C++

Linux, in keeping with Unix traditions, doesn't have a comprehensive systems management API. Instead, management is done through a variety of special-purpose tools and APIs, all with their own conventions and idiosyncrasies. That makes scripting even simple systems-management tasks difficult and brittle. For example, changing the login shell of the "app" user is done by running usermod -s /sbin/nologin app. This works great until it is attempted on a system that does not have an app user. To fix the ensuing failure, the enterprising script writer might now resort to...

In 2008, I started studying physics and got in contact with Linux, since a bunch of people used it for data analysis and simulations. Comprehension came fast and easy with such people around, and I was strongly encouraged to get things done with Linux. I installed Ubuntu on my notebook, and soon got familiar with Bash and the standard tools. After some years I turned to theoretical physics. While I was writing my master's thesis I gained access to a workstation running Scientific Linux, and a cluster system with a few hundred cores. I was impressed that each of my peers had implemented his own customized workflow, and that it was actually possible to work entirely with the keyboard, which is inconceivable for a Windows user...