On 2015-06-21 8:44 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 06/21/2015 05:57 PM, Snit wrote:
OK, so it is a good techie playground... a good place to learn about
computers and offers great command line shells. That and it can be had
at no
cost and, like OS X, the risk of malware is far lower than on Windows.

Anything where it handles tasks better: things where you can show it
benefitting productivity, efficiency, or error-reduction?

you've just answered your own question. We develop on Linux and port the
product to Windows. Why? The development tools on Linux, such as gdb,
valgrind, electric fence, and so forth are superior to what is available
on Windows and are no cost. A Windows memory debugger like Purify is
relatively expensive to license and complex to use. The Windows support
has gotten better over the years, but if you wanted to cross compile for
a PIC or Atmel device, Linux was there with the toolchain.

Excellent advocacy. Thank you. It is indeed impressive what Linux
provides to developers free of charge.

Amazingly, Windows tools have never been all that great. I've learned to
live with Visual Studio but its editing capabilities are primitive to
say the least. Fortunately you can integrate gVim with VS.

Even Microsoft has gotten the message since Ballmer was sent packing.
They are incorporating Linux support in Azure since they realize many of
the VMs are Linux.

Would I recommend Linux to my cousin who can barely cope with email?
Hell no. But I'm not sure she would have any better success with Windows
10.

The advantage of Windows for a new user is the fact that so many people
are using it. As a result, a person can easily find help if they
encounter problems whether in person or online. The fact that it
provides every user with the same interface also ensures that if there
is an error somewhere, SOMEONE will have encountered it the same way you
did.

Since Linux provides so many different interfaces and has so few users,
you're often less in the dust when it comes to finding help with your
problems. Some people might have encountered it, but they might not have
posted the problem onto a newsgroup or an online forum in search of help
or to provide a solution. The same error can manifest itself in
different ways across distributions and desktop environments as well,
causing the solution to be a lot more difficult to find since the source
of the problem is also harder to identify.


--
Slimer
Proud "wintroll"
Encrypt.