Should an opensource dev know Linux

[Steve Litt]

Keith Smith via PLUG-discuss said on Thu, 21 Apr 2022 11:12:50 -0700

>Hi,
>
>I'm a PHP developer and always thought all opensource developers had
>at least some knowledge of Linux.
>
>Recently I watched a YouTube video that stated otherwise.  The
>presenter said it is important to know Linux which will set one apart
>from the crowd.

This tale of woe is marginally connected to your question...

My wife and I have triplets. Starting in maybe 2001, when they were
eight years old, I gave them my business' handmedown computers, which
ran Linux. So aside from an ancient DOS computer they shared at age 3,
Linux was their first OS. Ubuntu, as I remember. They used it for
school, social media, and fooling around.

Every once in a while they'd bitch that their Linux computers weren't
compatible with this or that, I'd say "tough". With triplets, you watch
every penny.

Just before they went to college, we bought each a laptop, which of
course came with Windows, which they used through college (with each
laptop breaking at an average of 1.5 years). Sometimes they'd bitch
that their laptops were too slow, or ask me for admin advice, and I'd
say "Install Linux". They said "no".

How people who grew up with Linux can permanently migrate away from it
is beyond me, but now that they buy their own computers, well, their
computers their rules. And I think their early work with Linux gave
them the troubleshooting and configuration habits to work with
something as complex and obfuscated as Windows.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
March 2022 featured book: Making Mental Models: Advanced Edition
http://www.troubleshooters.com/mmm