"Errno 16 resource busy"

[pythoncoder]

Without wishing to engage in OS wars there's a clear benefit in using Linux if only in a VM or on a cheap box like a Raspberry Pi. It seems apparent that most hackers and makers use it, much of the testing has been done on it and you're more likely to find expertise you can draw on if you use it.

For example my own experience of OSX is zero. Likewise Windows post XP. So I can't offer meaningful help with problems on those platforms. I don't think I'm alone.

[deshipu]

That is true, but it depends a lot on the domain. For instance, if you are into computer games, you will have a hard time finding any help with Linux, even if the game officially runs on it. It's similar with some microcontrollers -- the official toolchains are often only available for Windows, and all the support wants you to use the official tools, of course. I think the PIC microcontrollers don't even have Linux toolchains (although there is some ongoing work to write some). Setting up a toolchain for STM32 boards is a chore (you basically have to compile everything yourself and make sure all the versions are compatible), whereas for Windows you get a ready plugin for Eclipse. And so on.

But yes, if you want to stick to open source solutions, Linux is certainly pretty well supported.

[dhylands]

STM32 (and in fact pretty much any ARM toolchains) have been available from https://launchpad.net/gcc-arm-embedded for a number of years. I know that when I first got into linux on ARM (about ten years ago) you typically had to build your own toolchain, but its been quite a while since I've had to build a toolchain.

I agree with you about PIC (which is one of the reasons I migrated to AVR instead of PIC - better cross platform support).

If you ever do need to build a toolchain, I highly recommend using crosstool

[wwhalljr]

I have, by the way, purchased a $150 HP Stream on which I've loaded Ubuntu Gnome - you know, just to compare and contrast experiences, deshipu.

I'm not claiming linux is any better in terms of quality or number of bugs. It's just the difference in attitude that I'm marveling about.

No worries. While my daily driver is a Macbook Air (embedded is very much a hobby right now), curiosity and friends doing astro-engineering for a micro-gravity research startup (oh, to be younger!) got me interested in Linux. I'm actually kinda digging what (little) I've learned in the terminal and like Gnome 3. Price and the spirit of open software sold me on what I might do with the HP Stream.