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Ask HN: Mac vs. Linux for Development?

1 points| praveenweb | 8 years ago | reply

I have been developing on Mac for the past three years. Just wondering what devs prefer in 2018? Mac or a Linux machine? The thing that i like with Mac is that there is a balance in using it for personal and work / development purpose in comparison to Linux.

But are there any specific Linux related benefits/dev hacks that a developer is missing by using a Mac? I know its personal choice but would like to hear other's perspective.

In case of an upgrade, how do you compare the new Macbooks with different keyboards/TouchBar (hearing bad things about them) vs a Linux machine?

Finally, do people use Windows for coding at Work?

3 comments

[+] ThatHNGuy|8 years ago|reply

I use Linux as primary platform for development (C++, Java, Python, PHP) and Windows as secondary platform, as long as we deliver products for Windows.

MacOS is irrilevant for us, as long as the market share in Enterprise field is really low.

[+] LinuxBender|8 years ago|reply

My choices at work were windows and mac. I changed from mac to windows so I have better bare metal support (AD, VPN, etc...) and run Linux VM's to do my work. It is a hassle, but I am not permitted to run Linux native on the laptop.

I make heavy use of gnu screen on Linux in the datacenter so that most of my work stays at work and I just access over a vpn+ssh tunnel. Others use tmux.

I think some devs prefer to code locally vs. check in and build remote. I am not constantly checking things in, so that is less of an issue for me.

[+] bryanyin|8 years ago|reply

I'm in a BYOD company. I use Mac, good thing as you said, it balances personal use and work use. Several friends use Ubuntu as alternative to Mac. The rest use Win as they need to play game at home :)