this post was submitted on 27 Jun 2024
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I study math at uni and I was shocked realizing all my teachers use ubuntu on both their laptop and work desktop

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[–] [email protected] 143 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Not only did my math master's thesis adviser use Linux, he read his email from a command line program and wrote his papers in plain TeX, considering LaTeX a new fangled tool he didn't need.

[–] VintageGenious 51 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 23 points 1 month ago

plain TeX is a joy to use, but you must really understand boxes and glue etc on a deep level. LaTeX makes that easier, but at the cost of extreme complexity internally (compare the output routines for example.)

[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago (1 children)

my whole university email server was accessed via telnet. So everyone used tty for email.

I think there may have been a gui or mail app that you coud point to it, but no one did. There was about a million(trillian?) gui's people used for icq messaging though.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Wait what? Telnet? I am guessing cybersecurity is not one of the classes available at your school.

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[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

TIL that plain TeX is a thing.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

Elm or mutt? Say pine and I'll die

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[–] [email protected] 68 points 1 month ago (3 children)

It's outrageous! You must start a crusade to make them see the error of their ways and start using Arch!

[–] VintageGenious 8 points 1 month ago (3 children)
[–] [email protected] 36 points 1 month ago
[–] [email protected] 20 points 1 month ago

please don't

[–] [email protected] 18 points 1 month ago

You must! The Penguin demands it!

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I teach. I use Arch for my school laptop.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

Thank you for your service ❤️

[–] [email protected] 42 points 1 month ago (3 children)

A lot of my professors of meteorology (and IT courses, of course) also use either Ubuntu or Kubuntu! Love to see it

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

I would have thought you need a bunch of fancy software for meteorology (expecting on windows).

[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 month ago (4 children)

A lot of advanced analytical tools in biotech at least are developed to be compute cluster compatible, and thus work best on unix-like CLI, e.g. Linux (or Mac with a bit of tinkering)

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago (2 children)

I'm interested but don't know enough to understand that answer.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

If stuff is designed for big servers that run Linux, it's easier to get it to run on a desktop PC if the PC runs Linux too because then it's the same thing except much less powerful.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago (4 children)

Code and snippets to analyze data work well when you can send chunks of it to multiple servers (think analyzing the effect of weather patterns).

Since a lot of that stuff is running on Linux (similar to cloud computing) it makes sense that people that write function/scripts/utilities would already be comfortable in that environment and use it as their daily driver.

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[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 month ago

True. HPC definitely plays a big role in the field, and essentially all compute clusters run some sort of Linux distro. Even though clients that can also be run locally then often have Windows binaries too, I'd say software support on Linux is at least as good as on Windows, probably a bit better.

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[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago

not SunOS then ):

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[–] [email protected] 29 points 1 month ago (3 children)

I have also seen some desktops of my hospital labs using Ubuntu. Must say, amidst all the win7 monitors, that looked so sexy...

[–] [email protected] 11 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Windows 7, first released in 2009, now well out of the most extended of support. Glad to see security of medical records is a top priority.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (2 children)

Don't worry, Ubuntu was probably Lucid. 🤭

Medical environments are notorious for inept tech skills and slow technology adoption.

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[–] VintageGenious 4 points 1 month ago (2 children)

Windows 7 is...ugly so I understand. What I was shocked was they nearly all used it, not just a few

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 month ago

I loved it when it came out.

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[–] lurch 20 points 1 month ago (1 children)

it's kinda the fire-and-forget of OSes. you just press the update/upgrade button when the unattended-upgrade didn't catch all and it just works for free and forever.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 month ago (4 children)

So it has auto updates enabled? Windows, macOS and a ton of other Linux distros do that as well.

I think it's moreso that Ubuntu is (one of the) most used desktop Linux OSes, so a lot of corporations and individuals who like to play safe just go with that

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 month ago (6 children)

From my perspective, if used for work, automatic security updates should be mandatory. Linux is damn impressive with live patch. With thousands or even tens of thousands of endpoints, it's negligent to not patch.

Features? Don't care. But security updates are essential in a large organisation.

The worst part of the Linux fan base is the users who hate forced updates, and also don't believe in AV. Ok on your home network that's not very risky compared to a corp network with a million student and staff personal information often with byo devices only a network segment away and APT groups targeting you because they know your reputation is worth something to ransom.

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[–] lurch 3 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Windows, macOS and a ton of other Linux distros do that as well.

First of all, windows and macOS are not for free. They cost extra money, sometimes hidden in the PC cost when pre-installed. When they do a major update, like Win10 to 11, you are at their mercy, if your license can be used to upgrade. Often it can, but sometimes your PC is not "Windows 11 ready" or so and then you get updates for your old system for a few more years until they drop you like a hot potato and throw you to the malware wolves.

Additionally, in Windows the automatic updates are just for the OS itself and some apps from its store. A few apps like Chrome and FF install their own extra update service on top. A lot of other programs check for updates individually or some not at all and often you have to download and run their installer for every update. Idk how it is in macOS tho. Haven't used it in years.

Yes, a ton of other Linux distros also have background unattended-upgrade or similar. However, the people who choose Ubuntu over those are usually looking for a quick solution that almost always just installs without problems. They usyally don't have time or patience for any complications, however small. So they choose the fire-and-forget Linux and additionally have greater chances to find a fix or help in the super rare case it doesn't work, because the bigger user base increases the likelyhood someone else is familiar or has infos regarding that exotic issue.

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[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 month ago (7 children)

I remember having my mind blown in college when I saw a Mac Pro tower running Ubuntu in a lab.

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[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 month ago

I started using Ubuntu because of Radio Astronomy stuff.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 month ago

Most of my teachers either used MacOS or Ubuntu very few times I saw Windows but again my studies were in computer science so a bit of a bias.

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