commit 6416e086cc2180222ec40e07b93a5947e3418314
parent 89e2f0c93c3f2b5194f1411ad6fb12733c81d8d2
Author: pyratebeard <root@pyratebeard.net>
Date: Fri, 29 Sep 2023 16:48:48 +0100
Merge branch 'a_penguin_at_the_window'
Diffstat:
1 file changed, 21 insertions(+), 0 deletions(-)
diff --git a/entry/20230929-a_penguin_at_the_window.md b/entry/20230929-a_penguin_at_the_window.md
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+I have been daily driving Linux since 2008 when I settled on Fedora 9. In that time I have adapted my workflow to suit me, one of the beautiful things of using Linux over Windows or Mac.
+
+My current workflow is so unique, with custom keybindings, scripts, and configurations; that few people could probably use it comfortably. I am sure this is true for many Linux users of 15 plus years.
+
+I am also a professional Linux systems consultant, yet in every 'Linux' job over the last 10 years I have been made to use a Windows system to carry out my work.
+
+In only two jobs have I been allowed to run a Linux VM on my Windows machine. I really struggle to use Windows to work. For those that have seen my [ricing](https://pyratebeard.net/scrots/){target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"} will know that I do _almost_ everything via the terminal. I prefer to use a keyboard over a mouse, something that is very difficult in a GUI focused Windows system. Even when I do have to use a GUI I prefer it to be unobtrusive. Trying to view a spreadsheet in Excel is horrendous when the top half of the screen is taken up by huge menu buttons. I know these menus can be compacted, but they still take up far too much space in my opinion.
+
+I have little choice though, so I succumb to using the tools available to me. PuTTY is decent, and allows a lot of configuration but I find configuring it to be slow and clunky. More recently I have tried to use WSL where possible. At least then I can make use of ssh configuration files. Not all jobs I have worked in have allowed WSL, or if they have the connection to the repos doesn't work so I am left with only what is installed by default (and no updates!).
+
+The worst 'workflow' I have experienced was using a Windows laptop, I would connect to a virtual Windows desktop in the browser(!!), then RDP to a Windows server in the environment, ssh using PowerShell (no WSL or PuTTY) to a jump server where I had to ssh to another Linux server which had Ansible and the other tools needed to do my work. Any latency in that ridiculous connection made working unbearable.
+
+The subject of this log entry comes from having recently started a new job and yet again faced with trying to find a comfortable workflow on Windows. Something that has been made even more difficult now that I have switched to [Colemak](20220825-colemak_+2.html){target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"} as Windows doesn't ship that keyboard layout.
+
+I don't like to rant about this (much), I am lucky to have a career I enjoy and all my colleagues over the last decade have managed to work. So why does it aggravate me so much? Why, when I'm told I can't use Linux for security reasons, do I get so vexed.
+
+When interviewing for new jobs I always ask the same few questions, one of those being "Will I be allowed to run a Linux system to carry out my job?". I have never heard the answer "Yes".
+
+There is no real point to this entry, it is more an outlet for me to get this off my chest. No doubt I will go through the same irritation in my next job, and every job hence.
+
+Let me know if you have managed to find a comfortable workflow in Windows; or if you work in a job that allows Linux, are you hiring? :) Contact details can be found on my [homepage](https://pyratebeard.net){target="_blank" rel="noreferrer"}.
