DeskTop Linux Whats your Fav Flavor?

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 11:10 am

I've been using SimplyMepis http://www.mepis.org/ for several years and am exclusively using it now. Windows free for more then 3 years now!

I like it because its stable and reasonably well supported. Debian has a huge app repository and usually provides what I need when not in Mepis or Mepis community repositories .

While not quite riding the bleeding edge of it is more then enough to be a "Windows Replacement". Some day I might move on to something a little more upstream but its been a great and on going experience for me.

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:57 pm

I'm on Ubuntu for several years now. I run 9.10 both 32 and 64 bit. I'm mostly Windoze free except for a VM copy of my old desktop that I run with vmplayer for those few apps that don't have an open source counterpart (e.g., Bibleworks).

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 5:36 pm

Fedora 11 x86_64 @ home and Fedora 12 x86_64 @ work
Both using the KDE 4.4 desktop and both have VirtualBox with a WinXP to test Internet Exploiter.
And @ home also a VM with W2k3 server for testing purposes.

When developing web apps the use is 80% programming and 20% creating workarounds for IE7
For the rest it's 100% GNU/Linux

I do notice that VirtualBox rocks in virtualization compared to vmplayer when it comes to Windows OS in a virtual machine.
But one thing bothers me. Every time i shutdown WinOS it says "turn of the computer" but it never turns it off Razz

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 6:25 pm

Ubuntu 9.10 (Karmic Koala) 32 bit. Wish I had paid more attention when I first installed Ubuntu 2 years ago or I might have used the 64 bit version but no complaints as it still feels way more responsive than any Win95, Win98, ME, XP or Vista.

Tell a lie, one complaint, user error (not backing up mails often enough). I lost electricity supply during an emailing session and as the mail client (Evolution) uses a file based system (SQLlite) my inbox managed to get corrupted and I could rebuild the indexes and ended up deleting the mailbox file and letting Evolution create a new one. I a lost of mail but it was really my own fault for not making regular back-ups.
Other than impromptu shutdowns due to my processor heat sink falling off (twice) it has been steady as a rock.

Posted: Mon Mar 15, 2010 7:42 pm

Guardian - I recently converted from 32bit to 64bit on my desktop to get up to 8Gb of RAM (VM is Win7 and it needed more hardware). It wasn't too bad if you have disk space. I can tell you more out of band if you like - just message me.

registered · Site Admin Joined: Jun 04, 2004 Posts: 6437

Ubuntu 9.10 32-bit, XP on company laptop and PCs for the wife and kids, OSX on a netbook, and OpenSolaris 10.

Fun!

Worker Joined: Aug 26, 2007 Posts: 236

I use Mandriva 2010, but before that I used Slackware.

Worker Joined: Mar 30, 2009 Posts: 132

vector linux kde classic 6

debian lenny on the lappy

Posted: Thu Mar 18, 2010 10:36 pm

I have tried several Linux distros ever since 2002 when I first met Linux in the flavor of LinEx (or GuadaLinex or sothing like that), then tried Knoppix, Fedora Core 4, Mandrake now Mandriva until I discovered Ubuntu and been using it since version 6.06 (if my memmory doesn't fail), I did have an affair with PCLinuxOS for a very short almost unnoticeable time, and back to Ubuntu 'til today using 9.10 and kind of eagerly awaiting 10.04

OMG, it's been 8 years without using Windiblows on any computer of mine!!! Very Happy

registered · Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:33 am

Ubuntu 9.1 and gOS 3.1

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 5:33 pm

I count 5 Ubuntu users. Which means you all use the Gnome desktop.

How in the hell can you have a good development environment?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 6:50 pm

We use wine... Smile

How about you?

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 7:13 pm

Gnome, KDE and XFCE all work well on Ubuntu. Easy to switch sessions if needed. Native Gnome applications will be available in KDE, and native KDE applications will be available in Gnome.

Posted: Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:37 pm

djmaze wrote:

I count 5 Ubuntu users. Which means you all use the Gnome desktop.

How in the hell can you have a good development environment?

I don't get your point

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:54 am

Not sure where djmaze is going, so I too will ask huh?
Dev environment LAMP ?
Desktop environment kde4.3 or XFce !

registered · Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:54 am

Ubuntu 9.10 as well and no issues with a development environment. I believe Guardian is using NetBeans while I am using Eclipse, via Pulse, and with several different "profiles" for doing different things.

I also took the "easy way out" though and am still using Apache Friends' XAMPP for Linux (just because I used it on Windows for years).

I should also note that I, too, use VirtualBox with WinXP and other O/S' for testing various things. I do like VirtualBox better than VMWare. It just seems to handle the windows environment better, where all keyboard keys work as expected.

I, too, wish that I had started with 64-bit. Need more donations to get me there... lol. Wink

**Edited: added a few things **

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 3:45 pm

sixonetonoffun wrote:

Not sure where djmaze is going, so I too will ask huh?

Editors like Geany, Eclipse and Quanta Plus. Which do you use?
XSLT Debuggers like KXSLDbg. Which do you use?
SQL tools like MySQL GUI, MySQL Workbench and Aqua Data Studio. Which do you use?
SVN/CVS tools like Cervisia and KDESVN. Which do you use?
Diff tools like Kompare and KDiff3 (3 files compare). Which do you use?
UML editors like Umbrello. Which do you use?
Browsers like Arora, Midori, Konqueror, Opera and Firefox. Which do you use?

I use KDE (Kubuntu anyone?) and that has many cool features when configured properly.
For example SVN is embedded into the file system (Konqueror) so i just right-click and the context menu has many SVN options for files and directories.
In KDE 4.4 it is even taken to the next level! files and folders have colored text based on their SVN status (edited, update, etc.)

As you notice i do it easily in the KDE Desktop with a lot of "K" tools.
Does Gnome in Ubuntu have the same powerful developer features, or did you convert your Ubuntu to be like Kubuntu?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:34 pm

Ok now I see where your going. Seriously I use as many gnome based tools as kde here. But its funny I'd always figured you as more the minimalist sort. Guess I was way off there!

Prefer Beyond Compare but use Meld or TKdiff most of the time. Never liked Kompare as much but it works.
Prefer Zend studio but use my LAMP localhost and a text editor kate as often as not.
I use both Kasablanca and gftp clients.
Many of us are using Firefox plug ins and Opera Dragonfly to debug html and java.
Of course I'm a novice compared with ya all here.

On a side topic has anyone experience with eclipse http://www.eclipse.org/ thoughts?

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:50 pm

I'm more like a simple guy... Geany for coding, RapidSVN to work on svn, Meld to compare files and dirs, Firefox (with some dev plug-ins) as the main browser with Chrome and Opera for testing purposes, FileZilla for (s)ftp sessions, also have VirtualBox for dealing with windows when it comes to test IE or when supporting a friend who I have not convinced yet Laughing

Posted: Sat Mar 20, 2010 9:03 pm

sixonetonoffun wrote:

But its funny I'd always figured you as more the minimalist sort. Guess I was way off there!

I always say: less is more!
So you're partially correct i'm tha minimalizor Laughing

I don't use all mentioned applications, mostly i use TTY Wink

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 3:55 am

[*]Editors like Geany, Eclipse and Quanta Plus. Which do you use?
NetDeans

[*]XSLT Debuggers like KXSLDbg. Which do you use?
Built in with NetBeans and also has a 'format' tool to tidy code structure depending on the file type - great when you inherit third party code.
jEdit is also pretty good for this too.

[*]SQL tools like MySQL GUI, MySQL Workbench and Aqua Data Studio. Which do you use?
MySQL GUI, SQLlite GUI. NetBeans allows you to access a DB (per 'Project' to alter, edit,delete tables, examine and change associations.

[*]SVN/CVS tools like Cervisia and KDESVN. Which do you use?
There are both SVN and CVS built in to NetBeans and can be configured on a 'per project' basis'.
I also use Tortoise SVN under WINE.

[*]Diff tools like Kompare and KDiff3 (3 files compare). Which do you use?
NetBeans again. It also allows compares to file outside of a given 'project' as well as files in an SVN, CVS etc. I have never really needed to do a three file compare but I also use (commerical) Beyond Compare 3 (for Linux), which for me is the defacto compare tool and I find it much better than NetBeans when doing recursive directory compares.

[*]UML editors like Umbrello. Which do you use?
NetBeans

[*]Browsers like Arora, Midori, Konqueror, Opera and Firefox. Which do you use?
FireFox, Opera, Epiphany.

[*]I use KDE (Kubuntu anyone?) and that has many cool features when configured properly.
For example SVN is embedded into the file system (Konqueror) so i just right-click and the context menu has many SVN options for files and directories.

My Ubuntu is configured like that with Nautilus but obviously only works from the main SVN directory downwards It also shows icons on the files and folders depending on their status. For big projects though with a lot of sub-directories, I find it a bit of a cludge as it can take a little while to open top level directories but gets quicker the further you drill down.
I really only use it for when I don't have NetBeans fired up.

[*]As you notice i do it easily in the KDE Desktop with a lot of "K" tools.
Does Gnome in Ubuntu have the same powerful developer features, or did you convert your Ubuntu to be like Kubuntu?

My only modification from standard was the Nautilus tweak for viewing SVN/CVS files in the file browser. I can also update, delete etc from their too. I should add that I have never had to re-apply the tweak after OS updates. I have tried Rapid SVN and few other third party SVN utilities but they all seem a bit sluggish or counter-intuitive to me, some painfully so. Although NetBeans IDE handles things well for a decent sized project I usually revert to using Tortoise SVN running on a different desktop so I can carry on using NetBeans without having to wait for it to finish an SVN update.
Maybe I'm just impatient, or maybe I have been spoilt by the way *nix does almost every instantly but I find it hard to 'wait' for an action to be completed so use a second or even third desktop for those occassions. Yes, I could run everything on the same desktop but I don't like clutter and it's easier on my failing eyesight. It's not uncommon for me to have a 'browser' desktop with three different browers viewing the same page and/or researching a PHP function/jQuery plug-in or even viewing the same (under development) page under different PHP configurations. My 'IDE' desktop and then another for SVN/FTP/Compare if I'm in a particularly productive mood.

On a side note; my reasons for moving to Ubuntu were not based on better productivity. I just got sick of system halts, lag, crashes, failed Windyblows updates or updates that caused issues and the final straw came when the muppets from Redmond decided my bought and paid for XP Pro license key was invalid during a Media Player update.

**Edit to update post**
I should also add, Ubuntu has been running on a hard drive for two years which was previously in my wifes PC, which according to Windyblows XP said was irreparably damaged due to failed indexes and lost clusters. The drive was under warranty and was 'repaired' by the manufacturer (Seagate). When we got it back, it had been formatted (NTFS) and Windyblows wouldn't even install, coming up with the same errors even after another re-format.

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 10:56 am

Guardian2003, I've started to have issues with Windyblows XP Pro on my personal laptop Evil or Very Mad

and am going to wipe it away and try Ubuntu 64-bit. Sounds like I may need to give NetBeans a try... although I've been using Eclipse for along time now with the various plug-ins I need to be productive, NetBeans sounds really appealing to me. Thanks!

Posted: Sun Mar 21, 2010 6:42 pm

Eclipse is possibly the better of the two IDE's but for me, I found Netbeans more intuitive to use out-of-the-box so it just grew on me. I'm sure Eclipse has far more advanced features but I have never really felt that anything was missing so I'm happy with the tool.

Will BC3 run on 64 bit Wink

Posted: Mon Mar 22, 2010 6:06 am

I just downloaded Eclipse 3.5 the other day fired it up a few minutes ago. Reminds me of Zend Studio a lot at first glance. Be a little bit of a learning curve and if I understood correctly many of the developer pluggins are based on the newer version of java. (Still on Lenny stuff here).

Posted: Tue Mar 23, 2010 1:57 am

im pretty impressed with the Mint LXDE RC spin thats out.