[foobarbaz33]

I don't think the programming language dependencies are comparable to tech like GPS.

Reddit was originally written in lisp. It was later rewritten in Python with a trivial amount of effort. And it could have be trivially rewritten in any other language as well. The languages are not that important. Having access to high level languages in general is important, but they are a dime a dozen.

[dylan604]

could you imagine the expense of a FAANG having to pay Microsoft Windows licensing for every machine they use? how would that affect a startup's runway?

so instead of the languages, maybe open it up to Linux/FOSS in general

[wizofaus]

Startups I've worked at have struggled with various expenses but OS licenses weren't one of them. OTOH finding devs 100% comfortable working on pure linux machines would be a genuine blocker.

[seba_dos1]

Maybe my perspective is different because I'm relatively young, but everywhere I worked every dev was using GNU/Linux at work and only a tiny minority expressed that they'd prefer macOS. Windows was always something that was used exclusively by non-dev departments (aside of testing machines for checking compatibility). I seem to remember only a single exception, and that was a WordPress developer who worked with and as part of the marketing team, so not sure if it really counts.

[wizofaus]

I don't doubt such shops exist but based on job ads I've seen and interviews I've done they're very much the minority at least in my part of the world. Why a non-iOS developer would choose macOS I don't quite get but each to their own. I'm willing to bet a significant percentage of developers do typically use Windows, even if there is growing tendency to use WSL+Docker for core development activities.

[dylan604]

Non-iOS developer that chooses to use macOS right here. Why? First, because it's not Windows. Second, it runs other software that I need that isn't available on nix. I can run nix style stuff with BSD flair. I can run things native, no VM or docker container. There's lots of reasons. Mainly, I abhor Windows.

[wizofaus]

I'm actually fine with basically any OS, I've used them all over the years to various degrees. But MacOS was always the one where I felt I was working with one hand tied behind my back, with various things I use all the time (extended keyboard with separate Del/Backspace, right mouse button/ scroll wheel, many software tools, ability to poke around "under the cover" etc.) either outright missing or compromised on MacOS/Apple hardware. Though it's Apple's whole approach to forced software upgrades that annoys me the most. The battery life is good though.

[josephcsible]

What software do you need that works on Windows and macOS but not on Linux under Wine?

[seba_dos1]

One thing I should probably add is that I was mostly talking about webdev circles (these days I work far from webdev on GNU/Linux-centered projects so you obviously don't see Windows there, but this wasn't always the case in my career). However, I'm also pretty close to gamedev circles and, indeed, Windows is still dominant there.