The app may be windows only, but it can often help to ask for alternative. And not things like “What can I use in Linux that is the same as <app> under Windows”. More along the lines of “I need to create or do <x>. In Windoze I used <app>, how do I get the same work done under Linux”. Sometimes you don’t have much of a choice, go emulation layer or VM, but often you can find a different path to the same result and once you get used to it, it’s a better solution.

I started using Linux as a liberal arts major in the late '90s. Both my grandparents (RIP) and my parents (partial RIP) kept having issues with Windows on their computers. I was constantly being called to help them with crap. 20+ years ago I asked if I could try something and they didn’t care, as long as it worked. Debian and XFCE. Configured their email, hooked up the printer. Suddenly the service issues went from several times a month to once every 5+ years. And 90% of those issues just was clearing out the printer queue. I have never once understood the LiNuX iS OnlY FoR suPer TeCH NeRDS bullshit.

The were talking about why not to use Linux, not why you do. I agree with your reasons for using Linux though. Productivity.

Another challenge is the robot’s reliance on a strong magnetic field generated by an electromagnetic coil for operation, although researchers believe that further miniaturization could address this issue. Reducing the robot’s size to less than one millimeter could allow it to be powered by weaker magnetic fields, such as those from radio waves.

It’s pretty cool now, but that upgrade sounds crazy. Just imagining a swarm of them powered by a radio station. The morning FM wars will come back, but for real. Tens of thousands of these robots facing off above our heads. Forming a more invasive advertisement path, with counter open source hackers releasing their own clouds, powered by the same frequency, but with radically disruptive goals.