My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook • Hacker News Board

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#21

Post by niggler » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:38 PM UTC

r00fus wrote: post #16

niggler wrote: post #2

The following phrase struck me as very odd: "No, you want your phone book to be managed by Google or Apple" I suspect lots of people will never ever want any company to manage their phone books.

Problem is, lots more (10x at least) would be just as happy if Google/Apple/Facebook managed theirs.

As much as those companies would like you to think that, I'd say that multiple is closer to 2x. There is still a very significant portion of the iPhone population that haven't and most likely won't have apple completely manage their phone book from the cloud.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#22

Post by sunnybythesea » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:38 PM UTC

edwinnathaniel wrote: post #11

sunnybythesea wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

vim cscope works like a charm http://cscope.sourceforge.net/cscope_vim_tutorial.html

Is cscope real-time or have to be re-run once new code has been added?

You need to run it once to initialize it. There is a way to set it up so it updates in real time as you change the files. However, I usually run it once for the entire repo after a major update. It takes less than 2 mins to build tags for a repository that is about 20gigs in size. It's fast and very efficient even if you use vim remotely over ssh. There are downsides of course and a bit of a learning curve, but once you get going, it's pretty effective.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#23

Post by fmstephe » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:38 PM UTC

magic5227 wrote: post #7

What about installing Ubuntu on these and developing on that? Has anyone reliably done that? Doesn't that make more sense.

I have done both. I have used a Chromebook to code on a linode vm and I have installed Ubuntu on the same Chromebook to develop locally.

For my purposes they both work very well. The reason I switched to Ubuntu on the Chromebook was that an easy to use installer was available. Now that I can do development on the machine locally I can use it on the train, where previously the 3G connection wasn't reliable enough. I love it.

However, it should be noted that I used vim for both setups. Although I haven't tried, I don't write Java in my spare time, I think that using Eclipse or Netbeans would be disappointing on the Chromebook. But if your tools are simple you can get a great deal of joy from these laptops.

I have really never enjoyed a computer as much as I enjoy my Chromebook. Alas, right now I am typing this from my monster VAIO laptop, because my wife took the Chromebook on holiday.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#24

Post by terio » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:39 PM UTC

I would rather have my address book and all my data, including my photos and videos, in my own storage.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#25

Post by sunnybythesea » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:39 PM UTC

WayneDB wrote: post #15

benwerd wrote: post #3

I use NetBeans for development, and always feel like I'm slightly inferior for not relying on vim. There's certainly a lot to be said for it, but I really like (1) being able to zoom straight to the definition of one of my functions (can vim do this?), and (2) being able to code offline / on localhost sometimes. And I think the second point is my problem with this. Chances are, if I get a cheapo PC or a tablet to cod…

Don't feel inferior for not using vim. People who claim that vim/emacs are the ultimate environment typically have a very narrow world-view in my experience. There are absolutely no absolutes!

I agree...eventually it's personal preference. Use whatever works for you. I gave up on vim multiple times before it finally started to make sense...now I use it on all my platforms and take my vimrc with me.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#26

Post by primitur » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:39 PM UTC

My new development laptop is a re-purposed Motorola Lapdock, which cost me $50, paired with an MK802 PC-on-a-stick, running Ubuntu, which cost me $65. About $12 worth of cables and adapters later, and I have a totally enviable, snappy Ubuntu workstation which fits right inside all my old Macbook Air accessories.

For less than $200, I've supplanted my need for MacOSX with a neat system that will upgrade quite easily. There are already faster/nicer PC-on-a-stick style products on the immediate horizon, so I think I'm going to be very happy with this Lapdock for some time to come ..

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#27

Post by niggler » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:39 PM UTC

sunnybythesea wrote: post #8

niggler wrote: post #2

The following phrase struck me as very odd: "No, you want your phone book to be managed by Google or Apple" I suspect lots of people will never ever want any company to manage their phone books.

You're ooking at it from a different point of view than the author. While there are privacy concerns in handing over such data to a 3rd party, there is some merit in being able to conveniently access data from multiple devices without the headaches of managing multiple instances of it. I think given the choice, most consumers usually pick the later since convenience trumps privacy concerns...that is until privacy/own…

The author's point of view here is silly. Yes, conveniently accessing data from multiple devices is good. No, having your social security number and other personal information in the cloud is bad. I'd be willing to bet close to 99% of those people who do want their phone book in the cloud wouldn't want their record of, say, medical illnesses or sexually transmitted diseases stored on google's or apple's or facebook's servers.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#28

Post by JohnBooty » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:40 PM UTC

As somebody who does a lot of web-oriented work, what weighs me down the most (in terms of development environments) is the need to test my sites on multiple browsers and operating systems. I suspect a lot of developers are in the same boat.

At a bare minimum, unless you're targeting a very specific audience, you need a couple of virtual machines running Windows so you can test in IE, and ideally a way to run Safari as well.

Of course, you could keep it thin and have an instance running those virtual machines up in the cloud somewhere, and VNC (or whatever) into it with your Chromebook.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#29

Post by niggler » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:42 PM UTC

JohnBooty wrote: post #28

As somebody who does a lot of web-oriented work, what weighs me down the most (in terms of development environments) is the need to test my sites on multiple browsers and operating systems. I suspect a lot of developers are in the same boat. At a bare minimum, unless you're targeting a very specific audience, you need a couple of virtual machines running Windows so you can test in IE, and ideally a way to run Safari…

Check out browserling and testling as a solution to cross-browser testing.

Re: My New Development Laptop: Samsung Chromebook

#30

Post by Irregardless » Fri, Dec 21, 2012, 7:43 PM UTC

I like the idea and I agree that this will be the way of the future, but it just doesn't seem practical at the moment. Portability is hamstrung by the need for a constant network connection to accomplish anything, and the cost savings of a Chromebook are almost completely washed out when you factor in at least $20/mo. for Linode.

Why not just get something from System76? Or install whatever OS you like on one of the notoriously Linux friendly Lenovo laptops? You end up with better hardware specs, more flexibility, and comparable portability for the same price.