An operating system is the program that, after being initially loaded into the computer by a boot program, manages all the other programs in a computer. So it's an essential component of the system software in a computer system. There are many families of operating systems available in the market. Examples of operating systems are Unix,Linux,Windows,MacOS etc.Windows is the most widely used OS in the world as it's good for most of casual users of the computers. But as a developer, you can make better choice by not using Windows for developmental work because you are more than a casual user, consider switching to Linux based operating system. Well ,You can make your own choice, that's all upto you!.But as I am a Linux user,I would like to highlight its usage over other operating systems.
Because it's assembled under the model of free and open-source software development.The underlying source code may be used, modified, and distributed by anyone under licenses such as the GNU General Public License. The following are other few reasons why you should adopt linux.
Unix is famous for its simplicity and robustness. As Linux is based on Unix, you will get similar robustness and simplicity out of the box. No more random crashes or hangup. Linux also has awesome security which means no worries of viruses, which is everyone's dream!!.
All the concepts in operating system course are based on linux operating system. So if you want to understand shell, process management, file system , inode number etc its better to use Linux. In linux you can see all these concepts and make hands on which makes your understanding much better.
It is a leading operating system on servers .Most of the server programming , like Web programming, network programming is done on Linux. Most of the websites in the world uses linux to host and run their sites. So if you want to learn all about network programming or server side development,linux is the ideal option.
Linux is free to use. So if you use linux on your machine you don't have to pay any money. If you are using pirated OS you should stop using it. Switching to Linux will get you an operating system for free without stealing!!
Linux supports C development out of the box. Similarly, you can develop Java,python or any other language programs very easily on the linux. So as a developer you get an excellent support from the operating system to the programming. Linux developer toolset contains compilers,debugging tools,the LAMP application stack, and git and lot more.
This is one of misconception about Linux. Linux,in its early age, used to come only with command line interfaces. But with newer distributions of linux like Ubuntu you get nice GUI like you find on windows.
There are many distributions of linux available. You might have heard of Redhat, Fedora,Ubuntu etc. To make a switch to Linux, you can start with Ubuntu. Ubuntu is very easy to use and well supported operating system. So you can start with ubuntu and as you become more comfortable with linux you can switch to other distributions.
Yes of course!. Before you make up mind to use Linux as your regular operating system you can try out using virtualbox. Find more about how to install Ubuntu on virtualbox refer this article.
Ubuntu comes with nice GUI. You can use ubuntu like Windows just by using GUI only. But the real power of linux lies in command line, and it can be quite easy to learn and use, and its value soon becomes apparent after a little practice. Many developers fear the command line when they use first time. But please don't give up. Even a basic familiarity with it can make computers easier to use and facilitate performing tasks that might be difficult or impossible with a GUI. Such familiarity can also lead to an improved understanding of how computers actually work. So I highly recommend you to spend a lot of time on Ubuntu command line. You will find it highly useful after sometime.
If you are more interested to know the history of Linux and how it has changed people's view, you can watch below video.
So switch to Linux and become smart and power user.