The State of Operating Systems (Controversial I'm Sure)

Historically

So I've been around for awhile now, at least a few decades of adulthood. Most of that time I was a die hard Linux user. I had stints of using Windows, especially back in the "World of Warcraft" days. But most of my early years I was setting up PPP connections to my isp in Slackware. My opinions on operating systems has changed drastically now and I thought I would jot down what I am thinking about the topic at this time.

Linux

Linux my dear old friend. I used to defend you with all I had. No matter how difficult you were I would suggest you to everyone. Then as years went on the difficulty went away. I think most anyone can successfully get some version of Linux installed with very little effort. Not to mention it is fairly easy to find preinstalled on a machine if need be.

...But, I find most applications inadequate for me these days. All the best apps seem to be things created for other OS's ported over or they are just web apps anyway.

Linux is much more a toy to tinker with to me these days. Of course there is no denying it's versatility and performance on the server side, nothing compares to be honest. On the desktop though, it's to fragmented, the applications mostly to simple or to buggy. I just can't bring myself to use it consistently.

Now do not be angry with me. I do love it, it's just not for me anymore and I have become much less a freedom fighter in my old age.

Windows

The cursed enemy to all! Well not anymore. With close to a decade of new leadership this boat has changed course completely. Not that it's all rainbows and unicorns, but they are way more open, the OS is less buggy, and in general it's actually become a pleasant experience.

Now with WSL if I do need to scratch that itch I can. I mostly open it and sudo apt update && apt upgrade . Then I close it again. For development Python, Rust, Flutter/Dart, Node, and of course .Net all run native and well for that matter. Not to mention the new Windows Terminal really is an improvement. I like it much more than most of the Linux terminals I've used.

All in all, I gotta say I like them these days and will continue to use it as my daily driver.

ChromeOS ##

Isn't that Linux? Well technically it is, but it's pretty well hidden. This is my new love. I'm typing this on it now. It's fast, smooth, pretty much trouble free. The occasional time I do bugger it up I can literally reset it and be back to work in about 5 minutes.

On the Dev side, I can run GUI Linux apps on it. I actually run VSCode and Android studio on it for Flutter development. With the bonus of being able to run/test Android apps on it. I've also run Node, Deno and Rust on it no problem.

Needless to say, ChromeOS is slowly becoming my favorite and I spend just about as much time on it as I do on my main Windows machine. And again, if I feel the urge to see packages update I can run my sudo apt commands on it.

Android

This is my mobile operating system of choice, I really like the ecosystem, I develop for it, and a couple other reasons to be mentioned below. Besides the variety and price points I can get a real good phone at.

The Apple Ecosystem

So all the Apple stuff. Just because I share a name with them doesn't mean I have to like them. But I confess, I agree that they're hardware is amazing. I have used iOS in the past and it's damn good. But they are not necessarily the best. I find them more trendy than anything.

But the main reason I don't use them is elitism. I call myself a developer and I want everyone in the world, no matter where they are located or what their income is to have the opportunity to take advantage of whatever awful software I may create in the future. I really am not interested in using products that only the wealthier people in the world can take advantage of.

Mind you, I have nice things. And they are expensive. I use a high spec Surface Laptop. My Chromebook is a Pixelbook Go with real good specs. But I know anywhere in the world the hardware and OS are available to the general masses, maybe without the performance, but they can use the stuff.

Conclusion

So as you may have noticed, this was very opinionated. It's literally just where I am at with my computer use. I've used most operating systems and like and dislike things about all of them. I do think opensource and proprietary systems can coexist and that they both have their own unique places they fit in the world. No reason to hate either.

P.S. BSD people, don't feel bad. I've used your OS also. And an honorable mention for Haiku. Cheers!