Linux is sweet!

[Madman]

I'm a hardcore windows user and I've been using it since ver 3.1. I have also spent a lot of time developing software for Windows, and I know a lot about it.

I tried to use Mandrake 9/10 before, but all those experiences were kind of divided...

Now, I finally had the need to install Ubuntu on my PC to do some project work, and despite the fact I installed it on virtual PC, which kind of limits everything, I'm impressed.

The interface is pretty and easy to use, everything you need is there. All packages are easy to install and you have pretty much everything you need out of the box. Despite the fact I'm Windows user I have to say that Ubuntu kicks Vistas ball with a sledgehammer. Even when you run it on VM.

The fonts are easy to read, and everything is fast and simple.

The only thing that I'm not quite happy about is that there is no Visual Studio on Linux. I have a development project where I have to work with OpenGL engine, and I would love to switch to Ubuntu.

Even more, Linux simplifies extension stuff, so that would be great.

Does anyone know if there are any hardcore IDE alternatives for Linux?

[Meadows]

We sort of didn't expect anything else from you anyway.
Despite all that is said around.

I actually think Ubuntu uses terrible fonts by default, they're so wide and bulky that they make my eyes bleed.

[titan]

There are lots of options out there. My recent favorite is Emacs. At first blush it seems like it's just a run of the mill text editor, but it's actually quite powerful. I haven't been able to find an IDE that I've been really happy with.

Some IDEs that I've tried that you might like are Bluefish and NetBeans.

I too have been impressed with the visual quality of Linux. For some reason my images seem sharper and text is easier to read. Maybe it's all in my head as I've seen an article that kind of digs into the font rendering issues of Linux.

[just brew it!]

This thread is very timely for me as well -- as of yesterday I finally "cut the cord". My primary home desktop is Linux now, and except for gaming, video editing, and a few other minor things (which collectively represent only a small percentage of my PC usage these days), I am not using my Windows XP box any more.

Speaking of fonts, I recommend installing the optional "ttf-liberation" package. This gives you a set of fonts with metrics identical to the standard Windows Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New fonts. Aside from the fact that I just think they look good (I've set them as my default desktop fonts), they can also help ease the transition from Windows since web pages will render more like they would under Windows.

IDE-wise, you could give Eclipse a try. I haven't used it much myself, and it did seem somewhat bloaty (IIRC it is all implemented in Java), but it is supposed to be very full-featured.

[just brew it!]

I actually think Ubuntu uses terrible fonts by default, they're so wide and bulky that they make my eyes bleed.

Yeah, I find the default a bit large-ish as well, though I wouldn't go so far as to call them "terrible". Easy enough to change though (see my previous post).

Some IDEs that I've tried that you might like are Bluefish and NetBeans.

Dunno if I'd go so far as to call Bluefish an IDE. It's a pretty nice editor though; I've settled on it as my editor of choice for writing code on Linux.

[Meadows]

Maybe it's all in my head as I've seen an article that kind of digs into the font rendering issues of Linux.

I doubt your images would look any different unless the colour profiling of the OS is noticeably aberrant, but you may have a point with fonts.

With that said, Windows 7 has and will offer a ClearType configuration wizard too, so people can have it 'their way' from that point onwards.

[Madman]

I don't know, from ground up Ubuntu font's seemed to be very easy on the eyes. They do look unusual in web and stuff, but after some programming I was shocked that they are very pleasant.

Then again I'm used to ProFontWindows@10 for daily programming tasks. And standard font's for everything else.

It's shame that you can't boot quickly from one OS to another... The GPU acceleration is kind of show stopper for VMs which are very handy to work with.

[grantmeaname]

I heard VMware Player now runs OpenGL things natively (on the GPU)... you may want to look into that.

[Nav]

I don't know much (read:nothing) about programming and all that jazz but just wanted to say welcome to the world of linux! Casting off those Microsoft shackles is not easy, I can tell you that:).

[Meadows]

I heard VMware Player now runs OpenGL things natively (on the GPU)... you may want to look into that.

True story, they had the best VMs the last time I was looking for one. Highly recommended.

[just brew it!]

I've found VirtualBox to be somewhat easier to deal with than VMware on Linux hosts; but VMware definitely has the advantage in terms of features, and is pretty straightforward to set up on Windows hosts.

VirtualBox is starting to support 3D acceleration as well, but so far they only support OpenGL acceleration for Windows guests.

[just brew it!]

I don't know much (read:nothing) about programming and all that jazz but just wanted to say welcome to the world of linux!

The nice thing about newer distros like Ubuntu is that you don't have to be a programmer or CLI wizard any more to set them up. (Though a little knowledge of scripting and CLI tools will still help you get the most out of it.)

Casting off those Microsoft shackles is not easy, I can tell you that:).

Windows isn't going anywhere anytime soon; but having a viable alternative is a very good thing. It'll keep Microsoft from getting too complacent.

[bitvector]

Speaking of fonts, I recommend installing the optional "ttf-liberation" package. This gives you a set of fonts with metrics identical to the standard Windows Arial, Times New Roman, and Courier New fonts.

Alternately, you can grab the Debian "msttcorefonts" (in Ubuntu multiverse, but it is apparently being renamed "ttf-mscorefonts-installer" as of jaunty leaving "msttcorefonts" a dummy package that just depends on the former). Either way, it actually downloads and installs Microsoft's Andale Mono, Arial Black, Arial, Comic Sans, Courier New, Georgia, Impact, Times New Roman, Trebuchet, Verdana and Webdings fonts.

Microsoft actually released these fonts for free as part of a "Core fonts for the Web" web font standardization project with a license that allows them to be legally redistributed in unmodified executable form. Once MS fonts became ubiquitous on the web, Microsoft stopped making them available (heh, figures), but they are still legally redistributable in their original form from alternate mirrors. So these deb packages download the exes from SourceForge, runs cabextract on them and then install the fonts on your system. I'm sure ttf-liberation is as good, but if you want the real actual Microsoft fonts (plus some not in ttf-liberation), this is another option.

[just brew it!]

I'm sure ttf-liberation is as good, but if you want the real actual Microsoft fonts (plus some not in ttf-liberation), this is another option.

The main difference is that the fixed-width font in ttf-liberation is sans-serif, making it look more like a fixed-width Arial than a typewriter font like Courier. I actually prefer its cleaner appearance.

[PRIME1]

Linux used to be a pain in the butt to get working well. (I have been using it for over 10 years)

Ubuntu (I use Kubuntu actually), just plain works.

I installed it and the network was fine, sound worked and adding new programs was a breeze.

I have it on an older P4 system and it runs great.

The new KDE interface is right up there with Windows 7 and OSX.

I'm looking forward to the new release as my Linux box is about 2 version behind now.

[PRIME1]

Does anyone know if there are any hardcore IDE alternatives for Linux?

If you switch to KDE you can use KDevelop
http://www.kdevelop.org/

[bthylafh]

You could try the Anjuta IDE. I think that's the "native" one for GNOME, which is the desktop environment Ubuntu uses.

[just brew it!]

You could try the Anjuta IDE. I think that's the "native" one for GNOME, which is the desktop environment Ubuntu uses.

Nit pick: GNOME is just the one that is installed by default. KDE and Xfce are supported as well; you can install them directly from the Ubuntu repositories, or use one of the alternate installation CDs.

[PRIME1]

You could try the Anjuta IDE. I think that's the "native" one for GNOME, which is the desktop environment Ubuntu uses.

Nit pick: GNOME is just the one that is installed by default. KDE and Xfce are supported as well; you can install them directly from the Ubuntu repositories, or use one of the alternate installation CDs.

Indeed, I would certainly not call GNOME "native". At best it is "default".

http://www.kubuntu.org/

[titan]

I'm sure ttf-liberation is as good, but if you want the real actual Microsoft fonts (plus some not in ttf-liberation), this is another option.

The main difference is that the fixed-width font in ttf-liberation is sans-serif, making it look more like a fixed-width Arial than a typewriter font like Courier. I actually prefer its cleaner appearance.

I've been making the switch to Bitsream Vera myself.

[Madman]

VMware with OpenGL support? Is that Linux guest on Windows host or the other way around? And what about versioning? I know Virtual PC/Virtual Server are free, but few quick visits at VMware site scared me with different enterprise buy now banners

I wonder if my X-Fi will work on Linux though, (Creative+Drivers)*Linux doesn't mix too well

[titan]

I'm pretty sure the kernels have support for the X-Fi now. Just pop over to the ALSA Web site and take a look at their hardware support list.

[Madman]

It says under development. However it also says Creative has delivered a data sheet!

[just brew it!]

Speaking of soundcards in Linux, it seems that things have improved quite a bit over the past year or so. Not sure about the X-Fi specifically, but most soundcards (both onboard and discrete) really do seem to be true "plug 'n' play" on Linux these days, with no additional drivers required beyond what ships with the distro. Linux has correctly recognized and configured the onboard audio on a fairly wide range of hardware that I've installed it on over the past few months.

I just dropped an old M-Audio Revolution into my Ubuntu box so that I can compare its sound quality with the onboard. Booted up, and it was already there in the Sound Preferences applet, with no manual intervention from me.

Sweet indeed!

Edit: The only soundcard I can recall having an issue with was a ~4 year old external Creative USB soundcard. Linux actually recognized it, but the sound skipped often enough to be objectionable, rendering it essentially useless.

[Madman]

Good news indeed. I remember that it was a PITA to get Audigy to work on Mandrake 9/10. Kernel recompile kind of PITA.

I just have to get a new HDD so that I could install Linux natively

[titan]

I just dropped an old M-Audio Revolution into my Ubuntu box so that I can compare its sound quality with the onboard. Booted up, and it was already there in the Sound Preferences applet, with no manual intervention from me.

Sweet indeed!

On top of that, you may or may not recall the issue with M-Audio not restoring audio volumes properly. That had been fixed at some point too. Makes me happy.

[John59]

Hello Madman,

if you are looking for an IDE that is 'like' Visual Studio then I would suggest that you take a look at Mono and Mono develop, you can code .net applications with this program.

http://mono-project.com/Main_Page

Also QT creater from Trolltech is well worth taking a look at along with Eclipse, Realbasic, Lazurus and Eclipse.

Qt Creater
http://www.qtsoftware.com/products/developer-tools

Real Basic (The REALbasic Personal Edition for Linux is a free download, the Windows and MacOSX versions are not free to download)
http://www.realsoftware.com/realbasic/

Eclipse
http://www.eclipse.org

Lazarus
http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/


I think there a few options for you to try Madman.

Ciao

[pikaporeon]

linux DOES come with vi(m)!



seriously though, Eclipse or Netbeans.

[John59]

Eclipse all the way

[element]

Bluefish, Screem and Geany are amongst my favourite.

Anjuta is nice too. http://projects.gnome.org/anjuta/
Depends what you need it for.