For my entire career I have never really committed to a platform, in development there usually 3 main groups.
There are people that work off of Windows machines, Mac People, and the Linux clan. I have been jumping around from Windows, to Linux, to Mac, for the past 3 years I have mainly been developing on System 76 builds running either PopOS! or Ubuntu.
However I have worked off of my 15in Macbook Pro or my Windows gaming rig from time to time. With the help of git all my dev files stay up to date.
Recently though I have really gotten a good workflow using my 2018 System 76 Oryx Pro.
My issue with System 76 is that they are based in Colorado and any warranty repairs require me sending my laptop out (I’m in California). A few days ago my Oryx started to give me multiple dead pixels in the center of my screen so this will be my first time sending my oryx in for anything. I am lucky enough to have my macbook as a back up option.
My macbook is an awesome laptop but, it kinda feels like as a developer I am supposed to enjoy working off of my mac, but I dont. Not having my Oryx pro makes me realize how much better I work with a pure linux system such as my Oryx Pro running PopOS!
I never really thought I would be the type of developer that chooses to stick to a specific platform but as of now I am heading towards working purely off of Linux machines.
I have gotten very used to the Gnome desktop environment that PopOS uses. All the software I use to develop works the same if not better than they do on Mac or Windows.
Here is a list of software I feel run better on Linux than they do on Mac/Windows.
- PhpStorm
- Visual Studio Code
- Navicat
- Termius
- Rambox Pro
- GitKraken
- Hyper Terminal
With that said I did have to adjust to use some software. With git I was used to using SourceTree on Mac and Windows, but as there is no official Linux version I had to use GitKraken which is different but just as good if not better.
My workflow has adjusted so much to Gnome/Linux that I am having a hard time working off of my Macbook and my Windows Machine. I am counting down the minutes to getting my Oryx pro back.
Because of that 2020 is going to be the year of linux for me, at last when it comes to development machines.