If running a non-default browser is a sign of career success, then running a non-default operating system must be a sign of even greater success.
Of course running a non-default version of an operating system should probably increase success rates even more, then there's the windows manager and text editor you use, to include in the calculation.
My back of a beer mat calculations indicate I should be sending reuseable rockets into space at about this time in my career.
I know what you mean. Sometimes, though, nonconformity can be done for practical reasons. It's not always about being different for the sake of challenging the status quo.
My landlady ran into a problem with her Windows 8 machine. To fix it required sending it to a PC repair shop and spending the 80 bucks for them to look at it and get it back in working order. She ended up being without her machine for a few days.
Then there's me. When Windows Update bricked my Windows 8 machine, I checked my options (and my bank balance). Couldn't afford the PC tech. So I grabbed a Linux Mint DVD I had handy, salvaged the files I wanted to keep, and replaced the operating system. I was without my machine for less than 24 hours.
Sometimes, the "nonconformist" choice IS the path of least resistance.
Mm, but nonconformity also generally means answering more questions and researching more deeply into various subject matter. All of this causes cognitive load. And if you're spending all day every day tweaking your operating system, browser, IDE, or what-have-you, then you're choosing not to spend time on other problems. I'm not saying that's bad; just that it should be something to be aware of. It's why Steve Jobs and Mark Zuckerberg had supremely boring wardrobes; one less thing to think about, one less thing to take time away from solving other problems.
Environment context switches can have cognitive load too. Going from Win 8 to Cygwin is like that. So is Win 8 to a Linux VM.
That's probably one of the biggest reliefs of the Linux switch as the host OS. To work with a vagrant box or ssh into a cloud server actually requires LESS wrestling and tweaking with the host OS. The transition from one context to another is a lot smoother. So that's one less distraction when it comes to the actual projects I'm tackling.
Of course running a non-default version of an operating system should probably increase success rates even more, then there's the windows manager and text editor you use, to include in the calculation.
My back of a beer mat calculations indicate I should be sending reuseable rockets into space at about this time in my career.
Checks bank balance
Shit.