Reasons for learning how to use OS X and Linux (Ubuntu probably)

Perhaps you can help me sort through my thoughts? Sort of at a paralysis of what it actually is that I want and what I should do






1. I notice my computer science and tech savvy friends often have linux on their laptops -> Makes me think I should have one device I can use ubuntu on to get used to it - > Maybe it will make me more tech savvy

2. ^^ Ditto on OSX but not to as large a degree.

3. My plan was to install virtual OS's on a powerful laptop I bought. Been having constant problems with the laptop for a year, could never get the laptop to work for even a continuous 7 days before a new problem comes up. Multiple people said on this forum told me windows >>>> other OS's for multiple monitor use and some other things and to get a virtual OS. Hopefully will have laptop fixed within a month.

4. Need to dedicate some task to using linux and also for OSX I'm thinking.

5. My vague hope is that by using ubuntu more it will force me to understand code better and how a computer works better. And maybe I will become tech savvy like them and maybe that can lead to become a better worker one day, be able to interact with my devices better, be able to build some small skills on my own free time

6. What do I mean by tech savvy? Programmers know how the web works, know how scripts work, have a better idea of how to interact with their computer, can open up command prompt and make magic happen. And they find these things very interesting and learn new marketable skills just on their on free time for fun. How do I be like them and find skills that are fun for me to build, where do you even start? And there are plenty of 13 year olds or younger who can do that. Everything in school and for my internships I can do in windows 7. That is something in the back of my mind as an engineering student I still feel like I am out the loop in the tech world because I don't understand these things.

I can't be alone in feeling this? Sort of like a gap between "engineers" who take engineering classes in college and programmers who just learn learn learn skills on their own since a very young age far before college. A gap between an engineer who works a desk job with alot of spreadsheets and preinstalled programs on his company corporate computer to run say a chemical plant as opposed to a programmer who could even code Excel or code those preinstalled programs from scratch.

Like a corporate worker vs a silicon valley young coder- both could be technical with programming and engineering classes in their college years but in actuality have pretty large differences.

 

First and foremost this is a Windows Forum thread if you want to talk about other O/S that should be done in their own forum not on a Windows forum...this like a red herring discussion....

Highly unlikely this is wishful thinking.

OSx is second tier to Windows but not on the same scale or level. And doesn't have the level of Software support compared to Windows-that includes paid and freeware/shareware programs.

This is alot of wishful thinking when majority of Laptop are Windows platform already and gamers use Windows. As to your laptop problem since no one has any background information no one can understand where your coming from.

Again....post to Linux or OSx discussion if that is already your plan. Proper posting in the right forum is what is advocated here not

If you want to talk Ubuntu post in the right forum.

Programming isn't just for 13 year old everyone can learn it in one form or fashion and isn't limited to age group. As to Windows 7 it is the most support O/S that is why most people use it and learn on it.

Programming is a learning curve some learn it early and some learn it in college is all depends on their mindset and what they want to learn programming for and what they intent to do with it.

Each of those degrees learn differently and use programming differently so they can't be grouped in the same category or class. They have different learning for their fields of studies.

 

I'll make it easy for you.

Pick an OS that does what you need it to do. That's how you pick an OS. If Windows does what you need, stick with Windows. That's about it.

Youll eventually come across people talking about superior memory management, or drivers, or freedom, or usability, etc. None of that really matters. Pick the OS that does what you need it to do.

 

Well, at least you recognize the difference between a computer scientist and a programmer, so that's a start .

I've never heard anyone say that Windows (or whatever) is better than other OSes for multi monitor use... All modern desktop operating systems can handle multiple monitors just fine.

That said, one reason to be inclined to go with some *nix install (Linux, OSX, whatever) is that UNIX-based machines tend to allow the user to muck around deep in the OS easily, something that Windows makes difficult to do (nevermind that the Windows APIs are just a mess). But, that said, I use both Linux and Windows since I need to develop for both of those systems. As mentioned before, use whichever OS you need to use (or multiple OSes).

Websites, scripts, and command-line stuff is just a really small (and easy) aspect of programming or CS. Going on the track of CS (if you're serious about it) will require you to learn about algorithms and data structures, software development, human-computer interaction, some understanding of how OSes work (one of my assignments was to create my own memory allocator classes, for example), networking at a programming level, and some various other CS topics (I personally took a databases class and will be going into some hardware prototyping next semester, though that's closer to electrical/computer engineering).

But, for something a bit more casual, you can check out some of the excellent DIY learning / charities out there that will teach you basic website design / scripting / whatever. Two that pop up to mind are Project Euler ( https://projecteuler.net/) and Free Code Boot Camp ( http://www.freecodecamp.com/).

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Good luck on your learning. CS is a fascinating subject to study.

 

EdX has a free Linux course...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

Knowing Linux got me a cool Linux SysOp job in Paris a while ago, it helped me through my academic studies, and also changed the way I interacted with my pc, it made me feel in control of every aspect of my pc. Handling a Linux server is so much fun for me, on the other hand I am not even sure what is happening under the hood in Windows, you tick boxes and deal with GUIs most of the time.

Later on you can also move to BSD systems, OpenBSD is pretty sleek.

Anyway, to summarize it in a single sentence, Linux challenges you to learn more about your system, you will be constantly trying to find out why and how are certain things happening, and how they can be altered to meet your preferences, and that will provide you with knowledge.

Some related articles:
https://linuxacademy.com/blog/linux/six-reasons-you-need-to-learn-linux/
http://training.linuxfoundation.org...s/lftstaff/804-10-good-reasons-to-learn-linux
http://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/122620/linux/10_reasons_for_learning_linux.html
https://www.edx.org/blog/why-learn-linux

 

You have the freedom to choose an OS where you can look fully under the hood with a microscope at every single function, and have fun tinkering and learning from it and pass it on to the next person.

Try virtualbox and install as many flavors of linux as you can tolerate: http://distrowatch.com/dwres.php?resource=major

Using the command line is imperative in any OS, not just linux.

Learning HTML is imperative to using the web safely and effectively.

A lot of this seems to just be motivation, either you truly want to do it and will spend the time, or you think it's neat but move along doing the rest of your life.

 

I use it for work. We develop open source solutions and support Ubuntu, Open Enbedded and Fedora.

 

I use linux for many years (since 1997).
If you really are serious about trying it out, my advice is, just deinstall windows and instal linux, try to use it daily and soon, you will see if you're content or not.

Btw. with windows 10 coming, i'm recommending all my friends to switch to linux, or be ready to be spied upon. After google and android, windows 10 is biggest data-mining project coming in (all legal, you agree with everything upon install).

I'm pretty much happy with linux, i even installed it on my parents PC, because windows were getting malwared, virused etc. to oblivion.

If my parents were able to learn to use it (64/63 yrs) you can too. .

 

As the previous poster mentioned, if you really want to learn Linux you should just go all in and not look back. If you want assistance with Linux there's always "Linux For Dummies".

Just an FYI, any question you have has probably been answered and you have a 95% of finding via a Google search. I personally prefer Linux vs OS X and I own a Mac Mini. In fact if you work with Linux and go to a Mac, you'd swear that Apple copied many of the design choices from Linux. Now i've used OS X since the first release back in 2001.

The thing with any OS is to break the comfort zone with what you know i.e. Windows and just go 100% Linux. Keep in mind that Linux has come a looooong way since the late 90's and now looks and runs just like any commercial OS.

The most popular Distros such as Ubuntu, Linux Mint and openSUSE have designed the OS for minimal user tweaking. In other words the popular Distros behave just like any commercial OS and they want you just to start using it without having to worry about getting into trouble or becoming frustrated. The modern Distros also include everything you need to enjoying the experience such as an Office Suite, media and audio player, Web Browser, Email client etc.

 

Why not?

Grab a spare hard drive and install Mint Linux or Ubuntu and have a play around and see how it works for you. They should keep you busy, playing with bits and pieces and changing various things. There are is a huge amount of web help although it does tend to be fragmented, with bits here and there over various web sources. There are various 'less helpful' Linux distributions if you want to increase the immersion you have in your operating system (Slackware for example) - the extreme would probably be building Linux from scratch. If you really fancy going down a rabbit hole then FreeBSD is worth a look.

I personally see OSX as a *nix OS that doesn't require playing around with (And mostly keeps you away from doing so, unless you insist). It's not ideal for use as a toy machine that you play around with - plus you have to buy Apple hardware unless you perform a Hackintosh install, which is another undertaking in itself.

 

Linux doesn't need to be coddled like Windows does, once you have it how you like it you can keep it going forever with literally no effort.

From a blank SSD to completely setup for me is just over 2 hours, most of which is waiting for everything to download and install.