Tried a few programming languages but couldn't yet find one I really love

Hi,

Sorry, I'm sure this kind of questions is asked frequently. I tried a few programming languages over the years but I still can't find one I really love and I would like some suggestions.

Here's what I would like from the programming language, hoping that's not unrealistic :

• Can be easily adapted to run on Linux or Windows
• Don't need to have some kind of tool preinstalled, like Java JRE. Or maybe something that is not as annoying as JRE.
• Can make basic GUI without too much efforts.

I'm a self-taught programmer but I still consider myself a beginner.

When I was a kid, I did some really simple projects in VB6, stuff like a really basic Emulator / ROM launcher. VB6 is quite ancient... so definitely not an option nowadays. That and some really basic mIRC script stuff.

Despite not studying in anything related to programming, my job title is "Programmer" and I've been doing it for the last 10 years. I work for a company who install building automation systems and my job is to code the control panels to do whatever the customers want to control HVAC systems, lighting system and access systems. These control panels are programmed using a simple "If Then Else" language similar to Visual Basic but quite dumbed down and is very easy to learn due to the fact that there isn't that many functions available.

During those 10 years I also learned about VB.net and built a small tool to speed up a repetitive task that most people didn't bother doing because it was very long and boring. The software has been used for years and to this day it is still widely used in the company. VB.net was easy and straightforward but I cannot code something in VB.Net and run it in Linux. (I also use VBA often to work with huge amount of data in some Excel workbooks but, obviously, VBA is not meant to be used on its own).

A co-worker also made another tool in Java... However a few years ago that became a problem because Java dropped ODBC support, which broke that tool, so we have to ship an old JRE with the tool. They also dropped or changed some other functions in more recent JRE updates and the software keeps breaking because of that. That's the reason I don't quite like Java. I also made a simple personal project to learn Java on my own but by the time I completed my project and felt ready to help my co-worker, his project had already been abandoned. Oh and when I decided to share my personal project online, people accused me of trying to infect their computer because at the time there were many news about Java vulnerabilities, so it had a really bad reputation.

I also tried C# really quick, just enough to make an "Hello World" and see that it was very similar to Java.

So there we are. I'm looking for something other than Java, VB.Net or C#. I did read the FAQ but I'm still not sure where to go and would appreciate your recommendations.

Thank you!