I don't understand this notion that you way has to override that of the company.
Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
81–90 of 92 posts
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#82Of course. macOS or nothing. I'd accept Linux but hard no for the garbage that is Windows.
I hate dealing with Windows, but I'd probably take even that over macOS. Not because there's anything wrong with macOS, but just because I can never figure out how to do anything in it and I'd prefer not to mount that learning curve.
Absolute valid point, 1/3 of the reason I don't want to work with windows. I've been using mac and linux for 17 years now, it's just worlds apart.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#83Earlier quoted context omitted.
> But if you won't take a job because of OS, you should ask upfront in the interview. If working the job requires a specific OS you should mention it right upfront in the interview, or better yet the job description. Why is it the candidates job to telepathically guess at what hard requirements might exist? You have a requirement, state it.
I don't understand what you mean. It is not a requirement necessarily but unless you are a very small flexible startup, most companies provide standard computers with OS standardized and employees don't have the freedom to install whatever they want.I wouldn't call that a requirement. So no, I wouldn't mention that we require a certain OS.
You just explained why it’s ok for a company to require employees to use a particular OS and then said “but (the requirement) is not a requirement which I don’t understand. As a prospective employee I don’t want to make “dealbreaker” demands because realistically almost any concern on my part can be solved by just paying me more money. If, OTOH there are hard requirements by the employer they should be stated (in office work etc)
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#84I've used macOS before and it's OK, I'd use it again. Having to use the shitfest that is Windows is absolutely a dealbreaker for me, though. I've declined further interviews when a place says that they're Windows-only. Those places tend to have lower pay anyways for some reason, so I don't get broken up about it.
I've recently had to touch the MS ecosystem because of PowerBI and my god what an absolute clusterfuck. I have no idea how people get useful work done with these tools.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#85Earlier quoted context omitted.
There is nothing correct or incorrect about preferences. You choose industries as a matter of preference, too. Is it correct or incorrect to work in healthcare?
Preference is not the same thing as "I wont take the job if you do Windows" etc. We all prefer things of course. I prefer Macs for example. But will I refuse a job because it uses Windows ? Naah. I will look at everything else that is more important to me which are the team, the work, the goals, whats in it for me, do I see a career path here etc.
> I will look at everything else that is more important to me which are the team, the work, the goals, whats in it for me, do I see a career path here etc.
Those are all more important to me as well. But I am so privileged that I get to choose jobs with tooling that aligns philosophically with me.
Typed programming, colleagues who really care about precise domain modelling, a high degree of automation, pervasively embedded in both the development environment and the production environment, both being Unices.
A part of that includes picking a non-laggy operating system that doesn’t feed me ads and NASDAQ prices in my toolbar, dark patterns to coerce me into using their inferior alternatives, and a feeling that I’m a guest in my own system.
As a consequence, I am happier and more productive.
I realise many may feel exactly like this with a Microsoft stack. The subjectivity here is what makes it a preference.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#86No 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
So you'd be happy working at a place that required all code to be in brainfuck? That choice of computer language is "just an implementation detail" and you can still solve your interesting abstract problems in it so you should be happy with it.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#87On my team we have Qubes OS and some Linux variant. We use cryptography-first GitOps to configure the machines. Everyone is issued a Trezor wallet as part of their org member id.
Anyone, regardless of role or organizational rank, can modify their system with a pull request. Once an appropriate combination of cryptographic signatures (depending on what is changed) is reached the new infra-as-code is pushed/pulled and so long as the cryptographic signatures match a GitOps process on the Qubes machine the changes happen.
We internally "support" Windows apps such as the desktop app MS Excel (not the web/O365 thing) in Qubes or KVM and everyone seems to be happy with what we have.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#88If I can't get a MacBook as my company laptop, then I'm not taking that job.
I'm fine supporting it myself, if I have to. Been doing that on my personal machines since the G3 Pismo over 20 years ago.
And if I have to buy it myself, I'm fine with that, too.
But if macOS and a MacBook Pro aren't an option, then that's it for me.
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#89Earlier quoted context omitted.
For most VPNs, that's a solved problem. Which one are you stuck with?
It was OpenVPN with a TOTP 6 digit google authenticator MFA code. It worked just fine with Tunnelblick in MacOS and Viscosity in Windows, but I never found a setup that worked in Linux. And I searched for a while. I had to switch away from linux because there was no good solution to this. And it's not the only non-easily fixed issue I've had with Linux over the years. The classic saying is "Linux is only free if you…
Funny that I am here since I am a relatively mid tier IT guy and not a developer.. but have you considered a windows PC with a Linux VM sharing the VPN connection? Even when there are possible restrictions around that, I am sure an enterprising developer such as yourself could find a way around that, yes?
Re: Is primary OS a dealbreaker for you (when taking a new job)?
#90Earlier quoted context omitted.
It was OpenVPN with a TOTP 6 digit google authenticator MFA code. It worked just fine with Tunnelblick in MacOS and Viscosity in Windows, but I never found a setup that worked in Linux. And I searched for a while. I had to switch away from linux because there was no good solution to this. And it's not the only non-easily fixed issue I've had with Linux over the years. The classic saying is "Linux is only free if you…
Funny that I am here since I am a relatively mid tier IT guy and not a developer.. but have you considered a windows PC with a Linux VM sharing the VPN connection? Even when there are possible restrictions around that, I am sure an enterprising developer such as yourself could find a way around that, yes?
Why would I want to do that? I said in the beginning of this thread that my tools work on all 3 major OS's (Windows, MacOS, and Linux). A VPN I need doesn't work on Linux? I'll just use Mac or Windows, which is what I did. That was 5+ years ago now.