Comment by regexorcist

This is false. Linux is better in every way, unless you are forced to use Windows at work or to use some Windows-software (whose developers thus make make the choice for you). But this also does not make Windows better.

Linux obeys the user, doesn't have malware in the repositories, fast and light even on older hardware and doesn't try extract as much money from you as possible.

Buy preinstalled Linux, and you will not have to care about the hardware support. Worked for me. LibreOffice is better than MS Office for 90% of users.

There is plenty of malware for Linux. The difference is that the OS won't install it for you.

There was malware for systems with 1/1000 the userbase of Linux. Even Amiga and Atari had plenty of it, macOS when it had 2% share, and others.

This isn't accurate at all.

The reason people don't get malware on Linux is because they install software through the package manager, via trusted and reviewed repos. And drivers are all built-in to the operating system, not third party (with some exceptions, like nvidia).

On most Linux setups you aren't just downloading random junk from the internet and running it. Also the operating system won't install things automatically for you generally either. Even system updates are optional if you don't want them, and you won't be nagged for it.

Basically it comes down to a difference in culture.

No one uses it? There are dozens of us!

Linux doesn't install malware, because it is free software, which guarantees the four user freedoms. Whenever someone adds malware, anybody else can remove it for everyone or create an equally useful fork without it. Try this with Windows.

In other words, Stallman was right, and proprietary software developers have too much power over users. And they inevitably, sooner or later, leverage this power for (more) profit, even if you paid for the product.

That's rapidly changing. Gaming these days is much more enjoyable on Linux than Windows.

Of course this is a “I need the OS for work” situation. It reminds me a lot of 20 years ago when we’d say things like “I’d love a Mac but it’s not compatible with anything I do for work,” and that sentiment didn’t last.

I definitely wouldn’t predict that Linux is taking over the world or anything but it wasn’t that long ago that playing AAA games on Linux on day one of release was ludicrous. Now the most popular PC handheld runs Linux, a PC console launched that runs Linux.

Now we have hardware like the MacBook Neo that threatens Windows even more. Sure, the XPS 13 came out and is arguably a compelling alternative. But I think the mindshare damage has been done on that one.

The idea that Windows might disappear entirely is not that far-fetched, especially when you look at Microsoft’s financial results.

If I was a PC OEM like Dell I would probably band together with other OEMs like Lenovo to make my own Linux distribution and support Windows offboarding even further as a hedge to my business.

Have you tried Rider? I've been using that for C++ Unreal development and absolutely love it. It does help that IntelliJ was my daily driver for Java dev for a while.

You don't have to win the hardware support lottery if you do a bit of research or buy a laptop made for it.

> Linux is great if you win the hardware support lottery.

This is fairly easy to do by just not buying the absolute latest hardware. Installing something like Fedora in a 8-12 month old laptop I just can't recall last time I had issues.