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I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

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Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#91

Post by awolf »

moconnor wrote: post #81
awolf wrote: post #77

There are a lot of comments here from people acting as if not having two 24" monitors and a full mechanical keyboard would drastically diminish their productivity. This year I spent 4 months out of the country with only my 15" laptop while still working 8 hour days. I was surprised to find no change at all in how long it took to get shit done. I think we tend to kid ourselves about how much of a difference expensive…

Yes, this is something I wanted to say and somehow didn't: one personal take-away from the experience for me has been that programming, ultimately, is thinking. All the technology in the world doesn't make me think faster. The most I can ask from it is that it gets out of my way and lets me search, explore and express myself efficiently.

Exactly. A subtle change to our workflows where we force ourselves to think about the problem for a minimum of ten minutes prior to coding will provide more benefit than any piece of equipment ever could.

Not as sexy as a new cinema display though.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#92

Post by pavel_lishin »

moconnor wrote: post #88
pavel_lishin wrote: post #85

> Frustrated by the inconsistent usage of ctrl/alt/option/arrow keys to jump words and screens and lines, I'd really like to know what editor he was using.

I tried Textmate. But I was also using a web browser, an email client, a terminal, a VM running Linux with gnome-terminal and a few other linux-only utilities, including our product. I don't recall exactly what was inconsistent with what, but the overall effect was to make me unhappy.

I got used to it, especially with a little help in .inputrc: https://github.com/pavellishin/dotfiles/blob/master/.inputrc

But moot point, now :)

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#93

Post by vidarh »

awolf wrote: post #77

There are a lot of comments here from people acting as if not having two 24" monitors and a full mechanical keyboard would drastically diminish their productivity. This year I spent 4 months out of the country with only my 15" laptop while still working 8 hour days. I was surprised to find no change at all in how long it took to get shit done. I think we tend to kid ourselves about how much of a difference expensive…

I don't know - I find that smaller screens tends to mean more context switching. I often need to move back and forth between more terminal windows / virtual desktop / screen sessions where I'd just split my emacs session horizontally and/or vertically when I'm on a larger screen. The latter makes direct comparisons, cut and paste and working on things that cross files easier (e.g. writing a test and filling in code that correspond to them side by side)

I'm not sure how much a small screen would or wouldn't actually slow me down, but it feels more tiresome to work on a smaller screen.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#95

Post by moconnor »

Ogre wrote: post #84

This is partly a testament to what a great app iSSH is. I haven't used it as a daily work environment, but I've gotten some pretty great things done with it, even the iPhone version. My favorite was sitting in a crappy motel room with barely Edge, and still managing to build a GPX converter (not build as in write, build as in download and compile), convert some map routes to a format I needed for another phone app, a…

This is really true, although depending entirely on a low-price, commercial app makes me uneasy.

I'd be happier if I knew iSSH made enough to support a small company.

I'd be happiest with an open source version I could contribute to.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#96

Post by j45 »

moconnor wrote: post #69
j45 wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thanks for sharing. Did you consider switching to a smaller laptop like a Macbook Air / Netbook?

No, I wanted to try something radical and crazy and new. Frankly, I expected to be back on my MacBook by now. This has been as much a surprise to me as anyone!

I tried out an iPad app called Koder, it was nice but still lacked some things.

Your post has got me wondering about Vim again.. :) Making the switch to Sublime Text has got me appreciating a more shell-like interface for some things.

Have you ever found yourself wanting to code and not have an internet connection? I think that's a pretty rare scenario, I'm rarely offline.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#97

Post by moconnor »

Tyrannosaurs wrote: post #89
dpapathanasiou wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Insightful, and so close to a haiku as well... Here's an attempt: Mac lost my data Many days of work gone Cloud to the rescue

Mac lost my data Many day of work gone Learn to commit more

Can I get this on a t-shirt?

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#98

Post by vidarh »

moonboots wrote: post #21

For anyone still using gnu screen, tmux.

Looked at it; didn't see any compelling reasons to switch; went back to screen.

Screen is for the most part "good enough" that any replacement that aims to supplant it completely needs to either be vastly and obviously superior or enough of a drop in replacement that it doesn't require any effort to switch (I'm most definitively not investing time updating config files or changing key presses unless the improvements are dramatic).

As far as I can see, while tmux might be "better" in some nebulous way, the value proposition is way to weak to invest time in switching for me.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#99

Post by jpdoctor »

moconnor wrote: post #38
agentultra wrote: post #35

This has to be the most ergonomically inefficient set-up ever! I also cannot fathom how to work with 21" at least). And a tiling window manager. And a decent mechanical keyboard... ok ok.. Interesting setup. I'd be interested in knowing how it works out in the long term.

The wireless keyboard is really good; it's not quite as nice as a mechanical one, but it's easily better than a laptop keyboard. If I ever go back to my MacBook, I'll take the keyboard with me. I have a tiling window manager. It has one tile.

There is only one time that my batteries die on the wireless: When I don't have fresh ones nearby. Also, some server firedrill also increases the probability exponentially.

I'm sure it's a consequence of thermodynamics, but I can't explain it.

Re: I swapped my MacBook for an iPad+Linode

#100

Post by vegashacker »

jfoutz wrote: post #61
raganwald wrote: post #9

One fateful day, VMWare and OS/X conspired to trash my shared filesystem, losing several days of uncommitted code in the process. Several days of uncommitted code? We need to have a heart to heart talk about your process.

So, this is something i worry about. I'm using time machine for backups, so i don't think i'll lose much ... but i'm sorta hazy about how i should be using svn for all these little incremental steps. I'm uncomfortable with committing code that's going to break the whole system. Should i be creating a branch for projects longer than an afternoon, and just committing that fairly often? I feel like eclipse's history is…

With SVN, probably, but the branching just feels heavyweight so sometimes it's hard to motivate. Git with the "git flow" addon seems like it'd be a better fit for you. Being able to checkin in "to your feature", as opposed to waiting till it's done and ready, feels great.

It's also not just about avoiding data loss. If your feature starts going off-course or has a bug, you can look at previous revisions to get fixed up.

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