{"slug": "linux", "name": "Linux", "category": "os", "category_name": "Operating systems and desktop", "description": "Free, open-source Unix-like operating system kernel at the core of many desktop and server distributions.", "recommenders": 50, "commenters": 68, "warners": 2, "score": 48.39, "rising": 7.2, "first": "2025-11-24", "latest": "2026-10-28", "why": "HN commenters like Linux for being stable and predictable day to day, and many who left Windows say it causes fewer problems and respects their time and hardware.", "why_is_quote": false, "has_verdict": true, "sentiment": {"recommend": 52, "neutral": 16, "compare": 0, "warn": 2}, "spark": [4, 2, 3, 4, 1, 1, 3, 5, 11, 8, 6, 4], "listed": true, "loved": ["Stability", "Windows alternative"], "caveat": "Desktop rough edges", "short_quote": "since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air.", "icon": true, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://kernel.org", "pricing": "open source", "aliases": ["Linux"], "verdict": [{"text": "HN commenters like Linux for being stable and predictable day to day", "cites": [{"id": 795463280, "item_id": 49716455, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716455", "by": "Milpotel", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Linux because it's stable and boring.", "excerpt": "> If you just want something stable and boring, Linux is just not it. What? I get the other arguments but I use Linux because it's stable and boring. I don't want the hassle of updates to Windows 8, 9, 10, 11 (or whatever is current now) or OS X updates breaking things (\"Yay, they've removed another feature!\").", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 790204256, "item_id": 49387766, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387766", "by": "Alien1Being", "date": "2026-08-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use", "excerpt": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use , particularly when combined with TUI applications like yazi, lsd, fzf , neovim etc Been using it since the early nineties . At work I use Windows Server 2025 as my desktop ( the alternative would be the dreadful AI infested Windows 11). While Windows Server 2025 is not dreadful , the Linux experience is so much ni", "context": "Linux user since the early nineties", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 790122801, "item_id": 49382675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49382675", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It just works.", "excerpt": "I have been using Linux on the desktop since the late 90's. Other than increase hardware support, I have not tangentially noticed/felt almost anything you have mentioned here. When I fire up the desktop and load Firefox, I do not feel or see the sandboxing, the scheduler, the file system or the I/O. It just works. Yes, we interact with it all the time but it isn't something that the end user would notice and that is ", "context": "Linux desktop user since the late 90s", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}]}, {"text": ", and many who left Windows say it causes fewer problems and respects their time and hardware.", "cites": [{"id": 781058576, "item_id": 48816161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816161", "by": "drw85", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows.", "excerpt": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows. I had some minor problems after updates once or twice. On Windows i had to boot into restore mode multiple times due to Windows Update screwing something up. The MS Store also constantly had trouble updating apps and games and i had to manage packages manually and uninstall and reinstall them so it would work again until the next updat", "context": "", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID"}, {"id": 786913088, "item_id": 49182068, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182068", "by": "sigseg1v", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since", "excerpt": "The Windows updates have become so unreliable and broken so many laptops that my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Can't believe the amount of frustration we put up with using Windows for so long. Maybe for a non tech company yes they cannot navigate anything better due to user expectations, but in my experience those companies usually have support for Mac and at this point I'd rather hav", "context": "org IT", "use_case": "org desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc"}, {"id": 749705600, "item_id": 46856600, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856600", "by": "ReptileMan", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources.", "excerpt": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources. Which Windows does not. Windows has had abhorrently slow Explorer, File Search and almost any end user interaction for couple of years now. And is so full of crap that can't be disabled or even don't know what it is doing.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload"}]}, {"text": " The most common caveat is desktop rough edges", "cites": [{"id": 777847536, "item_id": 48615471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48615471", "by": "ruszki", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere", "excerpt": "Because no matter what a lot of people say here: you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere. And I\u2019m saying this after using Linux for more than a quarter of a century, occasionally as my main OS. I switched from it back just a few months ago, after I gave up to figure out how to have more uptime on battery for half a year, how to make my monitors w", "context": "used Linux for over 25 years", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Windows 11 New Media Player Uses 3.5x More RAM, Charges for Popular Video Codecs"}, {"id": 803427008, "item_id": 50214188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "by": "zbentley", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I like Linux. It's been my daily driver for years, on and off.", "excerpt": "... is an example in support of GP's point. Great for professionally administered servers or expert power users. Not for much else. Until recently, esoteric use-cases like playing audio were catastrophically unsolved. And then those got better around when screen sharing, accessibility devices, and remote-assistance tools all broke because of another OSS schism. Installing and running an ordinary program requires choo", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Today, we hacked what we'd set out to hack: the iPhone"}, {"id": 770583312, "item_id": 48161457, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161457", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-05-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "when it's working, it's a much better environment for me than Windows without question.", "excerpt": "I moved to Linux from Windows 6 months ago. Here are some minor things that always went sour on Windows: Webcam's settings would always get reset semi-randomly The date from the clock would frequently disappear Mic's volume would often get lowered Other than that, with Windows 10 Pro it was super solid on 12 year old hardware. Never crashed, all games I could play were fine and I did heavy Docker based development, h", "context": "moved from Windows to Linux 6 months ago, Docker developer", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows"}]}, {"text": ", such as initial setup effort, inconsistent ways to install software, and hardware issues like battery life and mixed-DPI monitors.", "cites": [{"id": 793481968, "item_id": 49592623, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592623", "by": "throwuxiytayq", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air.", "excerpt": "Developers, developers, developers. Your dream developer experience is already here; since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air. I've reconfigured my entire workflow around terminal programs and every action feels instant, even with maxed out power saving settings. There's an upfront time investment, sure - a weekend or two to set things up and figure o", "context": "developer, terminal-based workflow", "use_case": "developer workstation", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's \"special\" developer edition looks like another marketing misfire"}, {"id": 803427008, "item_id": 50214188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "by": "zbentley", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I like Linux. It's been my daily driver for years, on and off.", "excerpt": "... is an example in support of GP's point. Great for professionally administered servers or expert power users. Not for much else. Until recently, esoteric use-cases like playing audio were catastrophically unsolved. And then those got better around when screen sharing, accessibility devices, and remote-assistance tools all broke because of another OSS schism. Installing and running an ordinary program requires choo", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Today, we hacked what we'd set out to hack: the iPhone"}, {"id": 777847536, "item_id": 48615471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48615471", "by": "ruszki", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere", "excerpt": "Because no matter what a lot of people say here: you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere. And I\u2019m saying this after using Linux for more than a quarter of a century, occasionally as my main OS. I switched from it back just a few months ago, after I gave up to figure out how to have more uptime on battery for half a year, how to make my monitors w", "context": "used Linux for over 25 years", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Windows 11 New Media Player Uses 3.5x More RAM, Charges for Popular Video Codecs"}]}], "praise": [{"label": "Stability", "summary": "Long-time users describe it as stable, boring and something that just works.", "quotes": [{"id": 795463280, "item_id": 49716455, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716455", "by": "Milpotel", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Linux because it's stable and boring.", "excerpt": "> If you just want something stable and boring, Linux is just not it. What? I get the other arguments but I use Linux because it's stable and boring. I don't want the hassle of updates to Windows 8, 9, 10, 11 (or whatever is current now) or OS X updates breaking things (\"Yay, they've removed another feature!\").", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 790204256, "item_id": 49387766, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387766", "by": "Alien1Being", "date": "2026-08-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use", "excerpt": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use , particularly when combined with TUI applications like yazi, lsd, fzf , neovim etc Been using it since the early nineties . At work I use Windows Server 2025 as my desktop ( the alternative would be the dreadful AI infested Windows 11). While Windows Server 2025 is not dreadful , the Linux experience is so much ni", "context": "Linux user since the early nineties", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 790122801, "item_id": 49382675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49382675", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It just works.", "excerpt": "I have been using Linux on the desktop since the late 90's. Other than increase hardware support, I have not tangentially noticed/felt almost anything you have mentioned here. When I fire up the desktop and load Firefox, I do not feel or see the sandboxing, the scheduler, the file system or the I/O. It just works. Yes, we interact with it all the time but it isn't something that the end user would notice and that is ", "context": "Linux desktop user since the late 90s", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}]}, {"label": "Windows alternative", "summary": "Switchers from Windows report fewer update breakages and less frustration.", "quotes": [{"id": 781058576, "item_id": 48816161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816161", "by": "drw85", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows.", "excerpt": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows. I had some minor problems after updates once or twice. On Windows i had to boot into restore mode multiple times due to Windows Update screwing something up. The MS Store also constantly had trouble updating apps and games and i had to manage packages manually and uninstall and reinstall them so it would work again until the next updat", "context": "", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID"}, {"id": 786913088, "item_id": 49182068, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182068", "by": "sigseg1v", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since", "excerpt": "The Windows updates have become so unreliable and broken so many laptops that my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Can't believe the amount of frustration we put up with using Windows for so long. Maybe for a non tech company yes they cannot navigate anything better due to user expectations, but in my experience those companies usually have support for Mac and at this point I'd rather hav", "context": "org IT", "use_case": "org desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc"}, {"id": 749694673, "item_id": 46855917, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46855917", "by": "protoster", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "successfully coaxed me into switching my daily driver to Linux", "excerpt": "Too late, idiots. Just as Windows 10 was being retired, you ran the craziest anti-marketing campaign I've ever seen and successfully coaxed me into switching my daily driver to Linux. Until this year, I've been using windows my ENTIRE life.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload"}]}, {"label": "Freedom", "summary": "Valued for user freedom, openness and not tracking or pushing ads on users.", "quotes": [{"id": 789932608, "item_id": 49370788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49370788", "by": "W3zzy", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the freedom of Linux.", "excerpt": "Nah, I'm not complaining. I love the freedom of Linux. I'm fairly new at the game so today I'll be teaching myself how not to mess up like this again.", "context": "fairly new Linux user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.3 improves performance when running out of vRAM"}, {"id": 757838944, "item_id": 47364934, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47364934", "by": "jwrallie", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I got my first job years later because I knew my way around Linux much better than other candidates.", "excerpt": "I started using Linux when I was in high school. I got my first job years later because I knew my way around Linux much better than other candidates. My OS never tried to track my age to prevent me doing what I wanted. I used to live in one of these places where OSs should report user\u2019s age and I am glad my kid will grow up in one that doesn\u2019t (yet?).", "context": "started using Linux in high school", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting"}, {"id": 784075664, "item_id": 49004729, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49004729", "by": "benj111", "date": "2026-07-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Half the reason I moved to Linux is because I just wanted to print something without getting a load of advertising from a printer company.", "excerpt": "If they aren't willing to vet, they should at least be keeping the update minimal. Ie no 'sidecar' apps. Self signing a driver should mean just that, not a driver, and a load of other things we feel like foisting on the user. Half the reason I moved to Linux is because I just wanted to print something without getting a load of advertising from a printer company.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps"}]}, {"label": "Developer workflow", "summary": "Developers praise terminal-centric workflows and file-based configuration.", "quotes": [{"id": 793481968, "item_id": 49592623, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592623", "by": "throwuxiytayq", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air.", "excerpt": "Developers, developers, developers. Your dream developer experience is already here; since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air. I've reconfigured my entire workflow around terminal programs and every action feels instant, even with maxed out power saving settings. There's an upfront time investment, sure - a weekend or two to set things up and figure o", "context": "developer, terminal-based workflow", "use_case": "developer workstation", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's \"special\" developer edition looks like another marketing misfire"}, {"id": 783384896, "item_id": 48961556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48961556", "by": "rubyn00bie", "date": "2026-07-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux slaps and NVidia has way better performance", "excerpt": "Granted this is just my personal spend, but Apple has lost out on something like $12k of hardware sales from me over the past six years because they don\u2019t support gaming. I switched to Linux in 2020 because it meant I could have a proper development environment AND play games. Before I was split between Windows and Mac, having to buy two machines\u2014 one for gaming and one for development. If Apple didn\u2019t treat gaming l", "context": "developer and gamer", "use_case": "development and gaming", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Mac gaming is finally getting the overpowered upgrade it deserves"}, {"id": 782121025, "item_id": 48882564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882564", "by": "zahlman", "date": "2026-07-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "what I appreciate about Linux is that I can duplicate configuration files instead of having to navigate through UIs again", "excerpt": "> I didn't say that either nor even imply it, and you know that when you quote me afterwards. You come across that way when you describe your interactions with Vim users talking about how they use macros. (Which, incidentally, doesn't match my experience at all.) More importantly, your comparison of \"Vim users do this with macros\" to \"I could do this with (proper) multiple cursors\" doesn't seem apt. Perhaps it could ", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}]}, {"label": "Performance", "summary": "Commenters note fast, lean behavior and strong filesystem performance.", "quotes": [{"id": 749705600, "item_id": 46856600, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856600", "by": "ReptileMan", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources.", "excerpt": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources. Which Windows does not. Windows has had abhorrently slow Explorer, File Search and almost any end user interaction for couple of years now. And is so full of crap that can't be disabled or even don't know what it is doing.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload"}, {"id": 790396576, "item_id": 49399786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399786", "by": "isityettime", "date": "2026-08-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really miss the Linux kernel when it comes to filesystems", "excerpt": "I imagine for some end users a lot of this stuff is happily invisible, just like you say. But for me, a few kinds of changes have been highly visible as a user: - basically all filesystem changes, especially the mainstreaming of copy-on-write filesystems - not a change, but dramatically better filesystems performance than Windows or macOS has always been noticeable - the addition of cgroups and cgroupsv2, and later u", "context": "uses macOS at work", "use_case": "filesystems, containers, virtualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 786042048, "item_id": 49127628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49127628", "by": "uecker", "date": "2026-07-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The C programs I use daily are generally very fast, very lean and very stable: Programs such as linux, terminals, shells, vim, etc.", "excerpt": "The C programs I use daily are generally very fast, very lean and very stable: Programs such as linux, terminals, shells, vim, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily use", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI"}]}, {"label": "Gaming", "summary": "Some report games running well, even better than on Windows.", "quotes": [{"id": 783384896, "item_id": 48961556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48961556", "by": "rubyn00bie", "date": "2026-07-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux slaps and NVidia has way better performance", "excerpt": "Granted this is just my personal spend, but Apple has lost out on something like $12k of hardware sales from me over the past six years because they don\u2019t support gaming. I switched to Linux in 2020 because it meant I could have a proper development environment AND play games. Before I was split between Windows and Mac, having to buy two machines\u2014 one for gaming and one for development. If Apple didn\u2019t treat gaming l", "context": "developer and gamer", "use_case": "development and gaming", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Mac gaming is finally getting the overpowered upgrade it deserves"}, {"id": 776593824, "item_id": 48537114, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48537114", "by": "FridgeSeal", "date": "2026-06-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "work _better_ under Linux than windows", "excerpt": "Amusingly enough, I\u2019ve had certain EAC games work _better_ under Linux than windows. I used to dread seeing the EAC splash because it inevitably meant frequent crashes on windows, with no such issues on Linux.", "context": "", "use_case": "gaming with EAC games", "switched_from": "", "story": "Windows 11 users are tired of MS account requirements creeping into everything"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "Desktop rough edges", "summary": "Some users hit continuous roadblocks with battery life, mixed-DPI monitors, video and audio.", "quotes": [{"id": 777847536, "item_id": 48615471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48615471", "by": "ruszki", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere", "excerpt": "Because no matter what a lot of people say here: you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere. And I\u2019m saying this after using Linux for more than a quarter of a century, occasionally as my main OS. I switched from it back just a few months ago, after I gave up to figure out how to have more uptime on battery for half a year, how to make my monitors w", "context": "used Linux for over 25 years", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Windows 11 New Media Player Uses 3.5x More RAM, Charges for Popular Video Codecs"}, {"id": 803427008, "item_id": 50214188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "by": "zbentley", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I like Linux. It's been my daily driver for years, on and off.", "excerpt": "... is an example in support of GP's point. Great for professionally administered servers or expert power users. Not for much else. Until recently, esoteric use-cases like playing audio were catastrophically unsolved. And then those got better around when screen sharing, accessibility devices, and remote-assistance tools all broke because of another OSS schism. Installing and running an ordinary program requires choo", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Today, we hacked what we'd set out to hack: the iPhone"}]}, {"label": "Setup effort", "summary": "Switching can mean a rough start and a weekend or two of configuration.", "quotes": [{"id": 793481968, "item_id": 49592623, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592623", "by": "throwuxiytayq", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air.", "excerpt": "Developers, developers, developers. Your dream developer experience is already here; since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air. I've reconfigured my entire workflow around terminal programs and every action feels instant, even with maxed out power saving settings. There's an upfront time investment, sure - a weekend or two to set things up and figure o", "context": "developer, terminal-based workflow", "use_case": "developer workstation", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's \"special\" developer edition looks like another marketing misfire"}, {"id": 770583312, "item_id": 48161457, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161457", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-05-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "when it's working, it's a much better environment for me than Windows without question.", "excerpt": "I moved to Linux from Windows 6 months ago. Here are some minor things that always went sour on Windows: Webcam's settings would always get reset semi-randomly The date from the clock would frequently disappear Mic's volume would often get lowered Other than that, with Windows 10 Pro it was super solid on 12 year old hardware. Never crashed, all games I could play were fine and I did heavy Docker based development, h", "context": "moved from Windows to Linux 6 months ago, Docker developer", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows"}, {"id": 749705600, "item_id": 46856600, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856600", "by": "ReptileMan", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources.", "excerpt": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources. Which Windows does not. Windows has had abhorrently slow Explorer, File Search and almost any end user interaction for couple of years now. And is so full of crap that can't be disabled or even don't know what it is doing.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload"}]}, {"label": "Fragmentation", "summary": "Many distributions and multiple ways to install a program add confusion.", "quotes": [{"id": 803427008, "item_id": 50214188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "by": "zbentley", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I like Linux. It's been my daily driver for years, on and off.", "excerpt": "... is an example in support of GP's point. Great for professionally administered servers or expert power users. Not for much else. Until recently, esoteric use-cases like playing audio were catastrophically unsolved. And then those got better around when screen sharing, accessibility devices, and remote-assistance tools all broke because of another OSS schism. Installing and running an ordinary program requires choo", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Today, we hacked what we'd set out to hack: the iPhone"}, {"id": 767786244, "item_id": 47986640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47986640", "by": "jdw64", "date": "2026-05-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux is the right answer for servers in most cases", "excerpt": "From an open-source perspective, many would say that Linux is the best. I also agree that Linux is the right answer for servers in most cases. However, rather than being a single unified system, there are likely many branches and distributions, starting with Ubuntu. However, from an industrial software perspective, the story changes. In a field intertwined with PLCs, vision equipment, barcode scanners, serial communi", "context": "", "use_case": "servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Which is better\u2013macOS/Windows/Linux?"}]}, {"label": "Industrial software", "summary": "One commenter says Windows has no realistic alternative for PLC and factory equipment.", "quotes": [{"id": 767786244, "item_id": 47986640, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47986640", "by": "jdw64", "date": "2026-05-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux is the right answer for servers in most cases", "excerpt": "From an open-source perspective, many would say that Linux is the best. I also agree that Linux is the right answer for servers in most cases. However, rather than being a single unified system, there are likely many branches and distributions, starting with Ubuntu. However, from an industrial software perspective, the story changes. In a field intertwined with PLCs, vision equipment, barcode scanners, serial communi", "context": "", "use_case": "servers", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Which is better\u2013macOS/Windows/Linux?"}]}, {"label": "No phone", "summary": "A daily user says a true Linux phone is still a long way off.", "quotes": [{"id": 796917504, "item_id": 49807344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49807344", "by": "hiitsmyaccount", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Linux (been using it as my daily desktop for decades)", "excerpt": "> buy a trump phone then graphene Did you mean \"than\"? I love Linux (been using it as my daily desktop for decades), but we're a long ways off from a true Linux phone.", "context": "daily Linux desktop user for decades", "use_case": "daily desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "There's a high chance of devices being sold with GrapheneOS preinstalled in 2027"}]}, {"label": "Kernel code worries", "summary": "One commenter hesitates over AI-generated code entering the kernel.", "quotes": [{"id": 801510400, "item_id": 50094400, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50094400", "by": "officeplant", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'm hesitant to even use Linux due to vibe coding bleeding into the kernel.", "excerpt": "I'm hesitant to even use Linux due to vibe coding bleeding into the kernel.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you hesitant to install vibe-coded apps?"}]}], "who": [{"by": "martinpw", "context": "former IRIX user", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235633", "date": "2026-10-25"}, {"by": "zbentley", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "date": "2026-10-23"}, {"by": "lrvick", "context": "maintains own Linux distribution, open-source-only", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49981198", "date": "2026-10-06"}, {"by": "robocat", "context": "retired software developer and former tech support for family", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49821500", "date": "2026-09-23"}, {"by": "hiitsmyaccount", "context": "daily Linux desktop user for decades", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49807344", "date": "2026-09-22"}, {"by": "vladvasiliu", "context": "Sunday photographer who daily drives Linux for work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49714645", "date": "2026-09-15"}, {"by": "TacticalCoder", "context": "Linux user since early Slackware", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49706277", "date": "2026-09-15"}, {"by": "throwuxiytayq", "context": "developer, terminal-based workflow", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592623", "date": "2026-09-07"}, {"by": "isityettime", "context": "uses macOS at work", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399786", "date": "2026-08-22"}, {"by": "Alien1Being", "context": "Linux user since the early nineties", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387766", "date": "2026-08-21"}, {"by": "shevy-java", "context": "uses both Linux and Windows 10", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49385237", "date": "2026-08-21"}, {"by": "ColdStream", "context": "Linux desktop user since the late 90s", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49382675", "date": "2026-08-20"}], "tags": ["for developers", "for Windows switchers", "for servers", "for self-hosting", "for terminal workflows"], "use_cases": ["desktop os", "daily os", "operating system", "daily driver os", "daily operating system", "build environment for libreboot"], "compared": [{"slug": "windows", "name": "Windows", "co": 57, "switched_from": 11, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "macos", "name": "macOS", "co": 52, "switched_from": 3, "switched_to": 7}, {"slug": "freebsd", "name": "FreeBSD", "co": 27, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 4}, {"slug": "windows-11", "name": "Windows 11", "co": 14, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}, {"slug": "openbsd", "name": "OpenBSD", "co": 11, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "netbsd", "name": "NetBSD", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "wsl", "name": "WSL", "co": 6, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 0}, {"slug": "windows-10", "name": "Windows 10", "co": 4, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49376265", "title": "Linux 7.2 Released", "mentions": 3}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49699297", "title": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49199357", "title": "Improving GPT-5.6 Sol in ChatGPT\u2014and expanding access for free users", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46854951", "title": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50271640", "title": "Apple's git still trusts the compromised eMudhra certificates", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50223435", "title": "VCF Southwest 2026, but Edited on Silicon Graphics for '90s TV [video]", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 4}, "2025-12": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-01": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-02": {"recommend": 4}, "2026-03": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 1}, "2026-04": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 3}, "2026-06": {"recommend": 5, "warn": 1, "neutral": 2}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 11, "neutral": 3}, "2026-08": {"neutral": 5, "recommend": 8}, "2026-09": {"recommend": 6}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 4, "neutral": 5, "warn": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 804360720, "item_id": 50272545, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50272545", "by": "petcat", "date": "2026-10-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Linux and I use macOS.", "excerpt": "Well that \"screw up\" was so egregious that it should take at least a decade to regain any trust. I don't really care one way or another. I use Linux and I use macOS. But I'm not naive to think the security is any better in one or the other.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple's git still trusts the compromised eMudhra certificates"}, {"id": 803770129, "item_id": 50235633, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50235633", "by": "martinpw", "date": "2026-10-25", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "When I first switched from IRIX to Linux", "excerpt": "When I first switched from IRIX to Linux I missed the SGI desktop, and was running a clone. I think it was this one - looks like it is still around: http://5dwm.org/sgi-schemes.html", "context": "former IRIX user", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "IRIX", "story": "VCF Southwest 2026, but Edited on Silicon Graphics for '90s TV [video]"}, {"id": 803427008, "item_id": 50214188, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214188", "by": "zbentley", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I like Linux. It's been my daily driver for years, on and off.", "excerpt": "... is an example in support of GP's point. Great for professionally administered servers or expert power users. Not for much else. Until recently, esoteric use-cases like playing audio were catastrophically unsolved. And then those got better around when screen sharing, accessibility devices, and remote-assistance tools all broke because of another OSS schism. Installing and running an ordinary program requires choo", "context": "uses Linux for work and as a hobby", "use_case": "daily driver OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Today, we hacked what we'd set out to hack: the iPhone"}, {"id": 801734288, "item_id": 50108393, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50108393", "by": "yjftsjthsd-h", "date": "2026-10-15", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "doesn't seem to list anything I would consider a good alternative to Linux", "excerpt": "So what OS are you building on and running on the machine? https://codeberg.org/ethical-foss/open-slopware#kernels doesn't seem to list anything I would consider a good alternative to Linux, although illumos or 9front becoming the preferred build environment for libreboot would make my inner nerd happy.", "context": "", "use_case": "build environment for libreboot", "switched_from": "", "story": "Libreboot 26.10 \"Ominous Olive\" released with UEFI, Chromebook support"}, {"id": 801510400, "item_id": 50094400, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50094400", "by": "officeplant", "date": "2026-10-14", "stance": "warn", "quote": "I'm hesitant to even use Linux due to vibe coding bleeding into the kernel.", "excerpt": "I'm hesitant to even use Linux due to vibe coding bleeding into the kernel.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: Are you hesitant to install vibe-coded apps?"}, {"id": 801019729, "item_id": 50063733, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50063733", "by": "sdevonoes", "date": "2026-10-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I miss the tools I used in the past (gcc, linux, sqlite,\u2026)", "excerpt": "It\u2019s a shame I cannot inspect the tool. It\u2019s a shame I cannot modify it as I see fit. It\u2019s a shame that I need to pay $200/month to use it. But hey, I am a 3X engineer and my boss likes it, so I guess it should be fine? Not really, but I still get to pay the bills (for now) I miss the tools I used in the past (gcc, linux, sqlite,\u2026)", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "AI is a tool and using it well takes skill"}, {"id": 800609457, "item_id": 50038091, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50038091", "by": "mingus88", "date": "2026-10-10", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use them both and my life is good", "excerpt": "You may be interested to learn that Apple does in fact have servers internally. https://wccftech.com/apples-private-cloud-compute-server-m5-chips-leaked/ I don\u2019t think it makes business sense for them to mass produce these for a consumer market but a data center of M5 chips sounds amazing for the workloads they\u2019re running. I don\u2019t think the open source model will ever make an Apple quality UI because that\u2019s the resul", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Apple/macOS removed from official Unix registry"}, {"id": 799699168, "item_id": 49981198, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49981198", "by": "lrvick", "date": "2026-10-06", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Linux and maintain my own Linux distribution.", "excerpt": "I use Linux and maintain my own Linux distribution. All software I directly touch and rely on is Open Source and does not spy on me. I do not own or use a smartphone. I do however permit the use of proprietary software for purely entertainment use cases, such as video games, but never for a -tool- that I use to do my job or live my life. I even have a Talos workstation. Open hardware motherboard and open spec CPU bot", "context": "maintains own Linux distribution, open-source-only", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Meta\u2019s Muse is an adorable privacy and security dumpster fire"}, {"id": 799516689, "item_id": 49969793, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49969793", "by": "artisin", "date": "2026-10-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux > macOS > Windows > ChromeOS", "excerpt": "Unless you're a gamer or an iFan: Linux > macOS > Windows > ChromeOS I did enjoy the early days of ChromeOS, when crouton[1] was all you needed to turn it into a delicious Unix salad, before Google decided the real threat model was \"advanced hackers\" and/or bored school kids. [1] https://github.com/dnschneid/crouton", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Googlebook"}, {"id": 798868883, "item_id": 49929305, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49929305", "by": "rpdillon", "date": "2026-10-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "With Linux, which I learned more than 30 years ago and still believe to be a fantastic investment", "excerpt": "Yeah, saying it kills the minimalist bit misses the point of omp being a separate project. It took a minimalist-base of pi and added tools that make it usable out of the box. Hence batteries. One example here is that it added MCP extensions to make the harness usable with MCP servers long before Pi figured out that that was the right move. A lot can be said about development of MCP over that timeframe, but I apprecia", "context": "", "use_case": "system administration", "switched_from": "", "story": "Pi 1.0"}, {"id": 797144000, "item_id": 49821500, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49821500", "by": "robocat", "date": "2026-09-23", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Fortunately changed from Windows 7 to Linux", "excerpt": "Quitting work years ago helped, even though I still enjoyed software development. I had intended to instead work on my own investments, but I stopped that after I figured out money is a joyless and meaningless motivator. Mostly just saying no to helping anyone with computer problems. Fortunately changed from Windows 7 to Linux, so I can be mostly honest when I tell people I don't understand their laptop problems. Sai", "context": "retired software developer and former tech support for family", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "Windows 7", "story": "Samsung accidentally freezes its smart fridges with a software update"}, {"id": 796917504, "item_id": 49807344, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49807344", "by": "hiitsmyaccount", "date": "2026-09-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love Linux (been using it as my daily desktop for decades)", "excerpt": "> buy a trump phone then graphene Did you mean \"than\"? I love Linux (been using it as my daily desktop for decades), but we're a long ways off from a true Linux phone.", "context": "daily Linux desktop user for decades", "use_case": "daily desktop", "switched_from": "", "story": "There's a high chance of devices being sold with GrapheneOS preinstalled in 2027"}, {"id": 795463280, "item_id": 49716455, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49716455", "by": "Milpotel", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use Linux because it's stable and boring.", "excerpt": "> If you just want something stable and boring, Linux is just not it. What? I get the other arguments but I use Linux because it's stable and boring. I don't want the hassle of updates to Windows 8, 9, 10, 11 (or whatever is current now) or OS X updates breaking things (\"Yay, they've removed another feature!\").", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Leaving Linux"}, {"id": 795434321, "item_id": 49714645, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49714645", "by": "vladvasiliu", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "for my actual work Linux works better for me", "excerpt": "I think the general issue they have is that pretty much nobody who cares chooses Windows actively. It's mostly gamers, which seem to be on the way out, corporations who don't care about this, and creatives who, for whatever reason, don't want to buy a mac. I'm in the latter category. As a Sunday photographer who daily drives Linux for work, I can't justify investing in Apple hardware. I used to daily drive macs, so I", "context": "Sunday photographer who daily drives Linux for work", "use_case": "work", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 795300432, "item_id": 49706277, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49706277", "by": "TacticalCoder", "date": "2026-09-15", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to Linux in the early Slackware days (then Debian 1.1).", "excerpt": "> I grew up with DOS, Win 95, 98, 2000, XP and so on. For me it's worse: I grew up on stuff like the C64 and then the Amiga. Switching to DOS was a serious step backwards. > I have to ask when was Microsoft above breaking things? Never: they've always been mediocre. > As soon as MacOS (OS X) was a viable alternative I gleefully switched and never looked back. I switched to Linux in the early Slackware days (then Debi", "context": "Linux user since early Slackware", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft patches Windows and Excel \u2013 breaks audio, remote access, and paste"}, {"id": 793481968, "item_id": 49592623, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49592623", "by": "throwuxiytayq", "date": "2026-09-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air.", "excerpt": "Developers, developers, developers. Your dream developer experience is already here; since I've switched to Linux, I feel like I'm experiencing Linux psychosis. It's such a breath of fresh air. I've reconfigured my entire workflow around terminal programs and every action feels instant, even with maxed out power saving settings. There's an upfront time investment, sure - a weekend or two to set things up and figure o", "context": "developer, terminal-based workflow", "use_case": "developer workstation", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Windows 11's \"special\" developer edition looks like another marketing misfire"}, {"id": 790396576, "item_id": 49399786, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49399786", "by": "isityettime", "date": "2026-08-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I really miss the Linux kernel when it comes to filesystems", "excerpt": "I imagine for some end users a lot of this stuff is happily invisible, just like you say. But for me, a few kinds of changes have been highly visible as a user: - basically all filesystem changes, especially the mainstreaming of copy-on-write filesystems - not a change, but dramatically better filesystems performance than Windows or macOS has always been noticeable - the addition of cgroups and cgroupsv2, and later u", "context": "uses macOS at work", "use_case": "filesystems, containers, virtualization", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 790373361, "item_id": 49398335, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49398335", "by": "code-blooded", "date": "2026-08-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "KOReader, Linux, AntennaPod on Android", "excerpt": "I'd definitely be interested in moving towards such setup if I could reliably and easily accomplish it. There are already people who vibe code all the tools they need. Personally, so far I got best results by carefully selecting a small number of apps and devices with good track record and community around them (think Emacs that's been around for decades, but also KOReader, Linux, AntennaPod on Android and many other", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Kobo can run apps now"}, {"id": 790204256, "item_id": 49387766, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49387766", "by": "Alien1Being", "date": "2026-08-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use", "excerpt": "Linux is so very predictably stable from a desktop user perspective . It is an absolute pleasure to use , particularly when combined with TUI applications like yazi, lsd, fzf , neovim etc Been using it since the early nineties . At work I use Windows Server 2025 as my desktop ( the alternative would be the dreadful AI infested Windows 11). While Windows Server 2025 is not dreadful , the Linux experience is so much ni", "context": "Linux user since the early nineties", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 790163792, "item_id": 49385237, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49385237", "by": "shevy-java", "date": "2026-08-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I use both Linux and Win10, for instance", "excerpt": "> The technology doesn't have to be the best, it just needs to get lucky enough to become a standard and build a moat with that. I don't know about that. Top 500 supercomputers running Linux. I use both Linux and Win10, for instance (won't switch to Win11 no matter what), but whenever I have to use Windows, I wonder how this garbage could ever become so dominating in the first place. Inefficiency is very clearly a wo", "context": "uses both Linux and Windows 10", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Japan tried to build an operating system for the world, the US intervened"}, {"id": 790122801, "item_id": 49382675, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49382675", "by": "ColdStream", "date": "2026-08-20", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "It just works.", "excerpt": "I have been using Linux on the desktop since the late 90's. Other than increase hardware support, I have not tangentially noticed/felt almost anything you have mentioned here. When I fire up the desktop and load Firefox, I do not feel or see the sandboxing, the scheduler, the file system or the I/O. It just works. Yes, we interact with it all the time but it isn't something that the end user would notice and that is ", "context": "Linux desktop user since the late 90s", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.2 Released"}, {"id": 789932608, "item_id": 49370788, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49370788", "by": "W3zzy", "date": "2026-08-19", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I love the freedom of Linux.", "excerpt": "Nah, I'm not complaining. I love the freedom of Linux. I'm fairly new at the game so today I'll be teaching myself how not to mess up like this again.", "context": "fairly new Linux user", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Linux 7.3 improves performance when running out of vRAM"}, {"id": 788671956, "item_id": 49291997, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49291997", "by": "twotwigs", "date": "2026-08-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "\u201cI use Linux\u201d", "excerpt": "We use Jira for PM -_- Excel for spreadsheets -_- And Slack for communications -_- Sometimes we use Google (yawn) Docs -_- \u201cI use Linux\u201d O_O", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Choose Boring Technology (2015)"}, {"id": 787503458, "item_id": 49218966, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49218966", "by": "robomartin", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Take something like Linux.", "excerpt": "None of these things are free my friend. They probably represent tens of billions of dollars in development over years, decades in some cases. You are missing the point entirely. Let's just take one: LibreOffice. This was a FOSS project from the very start. It is intended to be used as you use it. Even then, bitching about functionality and features would be entitled. In that case, if you don't like it, stop using it", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Improving GPT-5.6 Sol in ChatGPT\u2014and expanding access for free users"}, {"id": 787493184, "item_id": 49218324, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49218324", "by": "ragequittah", "date": "2026-08-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent.", "excerpt": "Most of the stuff I use is free and excellent. Linux, Firefox, libreoffice, xcp-ng, bottles, steam, playnite, opnsense, docker, dockhand, immich, freshrss, obsidian, tailscale, calibre, caddy, docker, pi-hole, signal, audiobookshelf I could probably keep going for a long while. I'm very glad most good software creators I've come across do not have your mindset.", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Improving GPT-5.6 Sol in ChatGPT\u2014and expanding access for free users"}, {"id": 786913088, "item_id": 49182068, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49182068", "by": "sigseg1v", "date": "2026-08-05", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since", "excerpt": "The Windows updates have become so unreliable and broken so many laptops that my org switched to Linux and it's been smooth sailing ever since. Can't believe the amount of frustration we put up with using Windows for so long. Maybe for a non tech company yes they cannot navigate anything better due to user expectations, but in my experience those companies usually have support for Mac and at this point I'd rather hav", "context": "org IT", "use_case": "org desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Xbox goes down. You can't play games you own on disc"}, {"id": 786539776, "item_id": 49158736, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49158736", "by": "icedchai", "date": "2026-08-03", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Around 1994, I moved to Linux and later Solaris, where crashes were rare.", "excerpt": "Yes, it was normal, for sure. I had an Amiga and it was also bad. Visits to the Guru (\"Guru Meditation Error\", equivalent of Windows UAEs) were common. Around 1994, I moved to Linux and later Solaris, where crashes were rare.", "context": "long-time user since the Amiga era", "use_case": "general OS use", "switched_from": "AmigaOS", "story": "MkLinux and the pimped-out Apple Workgroup Server 9150"}, {"id": 786133856, "item_id": 49133366, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133366", "by": "adrian_b", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Linux on a variety of laptops, desktops and servers.", "excerpt": "It is much better to not use any swap in Linux, so you will never have this probem, or any other problem caused by swap. I stopped using swap on Linux about a quarter of century ago, when it was a great improvement, and since then I have never seen a case when swap would have been useful, and I use Linux on a variety of laptops, desktops and servers. Even if you do not use swap, you can have memory-mapped files that ", "context": "Linux user for about a quarter century", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Run Kimi K3 using 29 GB of RAM at 0.50 tok/s"}, {"id": 786133730, "item_id": 49133358, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49133358", "by": "sylware", "date": "2026-08-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I have my custom elf(glibc)/linux distro", "excerpt": "It is never really for \"One\". If it is open source and published, It may be use by others... not to mention coding AI ML (Machine Learing), then for many. I have written so much software for one... I cannot recall everything. I use some of it daily: - I have my custom elf(glibc)/linux distro - I use my own ffmpeg based x11 media player (will have an update for wayland). - Since the \"geniuses\" at gogol blocked all acc", "context": "", "use_case": "custom distro", "switched_from": "", "story": "Software for One"}, {"id": 786042048, "item_id": 49127628, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49127628", "by": "uecker", "date": "2026-07-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "The C programs I use daily are generally very fast, very lean and very stable: Programs such as linux, terminals, shells, vim, etc.", "excerpt": "The C programs I use daily are generally very fast, very lean and very stable: Programs such as linux, terminals, shells, vim, etc.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily use", "switched_from": "", "story": "Google fixed more Chrome bugs in June than over the past two years, thanks to AI"}, {"id": 785986466, "item_id": 49124154, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49124154", "by": "lanstin", "date": "2026-07-31", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux having won the OS wars, being extremely high quality", "excerpt": "I believe you are underestimating the value of GCC and LLVM having won the compiler wars and being extremely high quality, and of Linux having won the OS wars, being extremely high quality. I use GenAI every day, but the quality is still proportional to the amount of my time - there is a multiplier for quantity of my amount but the 9s approaching 1 quality is not logarithmically different - the effort to fix one big ", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "GCC steering committee announces AI policy"}, {"id": 784092544, "item_id": 49005784, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49005784", "by": "veeti", "date": "2026-07-22", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I use Linux every day", "excerpt": "I use Linux every day, where AI coauthored analysis and code has already contributed to harden its security. Like it or not, any project that categorically rejects AI contributions or engages in vague activist type purity spiral testing over \"vibe coding\" seems like a security liability at best.", "context": "", "use_case": "daily OS", "switched_from": "", "story": "Codeberg bans vibe coded projects"}, {"id": 784075664, "item_id": 49004729, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49004729", "by": "benj111", "date": "2026-07-22", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Half the reason I moved to Linux is because I just wanted to print something without getting a load of advertising from a printer company.", "excerpt": "If they aren't willing to vet, they should at least be keeping the update minimal. Ie no 'sidecar' apps. Self signing a driver should mean just that, not a driver, and a load of other things we feel like foisting on the user. Half the reason I moved to Linux is because I just wanted to print something without getting a load of advertising from a printer company.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "LG to Ban Residential Proxies from Smart TV Apps"}, {"id": 784016512, "item_id": 49001032, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49001032", "by": "oska", "date": "2026-07-21", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "After that your time was much better spent on learning and using Linux (downloadable for free).", "excerpt": "You could make a case for using Windows in the 90s (and yeah, I did; the last version of Windows I used was NT in the 90s). After that your time was much better spent on learning and using Linux (downloadable for free). Visual Basic is a whole steaming pile of crap and you would always have been better learning to use non-corporate, non-proprietary languages and development stacks than wasting your time on that. And ", "context": "", "use_case": "learning and desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "American AI is locked down and proprietary. It's losing"}, {"id": 783384896, "item_id": 48961556, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48961556", "by": "rubyn00bie", "date": "2026-07-18", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Linux slaps and NVidia has way better performance", "excerpt": "Granted this is just my personal spend, but Apple has lost out on something like $12k of hardware sales from me over the past six years because they don\u2019t support gaming. I switched to Linux in 2020 because it meant I could have a proper development environment AND play games. Before I was split between Windows and Mac, having to buy two machines\u2014 one for gaming and one for development. If Apple didn\u2019t treat gaming l", "context": "developer and gamer", "use_case": "development and gaming", "switched_from": "macOS", "story": "Mac gaming is finally getting the overpowered upgrade it deserves"}, {"id": 783153056, "item_id": 48947066, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48947066", "by": "dcminter", "date": "2026-07-17", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "these days I love Linux", "excerpt": "Speccy guy back in the day here, but these days I love Linux, and you know Linus cut his teeth on the QL, right? I feel like storage has improved slightly since microdrives were state of the art too...", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "I Owe My Life to the Commodore 64"}, {"id": 783122129, "item_id": 48945133, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48945133", "by": "aa-jv", "date": "2026-07-17", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "until I got on minix-list and heard about that little project Linus was working on, then decided to switch", "excerpt": "In that era (87/88'ish) I used Quarterdeck Desqview to provide multi-user capabilities on my (then) super-charged 486: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DESQview It was possible to wire things up so that multiple users could connect to a separate Desqview instance and have their own local user context, albeit an MSDOS one .. it was quite functional as a multi-user system for a few years until I got on minix-list and hear", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "DESQview", "story": "Starlink from 1984"}, {"id": 782454468, "item_id": 48903404, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48903404", "by": "rstuart4133", "date": "2026-07-14", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the things I used regularly like GNU coreutils, Firefox, Linux, vim, git", "excerpt": "> All I can say is skill issue. I regularly see claims by people that they have produced large, reliable bodies of code using vibe coding. Unfortunately, no vibe coded project I've used comes anywhere close to code reviewed by a human. Admittedly, my sample size is very small: things like claude-code, OpenClaw, and the occasional project I see mentioned here. But compared to the things I used regularly like GNU coreu", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Control the Ideas, Not the Code"}, {"id": 782267392, "item_id": 48891712, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48891712", "by": "embedding-shape", "date": "2026-07-13", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "as long as Linux continues to work for me", "excerpt": "> The language in question here is maintained by a BDFL, which means that one person has outsized influence on the language, and it's direction. Seems like a strange perspective, isn't it expected (and even wanted) that if you have a BDFL, they have the most influence on the language and its direction? That's why they're BDFL, that cannot be outsized, it's perfectly sized for what it's explicitly trying to be, that's", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Zig Creator Calls Spade a Spade, Anthropic Blows Smoke"}, {"id": 782121025, "item_id": 48882564, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48882564", "by": "zahlman", "date": "2026-07-12", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "what I appreciate about Linux is that I can duplicate configuration files instead of having to navigate through UIs again", "excerpt": "> I didn't say that either nor even imply it, and you know that when you quote me afterwards. You come across that way when you describe your interactions with Vim users talking about how they use macros. (Which, incidentally, doesn't match my experience at all.) More importantly, your comparison of \"Vim users do this with macros\" to \"I could do this with (proper) multiple cursors\" doesn't seem apt. Perhaps it could ", "context": "", "use_case": "operating system", "switched_from": "", "story": "Good Tools Are Invisible"}, {"id": 781058576, "item_id": 48816161, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48816161", "by": "drw85", "date": "2026-07-07", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows.", "excerpt": "I switched to linux a year ago and in that year had less problems than on Windows. I had some minor problems after updates once or twice. On Windows i had to boot into restore mode multiple times due to Windows Update screwing something up. The MS Store also constantly had trouble updating apps and games and i had to manage packages manually and uninstall and reinstall them so it would work again until the next updat", "context": "", "use_case": "daily operating system", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft Can Track Users via a Windows Device ID"}, {"id": 777847536, "item_id": 48615471, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48615471", "by": "ruszki", "date": "2026-06-20", "stance": "warn", "quote": "you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere", "excerpt": "Because no matter what a lot of people say here: you still need to be lucky to have a fully functioning system on Linux without continuous roadblocks everywhere. And I\u2019m saying this after using Linux for more than a quarter of a century, occasionally as my main OS. I switched from it back just a few months ago, after I gave up to figure out how to have more uptime on battery for half a year, how to make my monitors w", "context": "used Linux for over 25 years", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Linux", "story": "Windows 11 New Media Player Uses 3.5x More RAM, Charges for Popular Video Codecs"}, {"id": 770583312, "item_id": 48161457, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48161457", "by": "nickjj", "date": "2026-05-16", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "when it's working, it's a much better environment for me than Windows without question.", "excerpt": "I moved to Linux from Windows 6 months ago. Here are some minor things that always went sour on Windows: Webcam's settings would always get reset semi-randomly The date from the clock would frequently disappear Mic's volume would often get lowered Other than that, with Windows 10 Pro it was super solid on 12 year old hardware. Never crashed, all games I could play were fine and I did heavy Docker based development, h", "context": "moved from Windows to Linux 6 months ago, Docker developer", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "I love Linux, but I can't quit Windows"}, {"id": 749705600, "item_id": 46856600, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46856600", "by": "ReptileMan", "date": "2026-02-02", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources.", "excerpt": "After relentless pressure from Microsoft finally switched to Linux. I won't say it is smooth sail - but it respects your time and PC resources. Which Windows does not. Windows has had abhorrently slow Explorer, File Search and almost any end user interaction for couple of years now. And is so full of crap that can't be disabled or even don't know what it is doing.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop OS", "switched_from": "Windows", "story": "Microsoft is walking back Windows 11's AI overload"}]}