Going from Windows to Linux then back to windows sucks.
Edit; Going through the comments it seems it doesn’t matter so long as IT supports the operating system, which is fair, in my scenario I’m not involved with our systems-management/IT/developers unless it’s an update to the software we use.
My desktop at work is still Windows 10 and while it works, kinda, my keyboard shortcuts are almost entirely different, I’ve encountered numerous moments where switching tab either by alt-tabbing or by the taskbar not working at all forcing me to minimize everything till I find that tab, couple times it wouldn’t even boot.
I started unplugging the Ethernet cable when I leave for work so IT can’t do any behind the scenes when I’m away.
I dredd the day they force a win 11 desktop on me.
I’ve worked in a few offices but never in an I.T. role.
Never been allowed to switch web browser, so a whole new operating system is out of the question. But I did ask once at a previous job, to get shot down.
Only place I’ve seen desktop Linux irl has been my own bedroom.
Protip: don’t ask, just do it.
Yea, but at a small company (~15 workers). It took a few weeks of back and forth because I didn’t have a real work-related reason to switch.
Not so much convinced as in that I always just installed Linux, period, and then proceeded to do everything I was told I wasn’t going to be able to do on linux
What magical company do you work in that gives you UEFI access on your work computer? Mine’s so locked down.
I started unplugging the Ethernet cable when I leave for work so IT can’t do any behind the scenes when I’m away.
It’s not your computer, why do you care?
All that’s going to do is make you an annoyance and potentially end up with you being called into a special meeting.
Your work computer likely contains personally identifiable information. Microsoft very likely has a significant profile on what you do at work and could conceivably link that to your other identities outside of work.
Are they actually doing that? It’s hard to say. Microsoft does have relationships with data brokers like Snowflake Inc. and SCUBA plus its own internal capabilities like Xandr Inc.
Cross pollination is more than possible when employees use personsal devices to login to work accounts. Most of the people that I work with login to Slack on their personal device using Microsoft Entra SSO.
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The other commenter is right, my work desktop has access to my home server so I can remotely monitor on my breaks, as well as my password manager.
Well, that’s your own fault and poor opsec. That’s also a likely breach of your employer’s acceptable use policy in using their equipment for your personal things.
I know you’re going to say “They don’t care” and that’s probably true - right up until the point when they suddenly do care, or are looking for reasons. It doesn’t matter if your IT are in-house or a MSP, they’re still paid by your employers and so answer to them.
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what difference does it make if it’s through a web browser on the work desktop or my personal tablet.
Yeah what difference does it make? Why don’t you use your own device?
The custom software which is absolutely required for my job is only developed for Windows. There would be no point even going to work if that software wasn’t available. So I’d never ask.
There are some people in authority who think the native windows application should be swapped for a “more modern” web/cloud-type. Which would be awful, but say they got their wish and the primary software therefor became more portable. I don’t think it would be worth asking or even a good idea.
I know the IT people have zero familiarity with Linux. Their role is to provide me a workstation that facilitates every task required by my job description. It must be stable and secure. It’s a complex technical environment where each workstation interacts with other devices. Even with the most constrained, homogeneous ecology that can be arranged, there are constant hiccups that need to smoothed out. I can’t be the only person who knows how to use my computer. There are aspects of the environment that are out of scope for me to know about so even if I was a much more skilled linux desktop user, it would be impossible for me to set up my own machine. It would be irresponsible for IT to allow me to run whatever on my system without their being able to properly supervise things.
I have advocated for use of free/libre software at every chance for the workplace as a whole. I try to get people on board with switching secondary/helped applications when available. At some point in the future, I think the software we are using will be discontinued so the question of what to switch to will become live. So I am hoping to propose everyone moves to linux, or at least that we prioritize a less proprietary solution. I have some strong arguments based in our business needs. I doubt the bravery exists for a full switch to Free software (if it is even possible, which it might not be). A better plan would be to find some way to get IT comfortable with Linux first. They would need to have the skills to support all the users properly.
At the end of the day I wish someone had done this in the 80s-90s-00s when everyone was transitioned to using the computers. Now there is so much intertia with windows and everything that goes along with it. The work would be much smoother in a linux environment but 999 individual things need to change to get there.
Small company, I’m friends with IT dude so he told me I could do it as long as I didn’t go to him for tech support. He then came to me asking for help installing linux on his machine. LMAO
Uno reverse
I work for a big enterprise, we have very strict policies when it comes to work PCs, no way anyone would be allowed to change the operating system.
BUT I got permission to install Virtualbox so I can happily use Linux for many things nonetheless.
Convince?
Im a software dev. If you don’t use linux or macos youre a weirdo
I’m a huge fan of yours.
If you use macos but are deploying to Linux, you’re also a weirdo.
+10 masochism points if you’re using docker on MacOS as well
Wait, docker exists for mac?
Some software branded as Docker for Mac exists for Mac.
Obviously Docker uses Linux kernel constructs not available on other platforms so on Mac (and Windows) they embed an entire Linux VM and attempt to integrate it with the host system storage, networking and resources.
This works about as well as it sounds, I/O performance in particular is terrible and trying to share folders between the host and the VM (to for example mount the code you’re working on) is super slow and annoying
“But Macs are the best for development, they’re so user friendly” - not even close lol
that’s not entirely true for windows. windows does have containers natively, and there is a native docker engine for windows that runs native software
they also support containerd and some other runtimes
in certainly not an advocate for windows, but it does exist if you’re a complete masochist
Depends on what you work for specifically, at my current job most people use Windows, and it makes sense because our product will mainly be used on Windows, and some of them are windows only. But I also worked in many other places where we were deploying to Linux servers but the majority of devs were on Windows.
I don’t work at an office, but at a bicycle workshop. We just have the one computer at the frontdesk to register sales and new memberships (we’re a non-profit association). So the PC doesn’t have TPM 2.0 so I convinced the board to install linux on it, since it’s a security risk to keep using Windows after it’s going to be discontinued. But that wasn’t easy ! Especially because one of the board member is an Apple fanboy and keep saying things like: “If it’s free, it’s probably not very good”. :[
“If it’s free, it’s probably not very good”
That’s so funny to me. I used linux a long time ago but at some point I decided I didn’t want to have computer-as-hobby anymore so I got a Mac. And to be fair it did serve me well as intended for a few years. But over time, despite my intentions, I slowly started installing more free software, getting comfortable with the command line (I’d always been a GUI-only linux user), and trying to recreate certain aspects of the Linux experience that I missed.
The unfree of Mac OS led to so much frustration. I was constantly running up against Apple’s antagonism towards libre software — despite the underlying BSD/unix skeleton. Being unfree was really not very good at all. Eventually I was forced to the conclusion that I would be better off with linux. And the Apple hardware was end-of-lifed with no more OS support so I had to chose. In fairness to Apple, it did allow me to very slowly transition to linuxy ways. To some extent the contradictions and problems of Mac OS led me to learning the command line and all kinds of other things. If I stayed on Linux the whole time, perhaps I never would have had the motivation to get over my distrust of terminals. And if for some reason I had chosen Windows instead of Mac OS as my non-hobby computer, I doubt I would have gotten into any of it. I would probably just hate computers like so many people I know.
1000x happier this way. I’m even back to computer-as-hobby. Which to be clear is no longer required to run linux. Just my nature.
As to your board member, if it makes him feel better, I’ll sell him a USB key with Linux on it for as much as he wants to pay me. So it will give the feeling of being valuable to him.
Especially because one of the board member is an Apple fanboy and keep saying things like: “If it’s free, it’s probably not very good”. :[
Thanks for ruining my evening, as this made me unnecessarily angry.
Ah… Sorry
In the words of Jamie Zawinski, “Linux is only free if your time has no value.”
Is not really relevant any more. OpenSUSE has been rock solid for 8 years. NixOS, just fill in config ams it all just works
+++ for NixOS. I run it across an average daily fleet of 40k systems. We’re automotive, and nix is used everywhere.
I did, in my previous and curret job…e very happy camper
The smb server is Linux, my desktop is Linux.
The office workers use a debloated Windows 11.
I installed pihole at the same time as the server swapped from Windows to Linux, so now they believe the Linux server magically sped up the Internet.
Any suggestions on what to give people for debloated windows?
I used this: https://github.com/Raphire/Win11Debloat
I’ve had Linux on my work desktop for the past twenty years.
Me too, I have also refused job offers to places that don’t allow Linux on the workstations.
Yea but what distro ? Yes you will be judged!
Debian, of course.
youll need to update your work desktop for the first time soon
I got to update my WSL on my work machine to Debian 13. Very exciting.
I didn’t need to.
Once I had to write a utility and made sure it works on other OSes except GNU/Linux. The CTO asked in review why doing so? I explained, he said no, make it Linux only, if somebody needs to use it, they will have to install Linux then use it.
Something I appreciate about that place till this day.
Yes, the company OS policy doesn’t specify which OS to use as long as it actively supported and the security tooling can be installed.
I reckon the latter part might be the problem for a lot of people.
A lot of enterprise security software has a Linux version, because a lot of servers run Linux, and they need to have the software for compliance. There is no shortage in that space.
