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Great article. Few points I would like to mention here - I have been using Ubuntu for almost 8+ years primarily for development. Yes, Office suite and enterprise email were an issue but Libre Office and WPS Suite have come a long way in making the transition to Linux-based distros a lot easier. But frankly, that is not why I use Ubuntu or Linux. I use it because I can express myself. I use zsh and terminal a lot and Linux lets you customize your desktop as pointed out in the original article but you can customize your terminal to our heart desire. You can use tmux/screen to enhance your productivity. All the major IDEs - JetBrains, VSCode, Atom, Sublime Text are very well supported. Git is a first-class citizen. I can keep on writing but yes, ubuntu or Linux is a worthy OS for efficient and effective development.
So true, the amount of customizations one can do with ubuntu is endless really.
"frankly, that is not why I use Ubuntu or Linux"
You bet!!! Like OP I also used Windows for most of my life, but since the start of my career (8 years), I've been using Linux here and there and today, I can't live without it for development, even on Windows, I have all my tools on WSL and a remote machine I can SSH into from wherever I am.
However, I do realize Linux is for devs, IT pros, and geeks. I don't think Linux as a desktop fits the end-users or non-coding people well - I've seen that failing many times.
My way into Linux was similar to yours. I got a Raspberry Pi for Christmas and used Raspbian (Debian) on it, to host local servers just for fun.
The structure of Linux made so much more sense to me. (e.g. Filessystem structure. Why are systemfiles in "system32" it's a 64-bit OS. Why is the Userdirectory in the Windows Directory)
It was just a breeze to use it. Everything was so easy to install and setup.
I started to watch Linux Videos on Youtube. One Youtuber showed how to install Linux Mint. I thought it looks so much better than Windows 7 at the time, so I installed it.
I started to use it, and now I use it as my main OS, since over one year. I'm just really happy.
Some YouTubers I can recommend are "The Linux Experiment" and "Gardiner Bryant".
And also, thanks for this article. ;)
wow nice to hear!
Ok you are tempting me to use linux right now. I will soon do it. And I hope you will make a blog on switching from windows to linux :)
I gotcha on that
Another point is that ubuntu is OpenSource, I know it can be evident but still important to mention it. Tks for Your article !!!
oh yea! forgot to mention!!
Hmm, now I'm thinking about Linux
Read my next article to know more about how to switch!! ✌
Come to the dark side! (you won't regret it)
I did that 2 years ago,,have never looked back again
✌ same here, I dont see myself going back to windows.
And if you want a really comfy desktop where you never have to use the command line except for if you want to, you should get openSUSE (because it has this amazing YaST software).
And if you want a desktop that doesn't treat you like a dimwit toddler and isn't all preachy about what you are allowed to do or not, go for KDE. Which you can also configure "like macOS" with stuff like the Latte Dock.
I used Linux Mint for over a year and never had to use the command line. I think the same is true for most of the "consumer facing" distros out there.
YaST is really a special case, but I think you don't have to have YaST in your Toolbelt to configure the stuff on an "average" system.
YaST is really great nontheless.
Yea it's true, but there are people who like using the mouse too 😂
Benjamin maybe, but honestly, I do use a remote Linux machine for coding. That's only terminal. I honestly don't think Linux is a good fit for end-users. It is good for devs and other geeks. ;)
I have switched to linux two years back. Ubuntu gave life to my dying 2010 Macbook pro and I never looked back since. I actually used that Macbook pro more over the last two years than in the 10 years I had it with Mac OS. I love the efficiency, speed and the fact that I "own" the system and not anyone else.
Yep, I deleted windows on my very old laptop and installed ubuntu in it, and Linux gave it such a good boost!
Aadhithyan Suresh There is nothing like Linux for performance.
You should definitely check out - elementary.io
The only reason I had to go back to windows was Bluetooth was very finicky for my hardware. I now use WSL, you can basically use Linux terminal in windows, highly recommend checking it out. - docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/wsl/insta…
I think WSL is Microsoft's attempt at killing the Desktop Side of Linux.
Benjamin Win10 with WSL2 still hogs too much RAM. Also, direct relationships with Win10 are still security risks.
I am still ambivalent about WSL2. SSH tunneling is a much safer alternative. Try SSH plugin in VSCode.