[svlug] Why do you guys Linux so much ?

[Bill Kendrick]

On Thu, Oct 18, 2007 at 05:23:08PM -0500, Tri Huynh wrote:
> I don't know why people like Linux so much. I have been using Linux for a
> while (mostly for my job) and hate it badly.

I find Windows to be annoying as hell to use, with inconsistent interfaces,
even among Microsoft branded applications.  It hangs and crashes far too
often.  As many times as I've had issues using hardware on Linux, I've
seen or heard people having identical problems on Windows (soundcard doesn't
work, wireless doesn't work right, etc. etc.)

My wife's Thinkpad X41 for example.  Getting the tablet part to work has
been a little wonky lately.  It happens to also go nuts and crash when she
tries to use some of the demo art software that came with the thing,
on the Windows partition.

Linux is far stabler, WAY easier to develop apps for, and has literally
10s of 1000s of software packages available at your fingertips.
(My Kubuntu Fiesty shows 1299 packages installed, and 21469 packages
avaialble.  All free, and installable with one click, thanks to Adept.)

Plus, the dev community seems to be a lot smarter, from what I've seen.

PS - I currently work in the mobile game industry (aka games for cellphones),
and use Linux exclusively, when I'm doing J2ME development.  Spending a
few minutes putting Kubuntu on my work laptop has made my life SO much
easier. :)

PPS - All the weird-ass tools we use at work are available to me, too.
Outlook?  I can use KMail over VPN, or use the shitty MS Outlook Web.
Visual Source Safe?  There's a native Source Offsite Client that does the job.
J2ME, Java, etc.?  All the toolkit stuff is available for Linux from Sun.
Phone simulator?  It's a Java-based app... it just works.
TestTrack Pro bug database?  There's a native Linux client, and a web UI.
Word docs?  OpenOffice.org.
Spreadsheets (including files used for managing builds our J2ME apps)?  Ditto.
IM'ing coworkers?  Kopete _kicks_ Yahoo! IM's ad-riddled, crash-prone _ass_.

Plus, it doesn't require I take two trips to the coffee machine between
turning it on and being able to use it.  It's ready to use before I'm
done making my first cuppa. :)

I could go on...

-- 
-bill!
bill at newbreedsoftware.com
http://www.newbreedsoftware.com/