found an old unused laptop in my office the week i got the job. that week, i nuked it and installed deb12. i’ve since installed an inventory server in a virtual machine, and i’m afraid to break everything so i guess it’s gonna run deb12 for the forseeable future.

I started unplugging the Ethernet cable when I leave for work so IT can’t do any behind the scenes when I’m away.

Speaking as an IT guy, don’t do this. Its not your computer, and it’s our job to manage it. If you don’t like the company’s policies go work somewhere else. This is how you get my boss to call your boss into a meeting.

I started unplugging the Ethernet cable when I leave for work so IT can’t do any behind the scenes when I’m away.

It’s not your computer, why do you care?

All that’s going to do is make you an annoyance and potentially end up with you being called into a special meeting.

Yes, but it was a huge corp that literally had it’s own linux community within the corp.

The custom software which is absolutely required for my job is only developed for Windows. There would be no point even going to work if that software wasn’t available. So I’d never ask.

There are some people in authority who think the native windows application should be swapped for a “more modern” web/cloud-type. Which would be awful, but say they got their wish and the primary software therefor became more portable. I don’t think it would be worth asking or even a good idea.

I know the IT people have zero familiarity with Linux. Their role is to provide me a workstation that facilitates every task required by my job description. It must be stable and secure. It’s a complex technical environment where each workstation interacts with other devices. Even with the most constrained, homogeneous ecology that can be arranged, there are constant hiccups that need to smoothed out. I can’t be the only person who knows how to use my computer. There are aspects of the environment that are out of scope for me to know about so even if I was a much more skilled linux desktop user, it would be impossible for me to set up my own machine. It would be irresponsible for IT to allow me to run whatever on my system without their being able to properly supervise things.

I have advocated for use of free/libre software at every chance for the workplace as a whole. I try to get people on board with switching secondary/helped applications when available. At some point in the future, I think the software we are using will be discontinued so the question of what to switch to will become live. So I am hoping to propose everyone moves to linux, or at least that we prioritize a less proprietary solution. I have some strong arguments based in our business needs. I doubt the bravery exists for a full switch to Free software (if it is even possible, which it might not be). A better plan would be to find some way to get IT comfortable with Linux first. They would need to have the skills to support all the users properly.

At the end of the day I wish someone had done this in the 80s-90s-00s when everyone was transitioned to using the computers. Now there is so much intertia with windows and everything that goes along with it. The work would be much smoother in a linux environment but 999 individual things need to change to get there.

Not so much convinced as in that I always just installed Linux, period, and then proceeded to do everything I was told I wasn’t going to be able to do on linux

I’ve been thinking about swapping my work laptop to Linux too.

The difference is I’m in IT and I know what all things I need to put on my computer to make it compliant with all our policies and all the software I need to do my job.

I’ve been experimenting by running some Linux VMs with all the EDR, patching, and logging software we need. But by the time I’m doing all that, there’s really no point in using Linux except for the CLI which WSL has been great for that.

I work for a big enterprise, we have very strict policies when it comes to work PCs, no way anyone would be allowed to change the operating system.

BUT I got permission to install Virtualbox so I can happily use Linux for many things nonetheless.

Protip: don’t ask, just do it.

Yea, but at a small company (~15 workers). It took a few weeks of back and forth because I didn’t have a real work-related reason to switch.

I’ve worked in a few offices but never in an I.T. role.

Never been allowed to switch web browser, so a whole new operating system is out of the question. But I did ask once at a previous job, to get shot down.

Only place I’ve seen desktop Linux irl has been my own bedroom.

I did, in my previous and curret job…e very happy camper

You mean 99% of companies out there?

Large companies will surely have that locked down. Most companies don’t

My previous job, yes! A few people had that fight years before I started and won. It was decided on the basis that we’re Linux sysadmins who already operate a sizeable fleet of Linux systems and running our own desktops would be beneficial and self-supported.

Sadly my current employer doesn’t share this view. We used a crippled Linux desktop through Apache Guacamole which is a bit average to say the least. I have to put up with the constant bullshit that is Windows and all of its ads, news headlines and trash that I don’t want on my computer at work. I hate it but I have very little influence in that space.

I’ve had Linux on my work desktop for the past twenty years.