I use NetBSD exclusively for three years now (desktop system), and it is a very comfortable experience so far.
Poll: What is your primary operating system
191–200 of 472 posts
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#192Being a programmer, I want an OS that gets out of my way and lets me focus. I find the 'busyness' in some of the OS's distracting and a drain on productivity.
Availability of tools and one's aesthetic preferences are also important, for me once I switched to OSX there was no looking back.
That being said Windows or Linux may be better choices for people with other needs or preferences.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#193I've been using Windows pretty much since version 3.1 (though will some time on OS/2 as well) as my primary OS. I have, of course, used Linux, though mostly for servers and not a full-time primary OS. I also have a Chromebook running Chrome OS. Recently, I switched jobs and my team uses Macs so over the last few months my primary work OS is now Mac OS X, while I still use Windows at home. One thing I have discovered…
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.
Besides that, while I'm not sure it's still a valid concern:
When I switched from Windows to Linux in the mid 90's it was a transition from a box with an illegal copy of MASM and a not-really-working copy of a C++ compiler to a box with a plethora of PL's, databases, code-examples and whatnot with an enormous educational value for me. On the winbox I learned Assembler, on the linbox I learned to program, that made the big difference for me.
Is it still that way for others or is the current situation on windows better? (not considering OSX as you can install pretty much anything there nowadays)
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#194Earlier quoted context omitted.
My car engine is a Volkswagen and the entire vehicle consists of parts made by various other companies, but do you see anyone going around saying "I have a Brembo/Volkswagen" just because Volkswagen used some Brembo parts to build the car? Look, GNU is super important and they have done amazing things for Free software. I heavily support them and the work they have done. However, I don't force people that use my Open…
I wish there was a Linux distribution with the FreeBSD userland, just to bring up on occasions like this.
Linux Kernel with BSD userland?
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MirOS_BSD)
It's mostly OpenBSD. I haven't used it. I do know the BSD man pages are better (sometimes very very much better) than the Linux equivalents.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#195Did anyone regularly using OSX, Windows and/or Linux vote OSX just because it was listed first?
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#196Earlier quoted context omitted.
"To say unilaterally that it's better for all people at all times in all use cases is, at the very least, an overstatement." Yes. Just better for hackers who want to alter anything about the code they are working with. "While being free is a top concern for you and many others, for some (perhaps many) usability might be their top concern and they may be willing to sacrifice freedom for usability" False dichotomy.
>> "While being free is a top concern for you and many others, for some (perhaps many) usability might be their top concern and they may be willing to sacrifice freedom for usability" > False dichotomy. I disagree, he's not stating that there's a correlation between free-ness and usability. Just that what he (and maybe most "normal" people?) consider usable is not currently available in free form. As a result they en…
The only thing the market backs up, is that decades of lock-in, billions of dollars in advertising, pre-installation of the OS and lobby-ism make the difference when the competition has no such resources.
The reason people don't switch may very well be that noone except tech-aware people has ever heard of Linux (I'm pretty sure my parents don't). And as this poll suggests, for people that know Linux, it is a very very good alternative to Windows, even better than that ;)
Do you honestly think so many people here would use Linux instead of Windows when it's not "usable"? You know, i'd like to get my work done, so i'm using what makes me most productive. Certainly not Windows.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#197linux
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#198I switch between Windows and Linux, with some OpenBSD thrown in as well, but I am considering switching back to Mac OS X.
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#199Earlier 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.
How much does the price tag matters when you are a developer or professional that gets paid $150/hour?
Wow. I'm getting quite of a down votes. I'm not opposed to Open Source software, actually I'm contributing to one of them. What I meant is that when the price tag is so small comparing to your earnings (since you are going to use the software for work), why would you make it a decision factor when picking an OS?
Re: Poll: What is your primary operating system
#200I've been using Windows pretty much since version 3.1 (though will some time on OS/2 as well) as my primary OS. I have, of course, used Linux, though mostly for servers and not a full-time primary OS. I also have a Chromebook running Chrome OS. Recently, I switched jobs and my team uses Macs so over the last few months my primary work OS is now Mac OS X, while I still use Windows at home. One thing I have discovered…
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.
I don't think being free necessarily makes an OS better piece of software.