[sinh]

> Sorry I disagree, first many people who work in IT are _forced_ to use Windows as their primary host at work.

I would consider it a bad use of my experience to develop on Windows. The market agrees with me, experienced Linux developers are much better paid.

> Next, even if you install a Virtual Machine it might not work as seamless as having an Unix shell natively, thus some use Cygwin.

I would not call cygwin a native Unix shell.

> Regarding poor students, would you prefer to commute daily with multiple laptops? One for Linux one for Windows? I doubt so.

I don't use Windows for personal stuff. Apart from that, VirtualBox would still be a better solution if it was necessary to use Windows. For example, updates on a Windows machine which is rarely used can easily take hours. One does not want to have his work machine blocked for so long.

Apart from that, abandoning Windows is just a matter of leaving old habits. For me, using exclusively Linux for my personal stuff has worked excellently in the last 20 years.

> Other than that, if your work is not just coding but doing _anything_ apart from code itself, word processing, spreadsheets, graphic design, cad and you still need to run something from Linux ecosystem the WSL is currently probably your best option.

Libreoffice or Softmaker office is available, but LaTeX is much better for reports and articles, and wikis and Markdown is better for documentation. MS Word is a usability nightmare. Also, I do not use spreadsheets for myself, I use Python scripts - it's more efficient, and ledger-cli for accounting stuff. Inkscape is much better than MS Visio. I am physicist and developer, I do not use CAD, but if I had to use a CAD program on Windows, I would use a separate Windows machine, as explained before.

You sound like you are just used to do everything with Windows and never have considered seriously to use Linux software, I guess you don't know most of what exists there.

Also, I'd appreciate it if people would not call areas where some software vendors have managed to create a lock-in an "ecosystem". An ecosystem is a scientific concept from biology. Using that for proprietary software environments is simply marketing BS bingo.

[toyg]

Linux developers might be better paid simply because there are fewer of them. Run of the mill “enterprise” developers are on Windows and they make up the bulk of the workforce (in any country, afaik). This creates economies of scale that incentivise companies to continue standardising on Windows, because it makes it easier and cheaper to hire people.

[sinh]

Well, if Linux developers are better paid this will naturally increase supply. And this happens, of course.

But why should pay companies more for Linux when they can develop stuff on Windows, and pay less? Wouldn't it be dumb to use the more expensive resource, and have less gain? The reason is that Linux developers are more productive - they create more value, and the decision of companies to pay them more is all rational. Of course the detail picture is more nuanced - it makes a difference if one develops a boring PHP app, or makes complex embedded systems for sectors like HFT, defense, embedded medical devices, or similar. But chances are that a lot of the latter use Linux, too. They just don't advertise jobs on HN.

[rejschaap]

Microsoft has successfully created an environment where people with little training are able to add business value. The average Windows developer is not at all comparable to the average Linux developer.

[cat199]

yes yes, but free market, supply/demand, downward wage pressure, blah blah blah prove you incorrect, no?

[shady-lady]

> You sound like you are just used to do everything with Windows and never have considered seriously to use Linux software, I guess you don't know most of what exists there.

Although this comment is not directed at me, I feel obliged to throw it back at you: Have you ever used Windows?

The odd time I need to create/edit images, there is no equal on Linux for paint.net. None. not pinta, not GIMP. Nothing else hits the feature/complexity sweet spot like paint.net. There also is no equal on Mac.

Secondly, we're in a world where Webex still exists. It is very easy to use on Windows & Mac, & all functionality is available. Using it on Linux involves using a more limited version which runs on JVM and involves you having to figure out what dependencies to install. Using Webex in a VM isn't feasible as there is a noticeable ~3 second delay for voice.

> Libreoffice or Softmaker office is available

They do exist but Excel simply puts them to shame.

Over the past 15 years, I've used Windows & Linux both for personal use & work. I've never been in a situation where either OS suffices on it's own, for either work or personal.

I've used Mac OS for work and it was sufficient on it's own - polished applications, alongside powerful dev tools. However, when it came to spending my own money, I decided a 2 in 1 with Windows & Linux was a much better buy for me than a Mac, especially when it came to bang for buck.

[sinh]

> Have you ever used Windows?

Indeed, since 3.11. I switched my personal and academic stuff completely to Linux in 1998. I've developed about 6 years with embedded Windows Systems. Today I use Windows for some non-development tasks at work, but I develop exclusively on Linux.

> The odd time I need to create/edit images, there is no equal on Linux for paint.net. None. not pinta, not GIMP. Nothing else hits the feature/complexity sweet spot like paint.net. There also is no equal on Mac.

Many people like Krita. I've never used bitmap drawing much, but I really like to work with Inkscape which is a vector drawing program.

Apart from that, I appreciate there are different opinions.

> Secondly, we're in a world where Webex still exists. It is very easy to use on Windows & Mac, & all functionality is available. Using it on Linux involves using a more limited version which runs on JVM and involves you having to figure out what dependencies to install. Using Webex in a VM isn't feasible as there is a noticeable ~3 second delay for voice.

WebRTC works very well with Firefox or Chromium. One needs nothing more than the browser and a link to appear.in, for example:

https://webrtc.org/start/

[rejschaap]

> I would not call cygwin a native Unix shell.

Nobody called cygwin a native Unix shell.

Cygwin is a POSIX compatibility layer which allows you to run things such as Bash which is a UNIX shell.

[NiveaGeForce]

Only feature updates, (which come twice a year) can take hours to install. Cumulative updates (typically monthly) only take single digits minutes on most machines.

How well do LibreOffice and Softmaker Office work with pen & touch in tablet mode?