Asking for a Linux (or non-Windows) laptop during a job interview?

A job interview isn't just for the company to find out if you are a good hire for them. It's also for you to find out if the company is a good employer for you.

So yes, ask away. And if they cannot meet your criteria you just don't start working there.

It's not a weird thing to ask during the interview. It would be a weird thing to request, but not to enquire about.

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.

It’s not weird, but be ready to be turned down for the job if they’re a Windows shop.

You should ask this, but maybe hold back on the "I abhor it" stuff.

While for some places it may even be a good sign you want Linux, serious rejection for other platforms may look like a lack of flexibility. Who's to say you don't have the same strong feelings about other stuff?

IMO generally be a positive about Linux rather than negative about Windows. Asking about what systems they support is reasonable though. Just know that you may be passing up jobs if this is your hill to die on.

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.

I personally got hired recently, and did ask this in one of the interviews, and luckily we can choose which OS we get to run on the machines. However only those with Windows get IT support if needed. Which I guess is fair.. Hope you get your wishes fulfilled!

I've always asked when talking to the person in charge (not HR, they don't know jack): "Which OS do you use and are you open to Linux?"

Had to turn down multiple jobs that were Windows/Mac only. They deployed web apps to the cloud aka linux and refused to develop on linux 🤷

Last I remember, according to the stackoverflow dev survey 40% of devs used Linux at work. Don't be afraid to ask.

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At my company this is known as a green flag to the recruiter. ;)

I'm not a software developer, but I absolutely do coding and one of the standard questions I ask is what OS they run on official company approved laptops. Other then a shitty bank I worked at for a few years (bad idea, but at least I got a pension out of it), all of them allow windows, osx, and at least one flavor of linux. If they don't allow that stuff, you should just turn down the offer anyway.

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 ask before I take the interview. Location, salary range, linux laptop are prerequisites to me working for anyone. If they punt on the laptop question it means no and they are hoping you'll want the job even without. I can promise you I won't, and if you view that as a red flag I can promise I don't want to work there so I don't care.

If its a hard requirement for you just say that and say that's for workflow and you don't want to waste anyone's time

No, it is not weird. Ask them

In my experience most non-Microsoft organisations use Mac's for development but deploy to Linux in production.

It's rather insane because this of course creates lots of subtle differences between Dev and prod, although not as many as if dev was a Windows box.

To answer your question though - just ask in the interview what the deal is so you know what you're in for.

If you deviate from the norm (i.e request a Linux box when everyone else is using MacOS) you're always going to be the guy with issues that nobody else has.

If the company has any kind of standard mobile device management - it probably won't work on Linux.

This will trigger the security team and probably the IT team because there's always this outlier device that can't run the standard VPN client or can't have DNS config pushed to it or the Linux version of some app has bugs that don't surface on the Mac version

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.

It's part of salary negotiation for me. When I figure how much they have to pay me, I add some more in if it's o365 or teams.

It's a pittance, easily dwarfed by a RTO tax or forced standby tax, but it's in there.

I develop C# dotnet on Linux. It's fine but normal "I'm the only Linux user" issues apply such as case-sensitive filenames.

As an IT Technician/Sysadmin who is responsible for ordering the laptop, my recommendation is DEFINITELY ASK because this is info the IT guy needs to know!

You wanna go for start-ups then. Most bigger and medium-sized companies have centrally-managed security where they wanna push updates and such to all computers or there's some corporate spyware everyone's gotta run or they've got everyone on M$ Office etc etc. Odds are a place that lets you use a linux laptop is going to be reluctant to buy you one and invite you to use your own. Macbooks aren't so bad, if they let you have sudo, lots of places use those.

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

I wouldn’t work a windows exclusive job, it’s a deal breaker for me, so I’d definitely ask. I work in an all Mac shop that does enterprise cloud architecture.

i asked for Linux, they said sure... and gave me a windows laptop.

i asked thecnical support "we only supply windows laptop"

Sounds like it's better for you to ask now so you can decline the job if they're a Windows only shop.

Why don't you just state your preference is Linux? I wouldn't worry about it to much until you get though the job screening process but if they are getting close to offering you the job it can't hurt to state your preference. Don't be demanding of course.

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

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.

I told my would-be boss that if he wanted me to be productive I'd better have a Linux machine

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.

If only asking the same thing for non-computer jobs would be accepted. I always have to use my personal laptop.

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.

Dell offers their Precision lineup of laptops with an option to ship with Linux (ubuntu) instead of Windows. As far as mainstream, enterprise support and driver updates go, you can't get any bigger than Dell. Lots of good deals to be had on eBay for these machines too, they're built like tanks and driver issues are never a thing.

I KNOW I'm gonna get A LOT of hate for typing this, but if a MacBook is cheaper than the laptop you want, you should get a MacBook...

I don’t ask for, I demand a Mac.

Edit: I'm sorry that I'm privileged enough to be able to do that.

Edit2: Didn't realize I'm in the linux sub, of course there will be outrage. If it helps you sleep better, Linux would be my second choice.