All operating systems are bad!

I've been working in the IT world since I came of age, a little over 14 years now.

One of the only constant rules I've always found is that the OS you love is always better than all the others.

The gems I've heard around me

Among the phrases I can often hear, I could mention a few:

• How do you want to develop under Windows?
• A MacBook is a PC with a 1K apple on it.
• Linux is like a Mac, but without the stability

I could go on like this for a long time.

The common point is always the same, the neighbor's OS is bad, and especially worse than the one we use.

For my part, I'm lucky enough to use all 3 OSes regularly, indeed, I have a MacBook provided by WeScale to work, my current client provides me with a PC running Windows 10, and I use Kali Linux (so a Debian)/Centos/Raspbian very often to develop or have fun at home (as well as other Linux distributions I like to test).

As a gamer, I also use my Windows partition daily. I can already hear some grumbling in the back of the room telling me that we can play under Linux.

Yes, but I like to use my Windows, especially to play.

All OSes are bad

From what I've just described above, I come to the conclusion that all OSes are bad, or they're all the best... I am lost!

Well, more seriously, I consider that all OSes are good, they don't necessarily all meet the same needs. For my part, I feel more comfortable developing on Linux/Mac and I feel more comfortable on my Windows to play or do multimedia activities.

The most important thing in my previous sentence is "I feel more comfortable". As part of my mission, I develop my scripts on Windows, and it's a huge surprise, but everything works perfectly. I simply have an affinity for the Linux/Unix environment for this purpose.

To play, I feel more at ease on Windows, because yes, you can play on Linux, but (even if it's getting much better), we're not yet necessarily in "plug and play" like on Windows, all the more so with the fragmentation of Linux distributions which doesn't necessarily help to standardize and improve these usages.

The rules of the game are changing

What was true yesterday is not necessarily true today, it is sometimes necessary to be up to date, so I will give some useful information to the detractors:

• MacOs requires rebooting as often as Windows for its updates.
• Windows 10 is stable, I've never had a single blue screen, even in "atypical" use, like overclocking (I admit I can't defend Windows 8 or Vista, don't abuse it either)
• Linux doesn't need 3 PhDs to be installed or used, except maybe some distributions (Hi ArchLinux installation)
• Linux can really be used by your grandmother
• Windows can be completely used for development
• We can play under MacOs (well, you have to be motivated I admit)
• All 3 OSes manage their resources correctly, and none of them need more than 2GB of RAM when empty.

In this little list are some discreet trolls, I hope you find them all.

There have also been some improvements in recent years to bring users closer together between OSes:

• Applications like Steam, stable and fully usable on Linux natively.
• The opening of Windows to the Linux world, with notably WSL (Windows Subsystem Linux) which allows to exploit the power of Linux under Windows in a simple and transparent way.
• The advent of the containers has greatly contributed to breaking down the barriers between OSes, with the host becoming - almost - agnostic.
• There are many frameworks available today to develop cross platform tools (Python, Unity, Mono etc...).

I laugh even more at the "Windows bashers" when I see them using Microsoft Visual Studio Code on their Mac... How can I say it, credibility is taking a beating.

So the best OS is...

You all expected it, so the best OS is... the one you feel most comfortable on. As I said before, most modern needs can be addressed on all systems. Spitting on the neighbor's system is also creating an unnecessary rift, the Linux, Windows or Mac distributions have everything to gain by working together to build a better ecosystem where everyone can flourish, no matter how you use your system.

I want to say that OS bashing is a practice that I find tiring in the long run. Thinking differently than your neighbor is healthy, but instead of spitting on other systems, why not try to contribute to make them better?

If publishers can collaborate to build better ecosystems, can't their users/fanboys?

Alone we go faster, together we go further. To think about.