Choosing Operating System

I will convince you in this chapter to choose Linux for coding, Windows for playing games, and MacOS for donating money to Apple.

Let us investigate the difference between these OS.

Windows

Windows is a widely available operating system developed by Microsoft. It is shipped with almost all softwares one may need, including a desktop environment, a C/C++ compiler with libraries, a developer suite (Visual Studio Code), and various application softwares. This makes it ready to use out of the box. Windows is also compatible with almost all softwares, including most videos games.

Windows, contrary to common believe, is not free. It costs around 100 GBP. This fact may be overlloked, as when purchasing a computer with Windows preinstalled, the price of Windows is included in the price of the computer.

The important drawback is that Microsoft has the complete control of a Windows system instead of the users, and it often uses its unchecked rights for abuse.

There are many controversies, but here are a few facts:

1. Microsoft’s privacy statement explicitly states that it will collect your personal data and share them with third-parties organisations. It does not say what data is collected, but a previous statement says it will collect personal information including password and browsing histories. ¹
2. Microsoft’s softwares explicitly exploits user data. For example, Microsoft Recall, launched in June 2024, is a software service that helps user find what they have done on the computer previously. Recall works by taking the snapshots of the computer periodically and processing them with Microsoft Copilot. Any other programs that can take a computer’s screenshot and share it through the internet without user’s permission is called a spyware. ²

In conclusion, Microsoft have total power over Windows, not the user. This is a big problem for coding.

User Experience

Most people have satifiable experience on Windows:

1. It is likely preinstalled on most computers;
2. it is a stable OS, and almost all softwares can run on it;
3. Microsoft’s services, including OneDrive, gaming service, and Copilot, may be helpful.

There are, however, significant inconvenience:

1. Windows may force a system update, or keeping popping up remainders. User can not turn off the reminders;
2. Many built-in software can not be uninstalled, including Microsoft edge³, copilot, etc. A software that can not be uninstalled is called a malware;
3. Windows has built-in advertisements that can not be removed;
4. Windows does not have a general-purpose package manager. (Mac does not have it, either, but most Linux ditributions do.) To install a software on Windows, one have to search on internet and find the most plausible link for download. This is not only an inconvenience, but also a severe security concern, as a hacked software may be installed. ⁴
5. Windows is a bulky and takes unreasonable amount of resources. Windows usually will take 7 GB of RAM and around 100 GB of disk space. In comparison, a fully funcitonal, ready to use Linux distribution with full graphical interface only need 2 GB of RAM and 20 GB of disk space.
6. Some Windows App may be laggy for no apparent reasons, and user can do nothing about it.

Coding Experience

The overall coding experience on Windows is mediocre:

1. Windows is not designed for programmers but for ordinary users and gamers.⁵
2. Microsoft forces every programmer to use Visual Studio, which is a bundle of necessary programming tools for software development. Visual Studio is not open-sourced, and a programmer can not view, edit, and learn from its source code, and, if something goes wrong (which often takes place), the programmer can do nothing except waiting for Microsoft to fix it. This is a major inconvenience for learners.
3. Many programming tools are not available, or can not be used conveniently on Windows, such as neovim, tmux, and fish.
4. There is no official package manager.

That being said, most game are developed on Windows, as Windows has the best support for most gaming development tools.

MacOS

MacOS is POSIX compliant Unix system developed by Apple. It is only available on Apple computers. Many consumer appraise MacOS for its stability, beautiful apperance, and convenient interaction with other Apple devices.

Like Microsoft, Apple has the complete control over MacOS, a privilage that was abused:

1. Apple has secretly underclocked older devices (making them slower) without notifying users. Many suspected Apple did it to encourage consumers to buy new Apple products. Apple refuted this statement but agreed to pay 113 million. ⁶
2. Apple voluntarily stopped the support for OpenGL and Vulkan to promote Metal, a graphical framework created by Apple. This makes many AAA games not functional on MacOS.

User Experience

Apple’s products are famous for their beautiful appearances, smooth animations, and long battery life. Interaction between Apple’s device are also appraised. Apart from these, however, Apples’s products are poor on many aspects:

1. MacOS has serious compatibility issues. Many software can not run on MacOS, including most of the games and many developer tools. Some softwares refuses to offer MacOS support, some software’s support was deliberately undermined by Apple;
2. Apple promotes the software made by Apple, and hampers third party softwares. ⁷
3. Purchasing applications through Apple’s App Store costs more, as Apple takes 30% of any purchase.
4. MacOS consumes a lot of RAM and disk space. A brand new installation of MacOS takes likely more than 40 GB of disk and 4 GB of RAM.

Coding Experience

Mac’s coding experience is poor:

1. The new Mac uses Apple’s M series chips, which, although fast and efficient, have dropped all legacy support. This makes many programming tool non-compatible with MacOS, and there is no way to fix them.
2. Any series programming on Apple requires Xcode, which is a developer’s suite like Visual Studio Code. XCode is poorly made, runs very slowly, buggy, occupying over 20 GB, and hard to use. There is no other alternative.
3. Apple promoted programming languages and libraries made by Apple and stopped supports for their competitors. This is especially bad for programming learners.
4. Developing and distributing a MacOS software requires specific permission from Apple, which would costs thousands of US dollars;
5. There is no official package manager.

Linux

Short History

Linux is a free and open-source kernel developed by the community. Linux kernel was first developed by Linus Torvalds in the 1990s as a free alternative to the expensive Unix systems. At the same time Richard Stallman and Free Software Fundation has developed free alternatives of other parts of an operating system, but failed to create a functional kernel.

As a result, people created GNU/Linux⁸ operating system by combining the Linux kernel and GNU softwares, which has quickly gained popularity among the open-source enthusiasts.

In the early days of Linux, most contributers are open-source enthusiasts working as volunteers. As the project became more popular, the Linux Fundation was established in 2000 to support Linux development. Since then, many coorporations, including Google, Microsoft, Huawei, etc, have been the sponsors for the project. Many Linux maintainers have become full-time programmers of these companies. (The companies are paying them full time to work on Linux.)

As of 2024, Linus Torvalds still leads the Linux development.

Linux distribution

Linux distribution is an operating system built on the Linux kernel bundled with various system and application softwares.

There are many free and open-source Linux distributions. The most famous ones are Debian, Ubuntu, RedHat, Fedora, Arch, Manjaro, CentOS, PureOS, etc. Most of these distributions are built by different group of volunteers and open-source enthusiasts.

There are very few computers sold with Linux preinstalled. To use Linux, one has to buy a non-Apple computer and install the desired distribution on his own. See obtaining Linux.

As Linux distributions are free and open source, a user is able to modify his system, including the kernel and desktop environment, in any way he fancies. This makes Linux systems very different from each other.

One significant difference among Linux distributions are the amount configurations required. Arch distributes only the most essential softwares without a desktop environment. A functional Arch computer thus requires the user to install many softwares and configure them properly. In comparison, Ubuntu and Manjaro are preconfigured and can work out of box.

User Experience

Different Linux distributions will lead to different user experience. This be Linux’s greatest advantage: you may choose the distribution that fit your need.

Many modern Linux distribution, including Ubuntu, Manjaor, and Linux Mint, focuse on user experience. Using them is similar to use Windows or MacOS: everything will simply work, and all can be done by using a mouse to click the GUI.

That being said, here are the common advantages of all Linux distributions:

1. Linux is free and open-sourced. This means user has the ultmate power over the system.
2. There is no telemetry on Linux system. If there are, you can uninstall them.
3. Linux is very customisable: you can use your creativity to make a speical system that fits your need.
4. Linux kernel is light weighted. An Arch system with a fully functional graphical desktop environment and common application software often takes less than 20 GB of disk space. The operating system and the desktop environment may take less than 2 GB of RAM.

Here are some disadvantages:

1. Most Linux system will not have customer support, as it is a free software developed by the community. There are, however, abundant support on the internet.
2. With great power comes great responsibilities. Linux granted the ultimate power to the users, and it will not prevent the users from breaking the systems.
3. Some softwares may not run on Linux, including certain videos games like League of Legends and Valorant. The good news is many Linux developers are currently solving this issue. For example, Wine is an open-source which enables most Windows software to run on Linux natively. Proton, based on Wine, was developped by Valve which allows most games on Steam to run on Linux. (The Steamdeck runs on Arch Linux.), Sima Qian

The Coding Experience

Linux distributions are particularly suitable for coding:

1. They are made by developers for developers, not for marketing or for sales. Almost every programming library and tool can run on Linux. Many programming utility tools that can boost your coding productivity are hard to find on Windows and MacOS, but are readily available on Linux. Some examples are Neovim, cscope, riggrep, fd, fish, and zsh.
2. Most Linux distributions have built-in package manager, which is extremely helpful for coding.
3. Linux is free and open-source, meaning you can view and edit any source code of any software. This is particularly helpful for learners.
4. Linux is customisable. Linux user has more choices on every softwares including the desktop environment. Linux systems can also be freely customised to boost your productivity. See ricing.

The Power of Open Source

Linux is a free and open source software. The word free means both free of charge and freedom: any one can obtain a copy of it without charge and can have absolute freedom over this copy, including viewing the source code.

The success of Linux kernel may largely attribute to it being open source. Anyone can view the source code, and many of the more enthusiastics were ready to fix bugs, propose new functionalities, and in other ways contribute to Linux. Many Linux users have contributed codes to the Linux kernel by sending patches to Linus Torvalds or one of the maintainers, who would review the patch and accept those he deems good. The work of Linus Torvalds himself, as of 2024, mostly consist of reviewing patches instead of writing the code.

Many companies have strong incentives to contribute to Linux. For example, if a hardware manufacturer has developped a new hardware, which requires a speical device driver, it will likely code the driver and send it to the Linux kernel. If the driver is accepted into the kernel (which is very likely), its customers can use the hardware on a Linux system free of trouble.

Many big companies like Amazon and Google also have strong incentives to use Linux. For example, Amazon Web Service provides cloud servers as a service. The server has to run on a operating system. Let it be Windows, Unix, or MacOS, Amazon would need to pay much for a license and will not be able to customise them. As a result, Amazon chose the free alternative, Linux.

As a free software, Linux is particularly suitable for individuals to learning to code, as it give the use the most freedom to explore and learn the ins and outs of the operating system.

Conclusion: Use Linux

This may be a biased opinion: I regard Linux as the best operating system for coding and personal use.

If you are not using Linux, try it.

Trying Linux costs nothing except some time, efforts, and courage, but will return you many rewards.

Footnotes