Linux is a popular, open source operating system kernel. Linus Torvalds started development of the kernel in 1991.
354
votes
14answers
158k views
Why do game developers prefer Windows?
Is it that DirectX is easier or better than OpenGL, even if OpenGL is cross-platform? Why do we not see real powerful games for Linux like there are for Windows?
84
votes
22answers
39k views
Is there any reason to use C++ instead of C, Perl, Python, etc.?
As a Linux (server side) developer, I don't know where and why should I use C++.
When I'm going to performance, the first and last choice is C.
When "performance" isn't the main issue, programming ...
82
votes
21answers
7k views
Making money with Open Source as a developer?
I'm currently a student (Applied Information Technology) and we do most of our programming in C# and Java. I was wondering how can I as a developer, make money with open source. I know there is the ...
80
votes
10answers
19k views
Is Ken Thompson's compiler hack still a threat?
Ken Thompson Hack (1984)
Ken Thompson outlined a method for corrupting a compiler binary (and other compiled software, like a login script on a *nix system) in 1984. I was curious to know if modern ...
56
votes
25answers
53k views
Why do programmers use or recommend Mac OS X? [closed]
I've worked on both Mac and Windows for awhile. However, I'm still having a hard time understanding why programmers enthusiastically choose Mac OS X over Windows and Linux?
I know that there are ...
38
votes
7answers
5k views
Difference between '\n' and '\r\n'
Yes yes, I am aware that '\n' writes a newline in UNIX while for Windows there is the two character sequence: '\r\n'. All this is very nice in theory, but my question is why? Why the carriage return ...
31
votes
5answers
2k views
Why do *nix-y folks single-quote like `this' instead of like 'this'? [closed]
Why do *nix-y folks tend to singe-quote like `this' instead of like 'this'?
I'm referring to the opening "backtick" ` instead of '.
And I'm talking about writing prose in email or documentation -- ...
29
votes
2answers
11k views
How to become a Kernel/Systems/Device driver programmer?
I currently work in a professional capacity as a software engineer working with the Android OS. We work at integrating our platform as a native daemon among other facets of the project. I primarily ...
26
votes
14answers
3k views
Should a programmer know Linux? [closed]
I'm a PHP/Python programmer learning Java and C#(.NET). My main OS is windows 7 but I've used Linux and currently dual-booting with Ubuntu. My Linux knowledge however, is pretty limited. I can work ...
23
votes
9answers
23k views
Comparison of IDEs for C++ and C development on Linux: KDevelop, Eclipse, NetBeans, CodeBlocks and Anjuta [closed]
I'd like to note your experience of full scale IDEs on Linux.
I personally work mostly with vim, however other programmers would like
to see a real IDE. So I'd like to hear your personal opinion ...
21
votes
8answers
2k views
Any basic difference between Unix and Linux in design and other aspects? [closed]
I keep reading this sentence:
Linux is a Unix-like system, but it is not Unix.
I don't know what's the real difference between the two. I know Linux got a lot of ideas from Unix and the licenses ...
20
votes
1answer
1k views
Any experience with Mono on production servers?
I am curios to use .NET for some web applications (e.g. ASP.NET MVC 2). However my budget is limited so I would like to use Mono on Linux. I have never used Mono before, and I haven't read about any ...
19
votes
10answers
2k views
Is it worth moving from Microsoft tech to Linux, NodeJS & other open source frameworks to save money for a start-up?
I am currently getting involved in a startup, I am the only developer involved at the moment, and the other guys are leaving all the tech decisions up to me at the moment.
For my day job I work at a ...
16
votes
14answers
877 views
Does being a Linux-only expert limit career choices outside academia? [closed]
I'm looking for a high-paying position in software, especially involving graphics and imaging, but preferably outside the world of universities and large government research labs. These are ...
15
votes
12answers
2k views
Interviewing someone for general unix skills
How would you test a developer that claims to have *nix shell experience (just to be clear, we don't want to test if someone can develop on *nix, only that they know their way around the command ...
14
votes
7answers
888 views
Is it possible to effectively develop PHP applications on Windows that will be deployed on servers running Linux?
Is it fine to code PHP on Windows and host it later on a server running Linux? Can there be any problems in the migration of such a project?
I would think that there really can't be any problems, ...
13
votes
14answers
1k views
Teach Linux programming to home-schooled 15-year old [closed]
I am home schooling a 15-year-old and would like to teach him programming. Our home computers are all running Ubuntu. What are some good options? So far I am leaning toward Scratch, but I also ...
12
votes
10answers
3k views
Should we choose Java over C# for a new project?
We have a team of .NET developers (C#) with a range of experience from 2 to 6 years. Over the last few years we have been developing Silverlight, ASP.NET MVC, and WPF applications. However, there is a ...
12
votes
9answers
921 views
How to tackle massive Linux/makefile projects effectively?
I have been developing Windows applications in C++ for like 10 years now. And recently I've started digging into some Linux projects, and I can't stand how unproductive I am...
I'm a fast learner, ...
12
votes
3answers
3k views
Is there a technical reason why you can't develop iOS apps on a Linux computer?
I understand why you can't develop OS X apps on a Linux computer, but is there a good technical reason why you can't develop iPhone and iPad apps on Linux? Why isn't it possible to compile iOS source ...
11
votes
5answers
8k views
How to understand Linux kernel source code for a beginner?
I am a student interested in working on Memory Management, particularly the page replacement component of the linux kernel.
What are the different guides that can help me to begin understanding the ...
11
votes
8answers
981 views
free as in free beer
Some years ago (more precisely in 1998) the confusion english-speaking people start making with the term free when applied to software led some members of the free software foundation to create a new ...
11
votes
4answers
576 views
Getting a solid understanding of Linux fundamentals
I'm delving into the Linux world again as a diversion from my Microsoft-centric day job, and every time I tackle a new project I find it a frustrating exercise in trial and error.
One thing that I ...
11
votes
5answers
785 views
What's the best way to move to linux from windows for web development?
I am primarily a programmer developing on windows based OS using C# as my primary language. I am evaluating Ubuntu Linux as an alternate platform and would like to know the best stack for doing web ...
10
votes
7answers
1k views
Emacs and “self-reinforcing performance”
In short, my question for you hardcore Emacs users is this: have you achieved
this "self-reinforcing performance" Steve Yegge talks about?
Emacs is self-hosting: writing things
in it makes the ...
10
votes
9answers
2k views
What is a dedicated Linux box used for?
So this is probably a very basic and obvious question for most people, but my google-fu is failing me and it just seems something is going over my head. I've heard numerous people refer to having a ...
10
votes
9answers
1k views
Is Cygwin or Windows Command Prompt preferable for getting a consistent terminal experience for development?
The question:
Which is better, installing cygwin or one of its cousins on all my windows machines to have a consistent terminal experience across all my development machines, or becoming well trained ...
10
votes
5answers
854 views
Starting Linux Programming
I am a long time .NET developer and I have worked with Mono but I now want to start programming for Linux, what would be a good source to start native Linux development?
10
votes
1answer
2k views
Embedded Linux vs Windows Embedded Standard 7
Ok looking for some really subjective answers. My company has traditionally been a Linux shop, we manufacture and sell purpose built boxes for video security. We recently decided to build an ...
9
votes
11answers
1k views
How much does a web developer need to know about Linux?
I was just wondering if a typical PHP developers needs to be very familiar with Linux. I am studying Linux right now and I believe some of linux knowledge is not required for a PHP developer job (not ...
9
votes
7answers
2k views
How to get started in opensource projects and programs [duplicate]
I am interested in starting to learn how to contribute to open source projects and Linux in general. I am a first year B.Sc. Computer Science student this year and we use c++ as our main programming ...
9
votes
3answers
1k views
What are some interesting but not too difficult projects for a beginner kernel hacker?
Having taken a course in Operating Systems I'm interested in expanding my knowledge of the Linux kernel and practice working with a big system. What are some interesting but not overly difficult ...
9
votes
4answers
282 views
New to programming. How do I meet people to expand my programming knowledge and discourse?
I've been a tinkerer of tech and programming, but books and online resources only go so far. I want a community to ingage in discussions about programming to take me beyond what books can give (also, ...
9
votes
3answers
473 views
Lock-free IPC in Linux for multi-core processors
I'm trying to find a way to write an application with lock-free IPC on Linux, in C, with multi-core processors.
Let's assume I have process 1 and process 2 that write to a FIFO or shared memory. Then ...
8
votes
9answers
12k views
UML modeling tool for Linux
I am starting a new project using Eclipse under Linux and I am looking for a UML 2.x modeling tool not just a diagramming tool.
Do anyone has experience with UML plugin for Eclipse? Does it support ...
8
votes
3answers
1k views
Can I use Linux/Mono instead of Windows/Visual Studio without any problem?
I have more than 6 years of experience with .Net (C#/ASP.NET) and Visual Studio. But recently I'm tempted to switch to Linux/Mono. It comes up with some questions:
Can I run my old Visual Studio ...
7
votes
9answers
1k views
What is the difference between being an IT in investment bank and a professional IT company?
Suppose there are two positions:
IT in investment bank: developer for the infrastructure or the platform
a famous IT company: embedded developer, linux
As far as I understand, since in the ...
7
votes
1answer
1k views
What is the most modern GUI framework for Linux?
I like to develop GUI applications. So far I have most used Java Swing but it's pretty outdated and I don't wont to work with it anymore, it's too bad. I have done some smaller applications using WPF ...
7
votes
9answers
587 views
What is the way to understand someone else's giant uncommented spaghetti code? [duplicate]
Possible Duplicate:
I’ve inherited 200K lines of spaghetti code — what now?
I have been recently handled a giant multithreaded program with no comments and have been asked to understand ...
7
votes
4answers
551 views
Git-friendly spreadsheet format?
We're trying to move our project documentation process from Google Documents to a set of self-hosted Git repositories.
Text documents are Git-friendly enough, since we usually do not need any fancy ...
6
votes
3answers
1k views
How was Git designed?
My workplace recently switched to Git and I've been loving (and hating!) it. I really do love it, and it is extremely powerful. The only part I hate is that sometimes it's too powerful (and maybe a ...
6
votes
1answer
650 views
“Read” a file without using a file pointer
I was asked this question in an interview. I'm somehow supposed to "read" a file into my C program as input without using a file pointer (including "f" functions, e.g. fgets, fscanf etc.). I'm also ...
6
votes
1answer
465 views
Does change the license under which Linux is released need the permission of all the copyright holders?
As far as I know Linus holds the copyright to Linux.
While looking around in the kernel sources, I see that almost every file has it's own copyright holders. For example the file module.c in the ...
6
votes
5answers
1k views
How can I make my PHP development environment more efficient?
I want to start a home-brew pet project in PHP.
I've spent some time in my life developing in PHP and I've always felt it was hard to organize the development environment efficiently.
In my ...
6
votes
1answer
501 views
Embedded systems learning: next step
I am a newbie trying to learn embedded systems programming on ubuntu. I've tried the below link:
http://www.linuxfordevices.com/c/a/Linux-For-Devices-Articles/Tutorial-A-simple-embedded-Linux-system/
...
6
votes
1answer
277 views
How is the Linux repository administrated?
I am amazed by the Linux project and I would like to learn how they administrate the code, given the huge number of developers. I found the Linux repository on GitHub, but I do not understand how it ...
5
votes
9answers
2k views
Mac or Linux for a secondary work machine?
I am a freelance web developer geared towards Ruby on Rails. The main components of my current working environment are a 27" iMac, Textmate and git/github (which is not going to change any time soon).
...
5
votes
5answers
339 views
Is it necessary to learn Makefiles when you have an IDE?
I have recently began studying Makefiles in Linux. I have ample experience developing applications with advanced IDEs, such as Visual Studio.
My first impression and query after reading a few ...
5
votes
5answers
1k views
Is there a way to publish IOS app from windows/Linux?
I have been using Linux (especially, Ubuntu) and Windows 7 for a long time. I want to publish iOS apps, but I don't have a Mac or an iPhone. I don't have anyone near me who will lend me a Mac, and I ...
5
votes
2answers
475 views
Programming your own linux distribution?
So, during the couple of days I've been thinking what it takes to make your own linux distribution. Where should I actually start? I'd like to have some very basic tips for this. I consider myself a ...
