I'm honestly little surprised about the popularity of Windows. In webdev circles, I rarely see developers using it anymore (as a primary OS).
Poll: What is your primary operating system
371–380 of 472 posts
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#372Earlier quoted context omitted.
Maybe I'm the only one... But as a professional developer working on everything from device drivers, embedded systems, up to your average LAMP stack and other web frameworks the "Freedom" of the operating system is worth exactly bupkis to me, ziltch, zero, nada. There are a whole host of reasons to use one OS over the other but this "Free as in Speech" is simply not a very good one. I'm far, FAR, more concerned about…
I primarily use Linux, so I'm most productive there, but I understand your sentiment. I would use a nonfree OS if it increased my productivity. That said, I think Linux and all the other FOSS OSes and software keep costs down. Without Linux, could you imagine what a Windows license would cost? I can't picture that we would have the same price points. Do you think a similar argument could be applied to Android or any…
> That said, I think Linux and all the other FOSS OSes and software keep costs down.
That's because they're free as in beer, not free as in speech.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#373I'm honestly little surprised about the popularity of Windows. In webdev circles, I rarely see developers using it anymore (as a primary OS).
There is other breeds of nerds here. Me for one. I do mechanical nerd-stuff and I need windows for CAD. But I guess there is not enough of us here to explain that number.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#374I'm curious about those using Windows. I can see four main reasons to use it: - You are a "business type" and prefer some app/workflow that you are already familiar with and don't want to change. - You used to work at Microsoft and you know it way better than other OSes. - Your target userbase has strong Windows lock-in so it makes the best business sense to use it. - You are really into gaming and don't want to dual…
It's only OS that can do serious CAD. That's it. Would use linux if I could.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#375I'm using Windows 7 for CAD. I now use Solid Edge, I used to do AUTOCad and I think I'm headed for Pro/E.
I'd like to use anything but Windows, but guess how plentiful are my options to use CAD on other systems? Nonexistent.
The economic niche of CAD systems would have room for good CAD running on Linux. The bounty is good. At the moment it's practically impossible to get a serious CAD legally for no less than 2000$/copy.
I'm guessing that the 3D printing scene is held back by modeling prices. It's actually more expensive to model than to actually get that model printed.
I feel like I'm saying "Carthago delenda est", but I strongly feel that this should be addressed.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#376Earlier quoted context omitted.
Freedom also carries a cost. At the end of the day, the best OS for any given individual is the one that gives them the largest net increase in utility, for their personal utility function. My experience suggests that a Free OS isn't worth it to me, but it's been about six years since I gave it a go full-time. The last time I gave Linux a good go round (as in using it as my primary OS for everything I did), I still h…
>Freedom also carries a cost. What cost? You're stating this as a fact, when it certainly isn't. As I've pointed out in another comment, the claim that usability is an orthogonal concept to Freedom is a false dichotomy. Yes, there are quite some issues at the moment, I'm not going to deny that. The thing is, a lot of those, like missing hardware support, are not the fault of the Free Software community, it's the faul…
This IS clear to everyone; it's simply irrelevant. Life's not fair. We all have to deal with unfair problems. Emphasizing the unfairness of your problems only makes the FSF look less "idealistic as in principled" and more "idealistic as in naive."
Relatedly, your most critical problem is not external, it's that the FSF is now associated more closely with non-issues like "GNU/Linux" nomenclature than solving serious problems.
Suck it up, grit your teeth, and press on. That's what it takes to be successful in just about any field of life. Anything else ends with you sitting on the sidelines, impotently complaining about how unfair it all is and how bad all the successful organizations are.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#377I tried to use OSX as my primary OS for a year but I couldn't be as productive as I am on Windows. However I would really love to be able to use Linux.
MS Office is really a lot better on Windows. It is miles a head on features and stability in for example Word, Outlook and Excel. It is so much more powerful and if you are an advanced user, OSX version is just frustrating.
The file management and the window manager of Windows is to me also a lot more convenient then on OSX.
On Windows you also have the Adobe CS and there is no substitute for it on Linux. Running it under Wine doesn't give the same user experience.
I see more and more web development tools for OSX only. I hope it is not necessary therefore to have to use OSX.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#378Earlier quoted context omitted.
Just out of curiosity, what is making you move towards Linux? The huge appeal of OS X to me is, as someone said on here recently, it's basically *BSD with a fancy window manager and 1-to-1 hardware/software integration.
OS X has a few things going for it, but even Mac fans will tell you the window manager is not one of them; it's painfully primitive.
Even if the WM itself is somewhat primitive, Exposé and integrated swipe gestures more than make up for its shortcomings.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#379Earlier quoted context omitted.
I would just like to add that there is a valid reason why Linux or the *BSDs are superior to Windows or OS X - they are Free. As in Speech. And I'm sad this doesn't even warrant a mention.
Maybe I'm the only one... But as a professional developer working on everything from device drivers, embedded systems, up to your average LAMP stack and other web frameworks the "Freedom" of the operating system is worth exactly bupkis to me, ziltch, zero, nada. There are a whole host of reasons to use one OS over the other but this "Free as in Speech" is simply not a very good one. I'm far, FAR, more concerned about…
What you just explained is simply your arbitrary and subjective personal belief system about technology that makes one system inherently "better" / "superior" to another.
Proprietary software - i.e., software you can not modify to suit your needs - can actively inhibit your ability to "GSD". That's kind of the point.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#380Earlier quoted context omitted.
I primarily use Linux, so I'm most productive there, but I understand your sentiment. I would use a nonfree OS if it increased my productivity. That said, I think Linux and all the other FOSS OSes and software keep costs down. Without Linux, could you imagine what a Windows license would cost? I can't picture that we would have the same price points. Do you think a similar argument could be applied to Android or any…
> That said, I think Linux and all the other FOSS OSes and software keep costs down. That's because they're free as in beer, not free as in speech.
Perhaps the proximate cause of low Windows license cost is that there are alternatives that are free as in beer, but it's obvious to me at least that the only reason such "free as in beer" alternatives exist is because a lot of people work very hard to make sure that there are "free as in speech" implementations of fully fledged operating systems.