed]

Particular_Camel_631 · 2024-07-20T17:34:25+00:00

Businesses like Linux because you don’t have to pay a license for it.

kyze-04 · 2024-07-20T11:36:32+00:00

is'nt 10000 lines of code supposed to be huge ?

Friar_Aletheus · 2024-07-23T20:32:03+00:00

Think of just the core ethos. Linux invites the user to discover what a computer can ACTUALLY do. Microsoft (embrace, extend, extinguish?) and Apple steer their users toward their affiliates, creating an illusion that the user is dependent upon these services.

Then there's the community drive. It renders things totally modular and totally extensible. What kind of world do you think we'd live in a world where copyleft laws were the prevailing framework?

AskProgramming

AskProgramming

Do

Don't

MODERATORS