Martin EscardoAcademics in Computer Science:
I mainly use Linux for my research
I mainly use MacOS for my research
I mainly use Windows for my research
This doesn't apply to me. Show me the results.
Poll ended at .
Please boost the above post, so that it reaches as many academics in CS as possible. I think it is important to know the current reality.
Thanks to all who replied to this poll.
I mainly use MacOS recently, not because I love it, but because the M series is damn fast for my use case (Agda).
Since 1997 until 2020, I used Linux exclusively, with an overlap with Solaris from 1989 to 2000-something for my desktop office machine.
I still need Linux a lot, and I have Linux machines, which are old and slow, but are able to run my old and new scripts and specialized programs.
If I could, I would use Linux exclusively.
I don't love Apple, but a plus is its security, which seems to be just as good as that of Linux, or at least close.
I don't like Windows. It's such an awful operating system. Never mind the company which produces it.
I have Linux installed on my Mac M2, and it works wonderfully, although there are a couple of things to iron out, which don't matter much if you use the machine for research in CS.
It is good to know that I am not alone as a Linux fan for research in CS.
Can you believe that our IT Services at the University of Birmingham, UK, doesn't currently allow us to install Linux on university-provided new machines at the School of Computer Science?
brillenfux@MartinEscardo Not to be inflammatory, but do you know what their rationale is, to not allow Linux on your machines? My suspicion is device management?
Poor understanding of security and lack of trust with Computer Scientists.
Abdullah Khalid@brillenfux @MartinEscardo macs have lots of anti-theft features built in. You can prevent erasing the OS and reinstalling, and stolen mac parts can't be sold and used.
So, the insurance costs for macs are likely much lower.
Btw, my work forces me to use mac, and I bang my head against the wall often.
Benjamin Rogoll@MartinEscardo that is so crazy. Funny enough it is very soon impossible for german public sector to use windows, because the privacy problems on 11 are just too severe.
Also the math department as far as i can tell at my uni (Dresden) runs on linux
Low Rank Jack@MartinEscardo
MacOS with many Linux tools and open source softwares, #emacs #inkscape #zotero #Gimp #thunderbird #orgmode ... avoiding Microsoft tools (but those imposed by my university) as well as Mail, Keynote (but I used it a lot in the past)
MacOS with many Linux tools and open source softwares, #emacs #inkscape #zotero #Gimp #thunderbird #orgmode ... avoiding Microsoft tools (but those imposed by my university) as well as Mail, Keynote (but I used it a lot in the past)
Sg@MartinEscardo "I mainly use Emacs (on a mac) for my research"
Adlangx@MartinEscardo I see many people lying in this poll.
I only see one.
ahistorical immaterialist@MartinEscardo I mean the models run on a Linux supercomputer, I use Windows to run the statistics, make the figures and write the paper, and then I take my MacBook with me to present the results at conferences 🤷♂️
Brooks Davis@MartinEscardo I mostly use FreeBSD for my research (with a Mac as document editor and terminal and Linux build servers behind the scenes)
🛠️大工のビオトープ寿司ロスはかせやん🛠️@MartinEscardo
Which Linux Distro are you using?
Which Linux Distro are you using?
Ubuntu/Debian
Arch
NixOS
other
Poll ended at .
Caoilte O'Connor@MartinEscardo mainly what I'm learning from this poll is that the android mastodon app i use ,( @pachli ) is better than whatever most scientists have got.
Troels@MartinEscardo I used a MacBook for a few years to check out the other side of the fence, and it was surprisingly awful.
Marco Devillers@MartinEscardo Can you do a poll who has root access on the OS they use?
(For selfish reasons, I work on a small toy interpreter that mostly needs root access to compile and install.)
Jacques Carette@MartinEscardo I regularly use all 3. Windows at home, Mac as laptop, Linux in my uni office. I do research in all 3 places.
Make three accounts and vote three times.
Christian Meesters@MartinEscardo fun fact: high performance compute clusters (#HPC) run only Linux these days. Usually a RedHat derivative (e.g. #AlmaLinux ).
Guess, the HPC community did not take part ... 😉
@MartinEscardo if you mean by that, that you are in a "we run Windows!" environment and have to deal with it ... I can feel you. Same here. (but I run my own desktop since I can think scientifically)
We shouldn't need to have to buy our own machine for doing research for which the university gets the credit (in REF, in the case of the UK).
Also, I worry that if I write a grant application and say that I need a Linux machine with a certain specification, then IT Services may decide to veto the grant application. Or that If I don't tell them in advance, once the grant is approved, they may say that no, we should have consulted them in advance.
@MartinEscardo ah, "my" here means whatever I put in my office. It usually comes with a pre-installed Windows 😉.
As I work as a HPC support scientist, they let me do.
logBoy@MartinEscardo when I was doing my research a few years ago, I used an ubuntu laptop for writing (latex, graphs) and logged into a centOS cluster (some 2000 nodes) for coding and processing
@MartinEscardo I just noticed the CS part, my bad: this was in physics
I guess this is fine: if you do research on CS, maths, physics, engineering, chemistry etc., it's fine if you voted for an option other than the last one.
Any research that needs computers would do.
The reason I emphasized CS is that I am in a CS department and I am outraged that our IT Services were moved from local to central, with new people, and they decided that Linux machines is not something that people in a CS department need.
So I wanted reality out there to be recorded in the poll.
@MartinEscardo Wow, that sounds rediculous to me. At least give people an option!
I work with a lot of researchers now adays as support and in my experience it's the STEM area that are mostly on linux.
Except if there is some machine in the lab (laser, spectroscope, etc) that only runs on windows.
Yes, wow.
noodle@MartinEscardo
I'm a CS academic for about 2 hours a week, so possibly shouldn't have answered. But I answered 'windows' as my organisation, in effect, mandates its use.
I'm a CS academic for about 2 hours a week, so possibly shouldn't have answered. But I answered 'windows' as my organisation, in effect, mandates its use.
Dima Pasechnik 🇺🇦 🇳🇱@MartinEscardo on vacation, so I missed this poll 🙂
I typically use Linux, or, sometimes, OpenBSD. I used a variety of Unix systems in the past: SunOS/Solaris, HP AIX, Cray (yes :-)). For a year, I worked on Windows as a research programmer, got a "mouse arm" (RSI), and a PTSD :-). For few years I used macOS, while it was still much closer to Linux.
However, I am involved in maintenance of @sagemath - which is multiplatform.
And these entitled macOS bros, arrgh :-)
Jay A. EtchingsWith the grip of a duopoly driving price gouging and planned obsolescence, Linux is poised to become the default operating system—not just for academia but also for professionals and casual users, offering freedom, sustainability, and long-term value.