I’m really surprised I didn’t realize this a lot earlier. Maybe I just didn’t care and wanted it to not be true. In fact, I know that is what it is, because while at IBM I used Linux as my main system for over 13 years. At first I was a part of the rebel elite, then we became supported and official within the company. But times have changed.
There is absolutely zero reason today to allow employees to use anything but Windows or Mac systems on their company computers.
I can’t believe I’m writing those words, but they have never been more true than 2022 when everything is virtualized and containered, but more importantly, when the entire world is facing an IT crisis of epidemic proportions. Sure desktop Linux is more secure than Windows, but which one?
Think carefully about that last question. As an individual you might find it limiting to not be able to put whatever the fuck you want on your computer, but so long as zero-trust is not implemented in your organization someone has to answer for the 10s of thousands of security vulnerabilities that connect to the “private” network every single day.
You can grumble all you want about being forced to use Windows or Mac at work (God knows I have). But it is the right decision when dealing with incredibly large organizations where the average computer user is an absolute moron in terms of technical skills and (to borrow the words of marble_wraith) “Linux is an incredibly powerful footgun.” The tech rockstars will do everything in their power to thwart your security measures (like convert their “laptop” into a router so they can use whatever the fuck they want to connect to your network, a fire-able offense in any organization, and yes I did it once upon a time).
Here’s another unpopular opinion: “spy” software on your work computer is a good idea. Just look at the stats about where major security breeches are happening. It’s not your computer, it’s theirs and they have to protect their organizations. Or would you prefer more ransomware attacks taking out entire hospitals during a pandemic, because that is the alternative. It’s not FUD to report the reality of cybersecurity in the year 2022.
I’m going to catch shit for using Windows for the foreseeable future from naive people without jobs or those who have never worked in any significant enterprise that doesn’t focus on technology (IBM, for example, doesn’t count). But I am exercising my personal choice to prepare people for the lowest common denominator, to be wicked successful and productive on Windows and Mac. Then, if they can put Linux on their desktops (despite there being zero reason to actually do so) they can use that as well. I want to help people be amazing even in the most conservative environments (even government employees) and thrive while doing so by leveraging the full power of Linux and FOSS in ways that work with Windows and Mac.
And before throwing shit at me for Windows as my daily driver, might want to ask the world’s most elite hacker training organization why they require it. There’s a solid reason the most elite cybersecurity certification in the world (OCEE) requires Windows 10 and a powerful laptop that can run VMware Workstation, which is exactly what I recommend for the Boost and everyone else who wants to get into cloud-native infrastructure engineering and hacking.
Here’s the thing, if you don’t like it, go find a company that let’s you use a broke-ass, forever-configuring-instead-of-working Linux Desktop. Have fun wasting time fucking around with irrelevant things while the rest of us focus on stuff that matters, like playing Overwatch. ;)