My OS is better than your OS!

I work in an multi-operating system shop, we use Linux, Solaris, Windows and Mac OS X and we almost always get into the which OS is the best debate.

I admit I'm a bit of an anomaly though since I'm a Linux guy who does everything from the command line via a Windows desktop because I can use my PuTTY (secure connection software) with my X-StarWin x windows client (it lets me Unix open graphical software on my Windows machine) while putting my Powerpoint presentations together, while all the time craving for an iPhone.

I work with guys who don't know what a command line is, Apple Mac die-hards and others who only need a VT220 terminal (now I'm showing my age!) and curse graphical interfaces.

Funnily enough this turf war has also moved on to mobile phones! Symbian, Apple, Palm, Blackberry and Microsoft mobiles.

I often get asked to choose one and create a policy to enforce it and my choice is typically as instead "what are you most productive using?"

Hmm, what is going to get you up and running with the least amount of support? Now this might sound really satisficing (which it is!) but there is reason to it, people who use what they are happy with typically have a lower support overhead in my experience.

Whenever you force someone to use what they are not happy with you will get problems, they are used to manual/stick and give them automatic, they are used to chocolate and you give them vanilla, it will initially seem great for you but in the long run everyone loses, they are less productive and you have a higher support and training burden.

Sometimes you need to do a quick analysis of the situation and remember that you are there to provide a service and sometimes that service may mean compromise and compromising isn't so bad in my honest opinion.