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What operating system and tools should a beginner use to learn programming? (self.programming)

submitted 1 year ago by cactus_head to c/programming

34 comments fedilink hide all child comments

I want start with python but I don't know what operating system and tools to use. I have a 6 RAM icore3 180 GB hard disk Notebook laptop running Linux mint. I plan to save up to Buy a PC in the future but for I have to make due my old laptop

I am also wondering how does the programming market look like in terms of operating system. Does it matter which operating system you use? In terms of programming institutions (universities bootcamps, etc..), do each institutions have its own preference or does it let its student choose?

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[–] [email protected] 10 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Today, no matter where and how you write your code, there's almost 100% chance that the place it will run is on Linux. Even the places it can run that don't look like Linux, are - in most cases - Linux.

Source: I'm a connoisseur of places code can run that aren't Linux, and they are becoming fewer and farther between every day.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What are some places that don't look like Linux but actually are?

I'd think most PC games and other desktop GUI software runs on windows and looks like it runs on windows. And I'd imagine that a web browser on windows isn't secretly a Linux environment.

But yeah, I've written way more code that runs on a web browser or a Linux server than runs on windows.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago

What are some places that don't look like Linux but actually are?

Amazon Lambda, Azure Automation, GitHub Actions, Amazon CodeDeploy, Azure DevOps, anything Android (not GNU, but runs a Linux kernel), SteamDeck, almost every miniature gamesystem (Genesis Mini, PlayStation Classic, etc), and a variety of the smallest chips that usually run raw C code are gradually getting powerful enough to have a Linxu kernel (I E. Raspberry Pi Zero replacing Arduino in various recipes).

With the SteamDeck's recent rise here's also been a shift towards video games being written first for Linux, then cross-compiled for Windows and much later ported to Nintendo Switch.

I don't know if we have confirmation on whether PlayStation and XBox or Switch run Linux under the hood yet.

Switch almost certainly doesn't (or at least not a recognizable version) or we wouldn't see the release delays we currently see.

It seems like the vast majority of portable hardware above very low power stuff runs a Linux kernel now, even when the rest of the OS is unrecognizable. Mostly via Android, but in exceptional cases with a custom OS.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I'd think most PC games and other desktop GUI software runs on windows and looks like it runs on windows.

Right.

Most PC games currently run on Unity, which doesn't care whether it's running on Linux or Windows. I'm not aware of whether PlayStation runs a Linux kernel, but I would bet it does, since they wouldn't get a good price from MS on OS bulk licenses. When the game is installed on a Windows PC, it's obviously running on Windows. When a game is on any of the various (non-Microsoft) game consoles, odds are it's actually running under a Linux Kernel.

And I'd imagine that a web browser on windows isn't secretly a Linux environment.

True. I would argue that's running half on Windows, of course. The other half, the server, had about a 99.7% chance of being Linux, today. Mostly Amazon Linux running in AWS. Even websites recently developed entirely on Microsoft libraries, and served in Microsoft's cloud service Azure, are largely running under a Linux kernel.