The REAL reason we use Linux | Hacker News Reader

The REAL reason we use Linux

blog.anamazingmind.com

23 pointsnaish16 comments

Hm... that was probably true whenever I was 18 ;) These days I use Linux because:

- All hacker's software is developed for Linux first, and then ported to other platforms later.

- GNU tools, proper command line, various file systems.

- Linux window management beats the hell out of Windows, and slightly better than Mac OS X in my opinion. Gnome is slowly shaping up into a premier desktop.

- Linux offers font rendering that is vastly superior to Microsoft's and Apple's despite their stupid patents. This is a matter of taste, of course, but you can tweak it to render exactly what you prefer. Windows is unusable on high-DPI LCDs.

- There is more software for Linux. Yes, in absolute numbers Windows probably wins, but if you account for junkware, Linux wins easily.

- It is easier to install and remove software on Linux, especially on Debian-based distros.

- There are many Linuxes. If Canonical/Ubuntu start driving me crazy I can always go back to Debian.

Mac OS X scores many points for being a proper UNIX too, but they're more commercialialized that I can digest: too many software comanies who'd be happy to charge you for a stupid screen saver. Even TextMate is not free and not open sourced. Pathetic.

Couldn't have said this better myself. I have just started working on a Mac and I love the looks, but Linux is still more flexible and powerful than a Mac. apt-get is too hard to beat. Hopefully, in the near term when compiz matures well, we will get beautiful looking software on Linux also. (It's hard to beat Apple with the beauty of its hardware.)

Welcome to the amazing world of OS X. Try MacPorts. Beats the hell out of Fink.

I am still using Debian on my second computer and on my servers, though.

Hm. I tried it out, but it looks like it does not install binaries directly? I am not much of a fan of the gentoo-esque compiling; mostly because it does not help me "get things done" quickly. I am waiting forever for the ports to compile now.

Edit: and now it has failed saying some checksum mismatch for a dependency. That's what I miss about apt-get: in my two years of experience with it, it has never - not once - failed. How does one beat that?

MacPorts is more inspired of BSD-style ports than Gentoo, I think. Had problems with both, though.

I agree. Also, I use linux because Compiz-Fusion Effects > Vista Flip3D.

I have a feeling that all of these reasons are the effect, and all of the reasons in the article are the cause. That is, hacker software is developed for linux first because it's those idealistic 18-year-olds developing it. More generally, your other points point to perfectionism and passion, two things the people who do things "for fun" generally have in greater supply.

No, I don't like crashes and stuff. Thing is, Linux doesn't really crash anymore. And especially with Ubuntu, it does most things exactly right, no superfluous crap that just ends up getting in the way. For example, no spyware, because the apps I use are not commercial. That is why I use it.

Not me, though perhaps I don't count because I only use Linux for development (running in a vm) and osx for everything else.

"It's fun to change all the settings, break the system, then have to go to recovery mode to repair it."

...especially fun when you are in the middle of development. Seems some linux kids have to break their systems because they don't know what else to do.

I use linux only because it is rock solid and does NOT break. And yes, paul, os x for everything else, because in real life, linux sucks for the crudeness of its apps.

If you're in the middle of development and craving for rock hard solid systems, you don't fuzz around changing everything here and there, quite probally something you shouldn't be touching, you're asking for a breakdown. And when it comes, you're OK, because, that's the way it's supposed to be, and most important:

You will definitely learn something from the recovery process!

If there are many different things you could change on a production system you're probably doing something wrong. You should have as little software on it as possible, for security and stability reasons.

I just read my post again. A bit drunk, so I missed some points. Duh. Basically saying the same as you. Sure thing, on a production system / server / whatevz don't screw around. But on non-critical systems it can be rewarding to break things. When I break my system I need to realize WHAT I broke and WHY it broke and HOW to fix it. In the end I have learned something that will help me setting up stable production systems. No?

I actually do use it because it's more secure, and free (as in speech). I don't exactly think it's fun, nor do I particularly enjoy using the command line.

Sounds a lot like the reasons I use OS X (except the free as in beer or speech part)

I use it because it lowers costs.

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