https://www.reactos.org/node/946
Looks like jobs are available, so if any C/C++ coders wanted to be paid to work on an open-source Windows-compatible OS, the opportunities exist...
The killer for me is a weird combination of Stockholm syndrome and a seemingly drug-like addiction to Windows that I just can't shift. One minute I'll be swearing at the 15th problem of the day that occured on Windows and then spend all Saturday installing a Linux distribution and killing off my Windows Phone and Live accounts.
By Sunday it's got Windows back on it and I'm at it like a raving crack addict again. But I know it's hurting me. I know Linux well and am responsible for a fair chunk of Linux kit but I always end up with it on Windows again.
Last time: unity won't show file copy dialogs suddenly, duplicity backup won't work due to a bug in Ubuntu that has been open for over a year, my FortiClient VPN drops every 5 minutes, I can't find a RDP client (so I can still connect to my day job) that works properly.
Argh just kills me this. I want to do something else for a living now.
I know what you mean, I feel like that sometimes. I'm tired of the compromises on both sides, and it feels like we're building complex software on systems that can barely get the basics right.
Ultimately I'd like us to get rid of some of the cruft and start again. I'd like to see device drivers being hosted in a bare metal hypervisor like Xen, then just allow all OSes to use this common base. I suspect we could see renewed activity in the OS space if the hardware side was taken care of.
In the meantime, have you considered using a Mac? I personally try to avoid giving Apple money, but perhaps they'll be a decent halfway house for you?
I've had a couple of Macs. Plagued with hardware and software problems and are very inflexible IMHO. Last was a 2011 MBP and Mavericks which was WiFi hell.
I've switched to Arch about a year ago and sure, the installation was a bit painful, but after that, I don't know... it just works (including the switch to the new 4.x kernel, but I'm given to understand that the jump was fairly minor). Oh, and Plasma 5 is pretty :)
I had Debian for a while, but the outdated packages were killing me (and I was on testing). Other than that, I couldn't really complain.
I would like to have a bash at Arch but I can't be bothered to install it and it doesn't have a great security reputation.
I'm not too fussed about up to date packages but a recent Python 3 would be nice.
Python 3 is a compile it yourself on centos I understand.
https://access.redhat.com/products/Red_Hat_Enterprise_Linux/...
To be fair to Ubuntu, I've had issues with distros other than Ubuntu, though admittedly I've not used Debian much.