A lot has changed in the world of computing over the years. In the early days, computers were primarily used for work purposes. But today, they are used for a variety of activities, including gaming and entertainment. When it comes to choosing a platform for computing, developers have largely shifted their preference from Windows to Linux. Here’s why:
Reasons Why Developers Prefer Linux
Linux is a more versatile platform than Windows.
Linux is designed to be run on a wide variety of hardware, from high-end servers to low-power devices like the Raspberry Pi. Windows, on the other hand, is designed specifically for use on personal computers. Finally, Linux offers a richer selection of software than Windows. In addition to the hundreds of thousands of free and open source applications available for Linux, many commercial applications are also available in Linux versions. This makes Linux an attractive choice for businesses and organizations that want to avoid the high costs of licensing commercial software. In conclusion, Linux is a more versatile platform than Windows because it is open source, runs on a variety of hardware, and offers a greater selection of software.
Linux can be customized to a greater extent than Windows.
For many users, the main appeal of Linux is its flexibility. Unlike Windows, which is designed for general use, Linux can be customized to meet the specific needs of different users. For example, it is possible to create a lightweight version of Linux that can be used on older computers, or a version that is optimized for gaming. In addition, Linux users can choose from a wide range of graphical user interfaces, or “desktops,” each of which has its own unique features and appearance. As a result, Linux offers a level of customization that is simply not possible with Windows. In addition, because Linux is open-source software, it is possible to modify the underlying code to suit one’s own needs. For many users, this flexibility is the key advantage of Linux over Windows.
Linux is less resource-intensive than Windows.
One of the most common complaints about Windows is that it is a resource hog. Over the years, Microsoft has made strides in optimizing the operating system, but it still requires more memory and processing power than its Linux counterpart. There are several reasons for this. Firstly, Windows comes with a lot of built-in features that many users never bother to disable or uninstall. Secondly, the Windows UI is more complex and demanding than most Linux UIs. As a result, it uses up more resources just to render the interface.
Finally, Windows apps tend to be larger and more resource-intensive than their Linux counterparts. For example, a typical Linux text editor might be a few hundred kilobytes in size, while a similar program for Windows can easily be several megabytes. All of these factors contribute to the perception that Linux is a leaner, meaner operating system than Windows.
Linux is more stable and reliable than Windows.
Unlike proprietary operating systems, Linux is developed by a community of volunteers who work together to improve the software. As a result, Linux is more stable and reliable than many commercial operating systems. Furthermore, it is supported by numerous developers who are constantly working to fix bugs and add new features. While Linux can be used for desktop computers and servers, it is also popular with embedded devices such as routers and TV set-top boxes. Thanks to its flexibility and reliability, Linux has become the preferred choice for many users who need an operating system that they can trust.
Linux provides better security features than Windows.
For one thing, Linux is open source, meaning that there is a large community of developers constantly working to improve the system. In contrast, Windows is developed by a single company, making it much more difficult to identify and fix security vulnerabilities. Furthermore, Linux uses a concept called “security by design,” which means that security is built into the very core of the system. This makes it much more difficult for hackers to exploit vulnerabilities. Finally, Linux provides users with a high level of control over their security settings. This allows users to tailor their security to their individual needs. As a result, Linux offers superior security features compared to Windows.
Linux offers a wide range of open-source software applications.
Linux offers a wide range of open-source software applications that can be used for a variety of purposes. For example, there are open source office applications such as LibreOffice and Apache OpenOffice that can be used for word processing, spreadsheets, and presentations. Alternatively, there are open-source graphics applications such as GIMP and Inkscape that can be used for photo editing and vector illustrations. Furthermore, there are open sources development tools such as Eclipse and NetBeans that can be used for coding and web development. Overall, Linux provides users with a wide range of open-source software options, making it a great choice for those who want to use or develop free software.
Latest comments (96)
Good article. I think Windows became more and more bloated over time and less performant relying heavily on the power of the processor to compensate. Also, the registry still a mess and get also bloated over time. This legacy thing was good at start, but not anymore. MS have a great IDE for development, but it gets too heavy with all the frameworks and .Net things. Linux philosophy is more like “on demand” so, that keeps things lean and efficient.
Another important point, with Windows 10, 11 and soon 12, developers knows they are loosing more and more controls to MS. Yes the OS is free, but at what cost? Your privacy and ownership!
From my standpoint, most developers prefer OSX. While it's Unix based, I believe it's not considered Linux IIRC. Personally, I'd never change my good ol' BSPWM tiling for some fancy trackpad 😅
I love it because it provides closest feeling to server environments.
serverful OS
I try to make the switch to Linux at least once a year, trying with different distro's but ultimately I always go back to Windows after quite some time, just because it works for me. I don't know if my hardware isn't super compatible with Linux but it always ends for me with everything not working, my taskbar missing and I cannot install any app because of some package manager errors which you have to manually clear for a few hours.
I love Linux, it's customization and I really would like to use something private, I try the UNIX but in the end it just stops working for me at some point. The longest working distros for me were Pop OS and Mint and were using both of them for around 10 months but then... I don't know, maybe it's just not for me.
I'd love to switch to Linux, if it wasn't to Adobe to ruin everything for me (I actually depend on some of the CC-Apps because the alternatives kinda suck atm (imo)).
whatsap with Adobe
When you use Linux, people also think you are some hacker man, which is always a nice thing to have.
You can do simple hacks though, like weak wifi
All the hating on windows here...and yet every Linux GUI OS is striving to be more like Windows, because let's face it, windows is easy to use. Always has been easier than linux flavors.
Anyway, i love linux, for command line, still have not run into a nice linux GUI that made me quite windows for it. [And windows doesn't force updates, you can stop them, and windows doesn't force microsoft accounts, i don't use one]
The main thing windows still does for me over linux any day is gaming. Linux gaming just hasn't caught up to windows, is all.
But really, who cares? The vast majority of developers have no clue how the operating system works anyway.
Most devs just want their tools to work, as a web developer, for me that means being able to run servers. I run Node just as easily as WAMP and i use Git as easily via CLI or github desktop. The tools are there and they work. All this complaining about the OS is pointless.
The GUI point is funny when we look back in history. Linux used to be a very special UNIX-like project for academics, and I remember early Linux distributions in the 1990s used to boot without GUI by default, so we had to configure and type
startxif we thought we needed a desktop environment. At the same time, other UNIX systems like IBM AIX already came with the common desktop environment (CDE) based on the X Window System which originated as part of Project Athena at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1984, one year before the first version of Microsoft Windows was released.Apple sued Microsoft for stealing their ideas, as - years before the Mac(intosh) - Apple Lisa already had a graphical user interface back in 1983.
Windows has not been taken seriously as a gaming platform for many years to come. Before DirectX was released in 1995, " programmers had found the Windows environment more difficult to develop for compared to MS-DOS or other gaming platforms."
I have used Commodore's BASIC command line and Workbench desktop, MS-DOS Personal Computer command line, Microsoft DOSSHELL, Windows 3.0 to Windows 10, Classic Mac OS 7 to Apple macOS 10.15 Catalina, and I have been using Linux since maybe 1997 starting as a nerdy alternative after getting upset about Windows software problems again and again.
My personal reasons I prefer Linux as a developer: 100% configuration control, not bound to any major company forcing me to login, update or provide tracking data, no need to buy any license (I do pay for software licenses and support though and I donate to open source projects if I enjoy their products), and better performance (faster and needs less memory compared to Windows on the same machine).
Additional reasons I prefer Linux in general: I'm not a gamer, and I don't like Microsoft's recent UX design decisions wasting screen estate with clunky UI elements that can't be properly themed apart from changing colors. Last but not least, as a German, I despise their inconsistent and confusing translations that do not even sound like proper German language to me.
Configuration easy
love the history lesson :)
And yea, i get that a lot of devs love the 100% configuration control....personally i don't care to control every little thing so Windows has been fine for my needs.
My main beef has always been gaming. If linux has been mainstream with gaming i'd probably be using some flavor of it. I used to mess with linux OSs a lot but it's been at least 10 years since i last installed one.
I do use linux exclusively for my web servers as anyone who's on microsoft's platform, using .NET or whatever for web servers is just masochistic and wants to suffer all the time lol
I understand , gammers stay with windows
Nowadays with Proton and Lutris and EAC ported to Linux, there’s not very many games that you can’t play on Linux.
Haven't tried that..Thanks
The most obvious reason, not really listed here, is you own your system when you use Linux, and that is not the case on Windows or OSX,
For example, I wanted to have my Windows machine on (for mining), and damned windows would restart it for updates every night, the only way to shut that off is to mess with the registry, but that change can break with an update.
I keep Windows for gaming (yes, I mine and game on the same PC), so what id I do to fix this? I bough a small SSD, installed linux on it and now it does what I told it to do, very simple.
Thanks for insight
The more correct title is "Why do developers prefer Linux over Windows?". I wouldn't make the same claim over Mac, as I see it as the preferred platform for many (most? how does one know?).
Let's see what the numbers are on the latest Stack Overflow survey. According to survey.stackoverflow.co/2022/#sect...
62% use Windows personally
49% use Windows professionally
40% use Linux personally
40% use Linux professionally
31% use Macs personally
33% use Macs professionally
Perhaps the best title for your article should be "Why I prefer Linux over Windows"
Good point. But I think a good number of older developers rarely participate in this survey. I think mostly newbies do participate in it.
NB
This is just my observation.
Sure, it will be good if they bring part of their side
Surprising results considering the number of companies forcing you to use Macs.
Got you, Thanks for the source
Well according to the stack overflow survey they don't, and by a large margin so 🤷
survey.stackoverflow.co/2022/#sect...
You had to fetch the data from Stack, Thanks for the insight, but based on Qoura, its linux
Well, in my opinion Windows is much less documented and doesn't allow users to customize & personalize by design. Thus for developers like us it's not always possible to tweak as per the requirement of programs. Or doesn't allow us to learn more about how it works from inside or which code does what or what breaks the code. Thus leaving a gap between our research while development.
Rather if windows adopts open source at it's core like powershell, we'd love to develop on windows and research about how they made it possible at it's core.
Do you think Bill Get will allow that..Open source, Naaa
Naa! 😂 Nevertheless the company is embracing open source linux technologies for building windows...
Linux is incredible faster compared to Windows and also security it suited in most workspace. Linux uses less resources, dont have much bloatware, Open Source, Free of costs and Fully customizable but in terms of Gaming thats another story.
Window is heavier because of many application i guess..
not just the application itself the Operating System. The idle in windows 10 is about 1.6GB and in windows 11 more than 2GB. But in linux particularly in Linux Mint the idle was just 800MB of RAM.
Sure, Windows 11 failed to run on my 8GB RAM machine, I had to use backdoor.😂😂
It able to run perfectly on my lowned machine tho but i cant just use an OS that consumed half of my ram which is just 4GB. so i instead uses linux for workspace and normal usage and windows 11 specifically only for gaming hahahhaha
Installation and maintenance of developer tools over years is consistent and stable and works as expected. This is at least why I use it.
Here we go linux😂😂You dint talk about Linux
Two are the reasons I prefer Linux:
That's it for me.
Decent shell
But what is your best Linux distribution and why ??
I do use parrotOS, aint into cybersec but the whole wide range of inbuilt packages just make it easier for prgramming