Linux incompatible with electronics engineer

[kcsoft]

FIRST: this is NOT a Linux vs Windows topic!
I have tried a few times to switch to Linux as my primary operating system, but failed every time.
As a software developer I need to develop mostly Windows software, so I'm stuck with Windows.
I mean Linux is great for web developers, but for desktop applications it sucks.
As of my electronics engineer side, its worse. All of the best tools are available for Windows only.. I'm speaking of EDAs, microcontroler compilers, simulation software.
I know ther's Wine, but its not the same thing, not all of them work as expected and you need to be sure that your software is reliable, not to introduce an extra bug factor.
I would like to hear from other Linux users how they manage their electronics development life under Linux, what tools are they using and to have strong argument that it worths.

[solutions]

Ubuntu is an easy install and sets up your machine for dual boot, so you can run Windows or Linux. For "desktop apps" it does not suck.  As you've noted, what you do in terms of apps determines whether you install Linux or not.

[hate]

It actually depends on what u are using to make ur electronics development. A couple of recommendations for some specific applications:

IDE: Codeblocks, cross-platform (works on both win and linux)
Schematics and PCB: Kicad cross-platform
AVR: GCCAVR, avrdude and avarice, cross-platform
8051: SDCC cross-platform, debugger can connect to simulator only
MSP430: GCC for Msp430 cross-platform, win version of gdb-server isn't updated anymore, linux version of gdb-server is open-source

Those are a couple of examples of what u can use and there are also a couple of alternatives to those. What software do u use on win that u can't find an alternative on linux? Others' software recommendations are also welcome.

Regards...

[manish12]

linux has no of electronics utility , start from schematic , pcb to ic layput [vlsi, most vlsi tools based on linux only],other programing things are little bit change now ,
all major soft has linux installer as well , like matlab , ise xilink , altera , ads etc .

for software development best for both is java , i prefer netbeans for programming ,

still we all need windows platform , it has legacy of computer coding,   

[LabVIEWguru]

LabVIEW, Matlab have Linux versions. I've seen hardware development companies offering Linux flavors of their development
software while flipping through magazines.

I've seen (a lot) of biomed equipment running under Linux. Probably due to time determinate issues.

[cyber_drifter]

Microchip have a new cross-platform IDE (Mplab X) which is still in beta, but looks promising if you use Pic's.
http://www.microchip.com/en_US/family/mplabx/index.html

[vovchik02]

For PCB developement KiCAD crossplatform from
http://kicad.sourceforge.net/wiki/About

[optikon]

Linux is like electric vehicles...

Better for the microprocessor environment - YES  
Lots of EDA tools available - YES (mostly little ones?)
Many happy users - YES
Does it have the software you are after - YES, sorta, well maybe. try this instead.
Widely adopted - NO

I work with a lot of exclusive Linux users.. (does PC Linux count?) I have to say, they have just as much trouble as windows users with bugs and so on if you ask me. I'm not sold on it yet at all. Alas, a great deal of "high end" EDA tools just don't support linux plain and simple.

[blue_17]

For schematic Eagle or KiCad 
For Microkontrollers GCC with Eclipse or CodeBloks
In return MathLab is Octave and for octave GUI QT Octawe
AVRDude for programing microkontrolers  is supporting in Eclipse

Linux is other than linux bat is huge advantage.

Regards