Yeah, at this point I’ll only work on a Mac. I don’t have the time nor patience for the cheapskate alternatives.
Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
41–50 of 92 posts
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#42Yes, if they require me to use a specific os, or install software to observe me, I won't take the job. Do you want me to build you awesome software? You need to let me use the tools of my choice. Full stop.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#43Dealbreaker? No, but strong negative signal. I have my own preferences and ways-of-working, and having to adjust these on top of all the other new things that come with a new company or team is a significant downside.
I've recently switched from daily-driving a mac to daily driving Linux on a Thinkpad, because for my startup I'm working on some Rust code that ends up being too much of a hassle to cross-compile, and the story for using GUI Linux in a VM on [edit: ARM64] macOS is not quite there yet. After 3 months I'm a lot more proficient than when I started, but I still feel so much less productive than I would be on a mac that I'm working on adding better abstractions to be able to mock out the stuff that doesn't build on macOS easily.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#44Most artisans have tools that they've come to know especially well and work most efficiently with. They do better and more efficient work with those tools than tools they haven't committed themselves to as much. Their tools feel good and seamless; others' tools feel alien and jerky.
It's inevitavle, universal, and often doesn't even have much to do with the theoretical or consensus quality of tools themselves. Your mechanic, nurse, and landscaper all experience this.
But you know, sometimes there's a cool job that involves using somebody else's tools. Unless you're a really hardcore specialist charging huge sums for your specific efficiency, it's usually worth considering those jobs even if it feels clunky at first. If you commit to getting acquainted with the new shop's tools, you'll find that they largely disappear and become just as seamless as the ones you're accustomed to.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#45For me? No. I work somewhere with thin clients which log in to one OS, which is an OS I do not develop for. I end up remoting in from that OS to another one. It’s a bit clumsy. On some occasions I’ve been unable to do a thing easily and my manager has been receptive to “I can’t do this thing so I will either have to not do it or find a slower and clumsier way”. It doesn’t always get fixed, but I feel it’s understood.…
Tell me you don’t have meaningful equity without telling me you don’t have meaningful equity. This feels like peak “I just work here”.
A significant part of being an engineer is solving the problem you are asked to solve. No doubt there are lots of other problems. There are frustrations but these are probably not the problem you have been asked to solve.
I feel this is often missing in how people talk about their job these days.
You also don't have to work there, really, if it gets to that.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#46For me? No. I work somewhere with thin clients which log in to one OS, which is an OS I do not develop for. I end up remoting in from that OS to another one. It’s a bit clumsy. On some occasions I’ve been unable to do a thing easily and my manager has been receptive to “I can’t do this thing so I will either have to not do it or find a slower and clumsier way”. It doesn’t always get fixed, but I feel it’s understood.…
Tell me you don’t have meaningful equity without telling me you don’t have meaningful equity. This feels like peak “I just work here”.
The majority of people 'just work here'. Having equity is not the norm.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#47Windows would be a deal-breaker for me I think, ideally I like to use Linux but could (and have) get by with macOS.
I also think non-git would be, it's just too ingrained. Maybe one of the few more recent interesting looking potential successors (I just can't remember names, sorry) posted here every so often, but not mercurial or whatever.
Version control's in a special place in that you have to use the same as each other, but like OS I think being particularly prescriptive about anything would massively put me off. I want both to use vim as I have since university today, but also the freedom to decide actually I want to switch to VSCode or Helix or whatever - not have to use Jetbrains because that's what we do here, nor have to get special dispensation for my choice and then be (or feel that I am) tied to it.
I'm sure some answers are going to be 'they're just tools, who cares' but IMO yes exactly, they're my tools that I'm using to do a job for you, you care about the output, why do you care about the tools.
(Macs muddy the water a bit by tying provided hardware somewhat to the OS. You can't give everyone ThinkPads and also be fine with people using MacOS, you've inherently said it's either Windows or Linux. I don't know what the state of native Windows on Arm Macs is, but I don't think Asahi Linux is ready for daily driving on work machines yet (i.e. where you don't want to be saying 'err well I did something a little different to my laptop and err I have a bit of a driver problem' when you can't make any progress on something.).)
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#48I would not take a job that required me to use Windows.
I would begrudgingly accept a Mac, but my preference is Linux.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#49No I care more about if the job involves solving interesting/novel problems Languages/OSs are just implementation details to me, I don't get why software engineers (especially junior ones) are so obsessed with them To me algorithms/systems in the abstract sense are the actual interesting part of the job
To me languages/OSes are tools of the trade. Carpentry, plumbing, etc is no different. Some people have strong preferences, some do not. Regardless, right tools for the right job applies.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#50As a hiring manager, I would appreciate if the candidate can let me know quickly if it is a show stopper for them. Quickest disqualification for both sides.
How can an applicant know in advance if the position involves an OS they won't be willing to use?
This seems like a case where clear communication in both directions is desirable. You as a hiring manager should disclose if a particular OS is required, so the applicant can tell you if that's acceptable or not.
(Maybe you personally do this -- I'm really using a generic "you" in this comment.)