/**
 * Compile with
 * gcc -g -masm=intel hello.c -o hello
 */

#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/syscall.h>

int main(void)
{
    char message[] = "Hello World\n";

    asm("mov     eax, %0 \n\t"
        "mov     edi, %1 \n\t"
        "mov     rsi, %2 \n\t"
        "mov     edx, %3 \n\t"
        "syscall \n\t"
        :: "i" (__NR_write), "i" (STDOUT_FILENO), "g" (message), "i" (sizeof(message)-1)
        : "eax", "edi", "rsi", "edx");

    return 0;
}    

/**
 * Compile with
 * gcc -g -nostdlib hello.S -o hello
 */

        .if 0
#include <unistd.h>
#include <sys/syscall.h>
        .endif

        .line __LINE__
        .intel_syntax noprefix
        .text
        .globl _start

_start:
        mov     eax, __NR_write
        mov     edi, STDOUT_FILENO
        mov     rsi, offset message
        mov     edx, offset message.size
        syscall
        xor     edi, edi
        mov     rax, __NR_exit
        syscall

message:
        .ascii "Hello World\n"
message.size = . - message    

I think your professor did the right thing. Learning something is always a pain but it is also a challenge. I made this decision more than 8 years ago by myself after I finished my diplom software under Windows. The general performance of a Linux system is far better than that of a windows one. Windows networking is a catastrophe. No better word. Slow network connections make it slow and irresponsive. Why? Windows' scheduling method is a big zero. A normal process may run with 100% processor load while the others remain totally irresponsive. Sometimes you encounter processes (started by simple user application) which you can't stop anyway (except by reboot). Windows' security is also a zero (e.g. user continously have to have root permissions). Permissions to system directories (sorry, folders) are granted to anybody. If you catch a virus then it can damage the entire system. It's a joke. Windows is still no multi-user OS. Nvidia video cards show really better performance under linux than under windows. And we could continue endlessly.

I admit I use neither KDE nor GNOME thus I had also some problems with my printer but I learned how to solve it. My oldest PC has an S3 video card. It works 20% faster under linux than under Windows. Why? because the driver is configurable appropriately. Ah, almost forgotten. The driver did never crash the system yet.

You know the law: Create a system which is usable also by stupid people. -- It will be used only by them.

I also agree with the professor on this. I was reading a book by an author on leanpub for RISC-V Assembly who said he tellls his students that at some point they are going to need to learn Linux to get things done as a developer.