Operating System and Why

Somnivore

What operating systems are you using with Godot or just in general? Why have you decided on this OS?

Personally I'm using Arch Linux exclusively, though I used to use Windows exclusively. I toyed with Linux years ago (Ubuntu being the first, and other -buntu derivatives) but I always made the decision that it simply wasn't up to snuff compared to Windows; at the time I was pretty huge on games (still am but as a creator/consumer rather than a consumer, now with much less time to play), and pretty much all the games I liked to play were Windows only, which was part of why I couldn't stick with Linux--that, and all the software I was used to was Windows-only, I'd have to learn new software for everything. Even if I dual-booted, I'd hardly find the time to use it, or even learn how to use it, it was just there as some strange and foreign curiosity--not to mention, I'd have to learn the terminal, which at the time I wasn't familiar with, I had no experience with software development at all. Eventually I got rid of it.

Years later I got really fed-up with Windows; Windows 10 was an impressive flop for many reasons, and its aggressive marketing strategy really turned me off, combined with a popular perception of Win10 being spyware (telemetry you can't turn off) and adware (demanding you upgrade from within Win7/8, even auto-upgrading); Visual Studio (which I was using at the time to work with MonoGame) was demanding I get a Microsoft account in order for me to keep using it, and to get a Microsoft account I had to give them my phone number for apparent security purposes that I could not opt out of; despite purchasing several copies of Windows with my computers, I had to use an illegitimate copy because I couldn't find any of my old serials, and to keep that copy "genuine" I had to use warez which has obvious security problems. Contributing to my frustration was my disilluionment with Unity3D and its many bugs and design flaws (what pushed me to MonoGame), further freeing me from needing to be on Windows (or OSX but I've never used OSX due to it being exclusive to Macs.) Not to mention: what the heck happened to Windows 9?! What kind of sane being just skips a whole version number? I guess it's nothing out of the ordinary for Microsoft tho, they went from Xbox to Xbox 360 to...Xbox One. Literally what? Now I can't even say xbox one to refer to the original xbox, like I do with ps1 (which is still counting up normally mind you.) Then they ruined Conker and Banjo and...well, anyway.

So I decided, what the heck, I'll try Linux again in the hopes that I could get away from Microsoft. Everyone was saying Linux Mint was the best choice so, I went with that, tried learning some new software to replace the stuff I lost, and hey, Steam had half of my library available for Linux so I could still game sometimes. Didn't take maybe two weeks before I broke down and decided I just really wanted all my old software and games back, but as it turns out, Win7 doesn't have USB 3 drivers so, after about 6 hours of trying to get back onto Windows, I had gotten nowhere because it couldn't recognize the very USB it booted from. There was a solution to this problem as I found out much later but at the time I was so frustrated that I didn't want to bother anymore.

I figured, if I'm going to be trapped with Linux, then I may as well dive in head first; I heard that Arch was the system for this, for the user who wanted to understand Linux and wanted full control, so I figured this would be my initiation into the Linux world and make me as competent with it as I am with Windows. As it turns out, Arch happened to be a really great fit for me: a lot of the problems I was experiencing with other distros went away due to Arch always being up to date, and the AUR makes it really easy to get ahold of software that would otherwise be a pain to install and manage on other systems, including Godot; it's also nice to know how to replace various components of my system on the fly, if I want to try another desktop environment I don't have to install another distro. I tried other distros after getting familiar with Arch but I can't really put up with how dated everything else feels, and I'd be lost without the AUR. I have a system that fits me like a glove now, rather than me having to conform to it such as with Windows, and there's always the peace of mind knowing my system is more secure and always readily available if I want to reinstall it.

That said it's not remotely perfect and there's still a lot of work to do, namely screen tearing just seems incurable right now and that's a pretty annoying problem, not to mention I'm still missing half of my steam library (some of my favorite games are unfortunately Windows-only, though there are some hacks to make them work but those are hit or miss.) Heck even the games that are available on Linux sometimes get half-assed ports and don't work correctly, if at all. Wacom support is spotty, depends heavily on the desktop environment, to the point where I just wrote my own bash script to configure it (that took half a day.) I think the upsides outweigh the downsides, however, and I can't see myself using anything else at this point, though I could definitely see why someone would prefer the convenience of Windows despite its own flaws. I hope to help the lack of games on Linux myself, actually.

Megalomaniak

Why not both windows and linux? IOMMU for the win(long as you can afford 2 GPU's).

Somnivore

@Megalomaniak

Very interesting setup, but I'd much rather software developers be more considerate of platforms besides Windows; I understand why they focus on it, given its desktop market share, where people use Windows because it has all the software, so devs make all the software for Windows because it has all the users (though to be fair, Windows is still more lucrative to software devs since there's a culture of purchasing proprietary software, as opposed to Linux's FOSS culture which poorly facilitates selling software on account of the source readily being available.) Definitely not something that's going to be solved immediately but I'm fine with playing the long game, I have virtually everything I need outside of desktop gaming.

Megalomaniak

Yes, and desktop gaming is basically all I'm really suggesting you do with this, mostly in terms of games you already own so feel free to vote with your wallet, but the games already launched will not likely see linux ports. Basically think of this just as you would of dosbox.

Megalomaniak

You can install a minimal Ubuntu too, however arch can be a fun albeit for new users a rather challenging adventure.

GarromOrcShaman

Windows, for no reason. Purely because i grew together with Windows. My first computer was running MS Dos. On age of 5 years I already knew pretty much all commands. Later switched for XP. End of Windows XP support forced me to switch for 7. When 8 and 10 come out ... well, I hate them. I'll stay with 7 forever. I tried linux Ubuntu but come back to Windows because I'm not used to it. For me, it is 14 years with Windows. It is way too late for different system.

NeoD

I have a dual boot Manjaro XFCE/Win 8.1 My laptop is way faster with XFCE. I never found a way to install Scons on Windows. Linux terminal can display latin characters. The Manjaro one doesn't display the full path in the command prompt. This simple detail greatly improve comfort. Windows is still here for some testing.

Megalomaniak

@GarromOrcShaman said: End of Windows XP support forced me to switch for 7. When 8 and 10 come out ... well, I hate them. I'll stay with 7 forever.

Haha, yeah I started with windows 95 on school computers and 98 SE on my own first computer, then moved to xp then ubuntu to skip vista, then returned to 7, got 8 with 1 laptop that I ended up installing my 7 license to later and now intend to stick with 7 until the end of extended support. Then back to linux.

newmodels

Linux! because bill gates scares me.

TwistedTwigleg

I’m currently working on a dual booted system, with Ubuntu Linux (16.4 because I’m too lazy to upgrade) and Windows 10.

I’ve go back and forth between the two OS, though for awhile I used only Linux for a couple years. I prefer Linux over Windows for programming/software development, as the terminal is great and it’s way easier to get projects started (especially in C/C++). Plus, it’s open source so what’s not to like :smile:

Though anymore I find I like using Windows more than Ubuntu. It’s really the broken ports/versions of software I like using that made me switch. Stuff has a tendency to ‘just work’ on Windows, while on Linux some fiddling is generally needed to get the same results.

I also switched because for some reason Linux limits my internet speed (likely a driver issue) to around a quarter of the speed I get on Windows. The final nail in the coffin was I couldn’t play the majority of my games, including the multiplayer ones I’d like to play with friends.

So now I’m using Windows 10 primarily, with Linux being my secondary OS.

GarromOrcShaman

@Megalomaniak said:

@GarromOrcShaman said: End of Windows XP support forced me to switch for 7. When 8 and 10 come out ... well, I hate them. I'll stay with 7 forever.

Haha, yeah I started with windows 95 on school computers and 98 SE on my own first computer, then moved to xp then ubuntu to skip vista, then returned to 7, got 8 with 1 laptop that I ended up installing my 7 license to later and now intend to stick with 7 until the end of extended support. Then back to linux.

Yeah, it is just personal option (at least not only mine) but Windows 8/10 suck.I don't know what Microsoft is planning but what they releasing lately is far away from Bill's concept of Windows. If Microsoft end support of Windows 7, I most likely stay with it anyway, do you have idea how many people still use Windows XP ? So many years after support ended. Ending official support cannot stop people from using it. Funny note : Laptop I'm using right now was preinstalled Windows 10, try guess what was first thing I installed.

richard-kain

I'm a developer. Not a game developer, goodness no. But my day job is working as a web developer. As such, the decision for me is simple.

I have and use... ALL OF THE OPERATING SYSTEMS.

Seriously though, in my house I have a Windows gaming rig, a custom-built Linux box running Ubuntu, and a Mac Mini. I keep them all hooked up, and use all three of them regularly. The Windows gaming rig is also custom-built, but I just consider that to be self-evident. (any self-respecting gamer assembles their own gaming rig)

When you are a developer, one of the most important things to consider is testing, and platform reach. And both these elements benefit considerably from having access to a broad swath of software and hardware platforms. Honestly, I would like to have more computers set up in my house. For game development, being able to test and deploy software to these different platforms is important. For web development, being able to locally host and test web sites on all the different platforms and browsers is important.

I understand that acquiring this much hardware can be pricey. But I strongly encourage attempting to acquire multiple platforms as opposed to trying to stick to just one.

emo10001

I've been Microsoft pretty much all of my "computer" life. First PC was 3.1. Learned DOS 6.22, then Windows 95. Upgraded to 2000 and stayed there for a long time. Skipped ME. Begrudgingly moved to XP and then was fine with it. Windows 7 was a good OS. Skipped 8 and 8.1. Windows 10 because of work.

I'm a MS SQL Server admin/developer, and have been an MS guy all of my IT career (17 years). Was a MS cert'd Sys Admin back in the early 2000's. Am a cert'd MS SQL Admin/Dev now. It's been a good career :smile: I installed Ubuntu on a laptop in 2007....it was fine, but my options were limited, and I'm not scared of MS, so I went back.

Eh...big ugly corps...os wars...fanboys....etc. I dunno, I've just never got caught up in any of that. I have nothing against Apple either. They (Apple) just weren't in my wheelhouse or ever a need for me.

I do very much appreciate open source. It's one of the reasons I love and support Blender. I buy swag, support Addon Devs...etc. I appreciate Godot very much in the same way.

-emo

Ace_Dragon

Windows 10 Pro 64 bit. A few reasons... 1. Most software is built for Windows and is guaranteed to work. WINE in Linux can work with most apps, but not all. 2. Drivers for things like GPU's just work. Linux is catching up, but I'm not sure if it's all the way there yet. 3. Straightforward use with no use of the console needed. Linux though is getting close in some flavors like Mint. 4. The Pro version for its ability to defer updates, which will be useful for avoiding potential issues otherwise caused by forced updates right away (and with my new machine, I would also be in the front of the line for the really big updates that bring bugs). If you're going to get 10, it's smart to go Pro or say no if possible.

Calinou

I've hopped between Windows and Linux quite a few times since late 2009.

My Linux journey started on Ubuntu 9.10 then 10.04. I eventually started using Linux full-time after breaking a Windows XP install I had, from early 2010 to January 2012. I played several games back then, but luckily, as a Quake fan (I also spent a lot of time on Minecraft back then), the vast majority of them ran natively on Linux. I also remember getting Team Fortress 2 to work in WINE, back when Steam wasn't available on Linux natively. The game didn't run very well – I was using a laptop from late 2008 which wasn't that bad (it had a GeForce 9600M GT), but still ran far slower than a gaming desktop from the time would. The last Ubuntu version I used (excluding official derivatives) was 11.10, which came with Unity and no GNOME 2 option; I wasn't convinced by Unity and GNOME 3 at that time (they also were slower than GNOME 2, which was quite problematic in my case).

Following this, I got a new desktop PC in early 2012 which came with Windows 7 – I decided to keep it for a few months, until October 2012 when I installed Xubuntu 12.10 a few days after its release. The migration was fairly painless overall – I had to troubleshoot a NVIDIA graphics driver issue causing system freezes, though. I reinstalled Xubuntu 13.04 when I switched motherboards and upgraded it to 13.10, 14.04 then 14.10 without too much trouble.

I used Xubuntu until March 2015, date on which I switched to Debian testing and used it for a few months. (By the way, I started using Godot "for real" in May 2015, so that was the first distribution on which I ran Godot.) In the middle of 2015, I switched to Fedora 22 which I then upgraded to Fedora 23, back when Fedora's upgrade stability reputation wasn't as good as it is today – the upgrade still went on perfectly on my machine.

I entered university in September 2015 – the curriculum revolved around Web development, graphics/audiovisual production, communication, networking/systems administration and more. An unfortunate side effect is that I needed Windows to follow some courses which required Adobe and Office software (using open source equivalents wasn't possible here). I still dual booted my laptop for a few months but ended up deciding it was more trouble than it is worth.

Somewhere in late 2015, I wanted to try an Arch-based distribution and went with Antergos. It was a pretty decent experience overall, especially thanks to the AUR integration (something I still miss when I'm not using Antergos or Manjaro). I also decided to try out KDE (Plasma 5) after being an Xfce user for over 3 years. I found it a compelling alternative to Xfce whose development activity is sporadic nowadays.

In March 2016, I decided to install Windows 10 on my desktop since I also used it on my laptop. Shortly after, I built a new, high-end gaming desktop which I still use today and also used Windows 10 on it for a few months. Even though the Windows Subsystem for Linux was available since July 2016, I still missed the Linux environment I was used to; in November 2016, I installed and used Xubuntu 16.10 briefly on that PC, then came back to Windows again and installed Manjaro in February 2017. I was back on Windows 10 (yet again) in June 2017 and used it until December 2017 when it broke after an update. It booted but ran into a BSOD every time; I didn't feel like troubleshooting it, so I installed Fedora 27 which is the distribution I'm currently using.

I graduated from the university I mentioned above in June 2017 and am currently studying software engineering (master's degree). My current university is much more Linux-friendly – I see many of my classmates using Linux, much more so than in my previous university.

Overall, I find Linux to be in a good state these days. There's still areas which require fiddling to get to a good result (sometimes even basic topics such as mouse acceleration), but a lot of progress has been done in a few years. The creative pipeline (Blender, GIMP, Inkscape, Scribus, Godot [of course], …) is getting better and better every year, the software catalog is expanding on a regular basis and WINE is able to run a lot of applications and games (new and old) flawlessly.

I don't find the Windows side too grim either. While Windows tends to put user privacy at risk, it has turned into a much more developer-friendly platform; the WSL and Scoop help a lot in making the Windows development experience better.

TL;DR: My OS installs rarely last more than 6 months. :)