I’m interviewing for a software dev job currently (it’s in the initial stages). If things work out, I’d absolutely prefer a work laptop with Linux installed (I personally use PopOS but any distro will do), a Mac will be second choice, but I absolutely cannot tolerate Windows, I abhor it, I loathe it, i hate it… (If all computers left on earth have Windows I’d either quit this field or just quit Earth).
Sometimes it’s possible to tell if they use Windows or not, for example, jobs with dotnet/C# are most likely using windows, but not in my case.
Anyways, is it too weird to ask what kind of laptop they provide to their employees? And to also specifically ask for a Linux (or anything but windows) work laptop?
It’s not weird, you can ask the recruiter or even the developer doing the interview what is the work environment (i.e. at the end, “do you have any question for me”). It’s a perfectly valid question.
You don’t have to go into details and go into a flamewar about Windows, at most just mention that it’s not your preference.
I think it’s better to avoid talking about how you “absolutely cannot tolerate”, “hate” a given platform because that in itself could be a red flag to some interviewers. If you feel this way about Windows, maybe you’ll feel this way about frameworks/libraries that has already been picked and be a pain to work with.
This is the right answer, especially if you can’t afford to not take the job.
No, it is not weird. Ask them
It’s not a weird thing to ask during the interview. It would be a weird thing to request, but not to enquire about.
I don’t know about that. During my job interview, I requested that (with the necessary politeness) and it wasn’t weird. I accepted the offer and now work daily on a GNU+Linux machine. It’s nice.
I’d enquire during the interview and request when accepting the offer (or during onboarding). Don’t ask me for a laptop while I’m still interviewing. It’s an interview. I’m not giving you shit.
Obviously? Who would just give you stuff when you’re not even employed 😂😂
Recruiter swag happens.
Nobody’s given me a laptop though.
Most jobs I’ve had in the last 15 years have asked me if I want a Max or Windows PC. I’ve had Linux boxes at most of them as well, but not as the primary machine.
Kind of unrelated but what do you like about MacOS and Linux versus Windows? I mean that in the way of things they share
I never really used a MacOS device for an extended period of time so when I did use one the differences between it and Windows/Linux really slowed me down and confused me.
As a Linux user, you can pretend the os x is just Linux. That’s not true, but you can make it work with brew, some googling and your favourite ide / tech stack.
On the plus side, macs are less problematic to integrate with corporate software. You can run commercial software that’s not available for Linux.
Windows is just Windows. A step back from either Linux or mac. Two steps backed when managed by corporate IT.
Yeah I use a Mac at work and it’s actually amazing. Lots of stuff runs the same as in linux.
Right up until you try to use some standard Linux tool like sed and all the flags are wonky. Never understood that, is that something to do with MacOS’s BSD ancestry? Idk.
Yep it’s a BSD thing (and deviations down the line), but you can amend your
$PATHso that the GNU variants take precedence. Obviously you’d only set this for your user/shell, otherwise it’d cause issues with system-wide tools that expect the macOS variants.
As a Linux user, you can pretend the os x is just Linux. That’s not true, but you can make it work with brew, some googling and your favourite ide / tech stack.
You can, but it’s still a miserable experience because the GUI is opinionated and its opinion is shit. I’ve been on that boat for three years now.
It’s a normal thing to ask in an interview, I ask the same every time, so far I’ve always gotten one, after all most things I work with require Windows machine to have WSL anyways, so might as well cut one layer.
That being said it all comes down to how you ask it and how valuable you are, if a junior said “I only work with Linux, either you give me a Linux box or I won’t take the job” you might be cut from the race by HR before any person who even understands what you’re asking gets to see you because you’re being inflexible. If on the other hand you’re a senior and go through the interview and at the end when you get to the questions ask what’s the policy for OS on work machines, you’re much more likely to get the answer you’re looking for. That is unless you’re working for a Windows specific program, which obviously will need a Windows box, and not many companies are willing to give you two PCs.
Honestly run if you can run a bunch of VMs on a Linux host. That way you can be very flexible and have multiple test environments.
But dont count 2 pcs out of the race, in most cases your salary is way more expensive than the nicest laptop they offer.
For sure, in fact I do have a Windows box besides my main Linux laptop from the company I work for. But this is because I work most of the time with Linux but there’s one specific thing that needs to be done on a Windows box. Luckily for me they have been very accommodating in that regard, but I could see a different company saying I would only get a Windows machine since it can do all of the flows.
Yeah, but companies always skimp on IT, be it infra or something as basic as laptops.
I agree it’s more about who, when and how you ask than the ask itself.
i asked for Linux, they said sure… and gave me a windows laptop.
i asked thecnical support “we only supply windows laptop”
At my company this is known as a green flag to the recruiter. ;)
I usually ask after the interview and after i’ve received the offer. At that point it doesn’t impact the selection process and you are still in time to reject if you want.
I would not ask at the interview… I’d wait until after you’re hired…
I’m not a programmer; but a system administrator. 4 Linux and 250 windows 1 Mac; In our org. I’ve run off a MBP for 17 years now. And not had any push back when I requested it, just said I’d prefer a then 15” now 16” MBP.
Good luck
I assume MBP is short for the Mac book pro. Anyway I personally wouldn’t be the first person to want a Mac as they don’t have all the great of virtualization support.
FWIW I get along pretty well with a virtualbox vm running on my employer provided windows machine. Performance is good and virtualbox even supports multiple displays pretty well.
You do need to square things with corporate IT and security though. Some places really lock their systems down. I’d ask about how “developer friendly” their security policies are.
Virtual box is very slow compared to something more native. I prefer KVM on Linux if I can get it and I’m pretty sure Hyper-V is going to be faster even though it is a tremendous pain in the ***
I develop C# dotnet on Linux. It’s fine but normal “I’m the only Linux user” issues apply such as case-sensitive filenames.
I develop C# on Linux, but I run the full VS inside of a Windows 10 VM.
Rider works pretty well also if you’re allowed to put add Linux support to projects. The Edit and Continue is not as nice though, even though support for it on Linux got merged into dotnet 8.
I don’t ask for, I demand a Mac.
Your IT dept tells jokes about you regularly
Fine by me if that’s true. We Mac users are also the only ones at the company who don’t have managed computers and can do whatever we want with it.
It’s shit to work with Windows as a web developer. I did that for too many years and hated every second.
We found the graphics designer.
Ah, you “work” in “marketing”?
Web developer :) I’m doing pretty good and if a job doesn’t offer Macs I can find another one. So why should I accept Windows?
I’m a software engineer. My entire team develops on Mac because we have to develop for Mac.
Last 3 jobs I’ve worked at, I made it sure they understood I needed a Linux laptop to work. They all offered MacBooks (and I made the mistake of taking the MacBook once), but as long as it’s a good company (i.e. no removed IT department) they’ll allow it
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It is absolutely not weird and I would argue it’s even important. The whole point of the interview is that BOTH parties evaluate each other according to THEIR criteria. Maybe for them it is not important but for you it’s a requirement, maybe you discover through that the culture is not aligned. It’s great for both to understand this NOW rather than 3 months down the line, as you started to settle, they teach you everything about their specific infrastructure and… it doesn’t work, now both needs to redo the process again.
So yes IMHO it doesn’t matter how “silly” it might sound to you, now during the interview process, is the time to insure that it’s going to be an actual fit.
You have to also be aware that they might say no, or that the question itself might lead to a rejection. They might just not want this due to internal policy, security, culture, belief system, etc. This might feel like a loss but again, better know now and look for a place that match your needs that later on.
I also don’t conduct many interviews, especially not right now, but when I did anything that could help me understand what made the candidate tick, what got them genuinely excited or angry, was super important. Sure I wanted to insure the technical capability but beyond that I was looking for any clue to see if we were compatible beyond just task in, result out, because in the long run that’s what would make us both happy.
TL;DR: yes, ask for whatever YOU want.
