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General Discussion

Posted by Jeffery Waaland
Jeffery Waaland
94 Points

Operating systems in the work field?

I have a question about operating systems and the best one to use for programming. I’ve heard that Linux is the best and most impressive one to use for programming to employers. And Mac OS 10 is also a popular operating system for programmers because it falls under the same commands as Linux does but with a more user friendly GUI. I was curious, which one should I use? I heard there was a million distributions of Linux… I heard that Ubuntu was the best one to use but I don’t know that for sure…? I understand that Mac OS 10 is great but if I were to choose Linux which distribution would be best? Does anybody have any in field experience with employers on their OS expectations? Thank you.

3 Answers

Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points
Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points

Hey Jeff,

Yeah, learning Linux is such a valuable skill to have in your pocket as a programmer and the demand just keeps increasing. The beauty of your confusion on whether to go with Linux or MacOS is that their syntax is not that different. Being that Linux was conceptually based off Unix (what MacOS runs on) just learn Linux really well and you'll do just fine with any Unix like syntax you come across if you happen to end up working on a Mac. As far as the distro question goes, it really depends on how comfortable you are with Linux and what you would like to do with it. Distros can be really bare bones with just a CLI for power Linux users who feel at home in the terminal and then there are those who appreciate a great GUI like what Ubuntu, CentOS, or Fedora provide (along with others). I'd definitely recommend a GUI if you aren't extremely comfortable with the command line and the structure of Linux. The reason I mention CentOS and Fedora is that they are RedHat based which a lot of the big corporate players use. There is no for sure best. The reason there are so many distros is that a majority are optimized for different use cases. If you are comfortable with virtual machines I'd suggest downloading a few different distros and test driving them in VirtualBox or VMWare and really get a feel before you commit to one. Also, you can go to DistroWatch to see a ranking of the most popular distros based on page hit statistics. If you decide to go with Ubuntu that's a great first choice distro for many and it has a nice user-friendly GUI that makes it a lot easier on new to Linux users. Whatever distro you decide, the true magic is in the command line. Become a Linux power user there, with a deep understanding of the folder hierarchy and system architecture and you'll have no problem finding employment.

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points
Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

This is a great answer!

Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points
Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points

Thanks Kevin Korte. One of those well thought out answers that will get lost forever in the vast amount of questions in this forum. haha Hey, I got a question for you. How'd you go about becoming a moderator?

Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points
Kevin Korte
Kevin Korte
28,149 Points

Yeah for sure, but I'm guessing it's been picked up by google's crawlers by now.

As far as being a mod, I got in when it was a little easier, over 2 years now. But I did what you are doing, I was very active on the forums, answering every question I could, as well as I could, quality over quantity, and after almost a year of answering questions 6-7 days a week, I was noticed enough they offered a moderator position.

Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points
Nicholas Grenwalt
Nicholas Grenwalt
46,626 Points

Sounds like you put in some solid time to get it. Belated congrats! haha Yeah, I've seen some of your responses while perusing through the forums here and there. You do a great job. Keep it up. And I guess I'll just keep on answering, focusing on making quality answers then. Thanks for taking the time to respond Kevin. Appreciate it!