From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Linux is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991 by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged in a Linux distribution (or distro for short).
Distributions include the Linux kernel and supporting system software and libraries, many of which are provided by the GNU Project. Many Linux distributions use the word "Linux" in their name, but the Free Software Foundation uses the name GNU/Linux to emphasize the importance of GNU software, causing some controversy.
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Depends on your major. I'm a bio/ecology major and a lot of the tools I used were cross platform or web based.
Also the university I went to did have basic Linux instructions for certain things like connecting to printers and connecting to the internet.
For me things actually became easier when I got myself a native Linux install instead of Windows. But I guess it depends on your college.
i've been doing cs for a year now with a coreboot'd t440p. if anything, it's gotten me some greetz from my profs, lmao
i've made do with libreoffice just fine, i submit most of my labs in odt without issue
keep a VM for labs in case they require windows, on machine or a home server. pick your poison
I am 80% done with my bachelors of Technology in Computer Science and Engineering in India. Never had a issue.
There are workarounds to almost every issue you may have. You can run Windows in a VM for software that requires it, or dual boot. M$ Office can be ran in a browser now. There is no reason to buy a license, just DL windows10 direct from M$ and never register, all they do is lock you out of some display options and add a watermark to your desktop.
Last I checked, Pearson doesn't allow Linux for remote tests, nor will they let you use a VM.
I know there were ways to skirt their VM detection, but is that worth the risk for 10s of thousands of dollars in your education?
I did Computer Engineering with Linux and Windows on a VM, it worked fine
I made it through college as a Mac user in the mid 90's which had a lower market share than Linux does now. If I was a college now I'd probably get a reasonably powerful business notebook and run MacOS, and Windows in a VM so I wasn't left wanting.
Dualboot and check what software they use. If you can get away with only Linux then you're good. I personally always have a copy of windows available on a separate SSD in case I need it. Sometimes I take months on end without booting into it.
I also have basically only my personal experience to go off of (from studying computer science), but I never had to plug hardware into my laptop. Printers were available over the network and the one time we worked with hardware, they had dedicated lab PCs there, which had the necessary software pre-installed.
From what I've heard on the internet, that's quite a common theme. Lots of hardware equipment is ridiculously expensive, so you don't go buying new equipment when accompanying software doesn't work on newer operating systems anymore. Instead, you keep a PC around with that old OS and the software, specifically for operating that hardware.
I did, Manjaro Linux on a laptop that started on windows 8. I did have meny teacher get upset I was not using the programs they recommend. I did CIT with a minor in web dev and design. It was not always easy but I feel it was worth it when my Uni used proctorio to do testing remote. Protorio is basically a virus or almost a rootkit. I was able to do my testing in-person because I didn't own a windows or Mac computer.