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The $80 web development workstation

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Re: The $80 web development workstation

#31

Post by tujv »

TheRealDunkirk wrote: post #15

I ran Linux on the desktop for almost 20 years, till recently taking a Rails job where EVERYONE used Macs, and finally bought a MBP. This refrain, "OSX is Unix," seems to be very common, but I'm not feeling it. As I just tweeted today: "How much 'Unix' is in OS X when I can't use CTRL-s to freeze the terminal? Pfft." For something that's supposedly got all the power of Unix, it sure doesn't seem to expose much of it…

> I can't use CTRL-s to freeze the terminal?

This works just fine in Mountain Lion.

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#32

Post by Jormundir »

This article leaves out a key factor of why I've never committed to Linux full time, and why I wouldn't buy an $80 laptop to run linux.

I have 1 laptop, and I don't just use it for development. I've tried over and over to use Linux as my primary OS, but every time the sheer jaggedness of the GUI experience, when I'm doing non-development (I guess normal consumer) things, bugs me non-stop until I switch back. It's like switching from Ruby to C++. C++ is amazingly powerful and has great uses, but ultimately Ruby is a lot more enjoyable to use.

I think it's just a personality difference. If you're comfortable in the nitty gritty of linux, more power to you! But you're not going to convince me linux is better because you're can change the window system or [insert some other component I wouldn't care to change]. And you're not even going to convince me you're much more efficient. The arguments of efficiency and customization are always about low level details that I don't need to care about, and that play no part in good software engineering. [This is about the scope of web development, I love linux in different fields such as embedded systems. Again though, it comes up frustratingly, excruciatingly short as a general use OS]

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#33

Post by icelancer »

I love it! Same approach I take, but even cheaper!

I use a Lenovo T410, which you can readily acquire on Craigslist used/refurbished for ~$250. Comes with an i5 processor, 4 GB of RAM, and the HD can easily be upgraded. (I threw a cheap SSD in there for local DB issues.)

I'd love to use an even older Thinkpad, but since I do some local testing of machine learning / CPU-bound processes, an i5-series processor is probably the floor given the complexity of the models I run.

Regardless, I still love a huge PC battlestation at home (incredibly cheap for the power) and a cheap laptop that is no-frills but gets plenty of processing power for 99.9% of applications. Never really caught on to the Mac craze, even when I got free Macbook Pro Retinas from my last employer when they were first out - a sticker price of ~$4,000! Jeez!

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#34

Post by bulatb »

quaunaut wrote: post #21

Honest question here: Why would anyone ever think OS X has "world-class interface design"? It's missing basic interface features that have been bog standard in Ubuntu/Windows for years, like any sort of proper window management. Hell, the maximize button actually doesn't work - it has such inconsistent use that you have almost no hope of actually getting what you want out of it. To get even decent window management,…

The answer to this type of question is typically "because Apple said so."

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#35

Post by icelancer »

morgante wrote: post #10
jasonlotito wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Really? Are we still talking about how OS X doesn't give you "full control over the system?" Well, it doesn't. Hence the reason for your need to put quotes around "full control over the system." Because, in fact, you don't. And problems I've solved in the past on Linux are still problems to this day on OS X. > As for the price component, if you're making your living off a computer I surely how you can afford a dece…

> Hence the reason for your need to put quotes around "full control over the system." Or maybe I put quotes around it because I don't agree with that assertion and it's a quote from the article... > And problems I've solved in the past on Linux are still problems to this day on OS X. Can you give me an example? I'm genuinely curious... > This ignores people starting out, or in different locations. Yet the author cert…

>Can you give me an example? I'm genuinely curious...

Try getting connectors to MSSQL working properly (in various languages) on either OS. It's annoying as hell on Linux, damn near impossible on OSX (without cheating using ODBC instead of native drivers).

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#36

Post by jamesaguilar »

quaunaut wrote: post #21

Honest question here: Why would anyone ever think OS X has "world-class interface design"? It's missing basic interface features that have been bog standard in Ubuntu/Windows for years, like any sort of proper window management. Hell, the maximize button actually doesn't work - it has such inconsistent use that you have almost no hope of actually getting what you want out of it. To get even decent window management,…

I used to disagree with this assessment, but I have been using Linux and Windows these last few years (and trying to make them work and look as similar as possible), and nowadays I tend to agree. The worst thing I can say about Windows is that it lacks a Unix commandline and package manager, but on any decently powerful, modern machine, you can use (VirtualBox+Ubuntu|ElementaryOS)|Cygwin to remedy that for free.

The iPhone is still my favorite phone. But I wouldn't take a Mac OS X box over a Linux box for professional development. That said, my opinion on these things changes constantly, so who knows how I'll feel in a year.

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#37

Post by jjindev »

I feel like I did my best work when I got up from the keyboard and walked around the office, maybe got some cookies, and thought of the big simplifying idea. And sure, I have no problem banging good ideas into a commodity PC running Linux. That is my preference, actually. They are simple and easily replaceable.

Addendum - adding it up, I think I spent about 15 or 20 thousand USD on various Macs from 1984 to 2000. Part of my experience might be "premium fatigue."

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#38

Post by Matti »

Jormundir wrote: post #32

This article leaves out a key factor of why I've never committed to Linux full time, and why I wouldn't buy an $80 laptop to run linux. I have 1 laptop, and I don't just use it for development. I've tried over and over to use Linux as my primary OS, but every time the sheer jaggedness of the GUI experience, when I'm doing non-development (I guess normal consumer) things, bugs me non-stop until I switch back. It's lik…

Having a very affordable Linux laptop that only works well for development could be seen as an advantage: you use one machine for work, and the other one for play and personal stuff.

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#39

Post by tinco »

quaunaut wrote: post #21

Honest question here: Why would anyone ever think OS X has "world-class interface design"? It's missing basic interface features that have been bog standard in Ubuntu/Windows for years, like any sort of proper window management. Hell, the maximize button actually doesn't work - it has such inconsistent use that you have almost no hope of actually getting what you want out of it. To get even decent window management,…

It is Unix with no driver problems. It is unix with both all free software and all proprietary software (except games). It is unix with a consistent pretty unobtrusive desktop environment that is easy to use and has sane defaults. It is unix with an accelerated window compositor that's always responsive and has no bugs.

Anyway, that was what it was in 10.6. Nowadays Ubuntu does all those things too to a certain extent, and it works without painful maintenance on a desktop machine. (I ran OSX on my desktop for a few years, it was very painful to upgrade, and apparently not in accordance with the EULA)

Still a great laptop OS though. And it runs rather well on macbook pros, which are the superior hardware choice in the laptop market, in my opinion.

Re: The $80 web development workstation

#40

Post by kevincrane »

Jormundir wrote: post #32

This article leaves out a key factor of why I've never committed to Linux full time, and why I wouldn't buy an $80 laptop to run linux. I have 1 laptop, and I don't just use it for development. I've tried over and over to use Linux as my primary OS, but every time the sheer jaggedness of the GUI experience, when I'm doing non-development (I guess normal consumer) things, bugs me non-stop until I switch back. It's lik…

It's popular to hate on Ubuntu, but I personally love it and its UI. I've used Ubuntu since 11.04 and run 13.04 on my personal laptop (for development and day-to-day stuff). I'm a sucker for pretty things like translucent title bars and snapping windows to full-screen, but I also love how easy it is to develop with Linux (as opposed to Windows). Everything is usually a single command away on the command line (sudo apt-get install blank) so it's easy to install new libraries or programs for development.

It may not be for everyone, but it definitely is possible to use Linux without having to install and fiddle with new window managers or file explorers or all the nuts and bolts. I've never even really had driver issues on my laptop now that Ubuntu has become this mature.

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