10,000 Foot Developer

OK so I decided to set my Linux OS experiment in motion.   I researched notebooks and settled on an HP Pavilion and it will have Unix installed as the primary OS.

I’m a developer.  And I do not know anyone who uses Linux as their workstation OS.   But I’m going to try it.

Decision

I do really like the Macs, but I got a more loaded machine from HP for $1100 compared to the $2100 tag on Apple’s current top of the line 15-incher.   Lenovo put themselves out of the running because they continually put that stupid textured trackpad on their Thinkpads; they annoy my fingers after an hour of use.  I hate it.  It’s too bad because except for that, I probably would have ordered the Thinkpad its one of the few machines I think is aesthetically more cool than a Mac.  I prefer the functional look of the Lenovo to the HP but usability is of course a factor – I have to be able to use it without physical discomfort.

Now while I have a bit of regret about not buying another Mac (I am typing on one now) there were a few things that put me off about them; I think its the locked in attitude (like adding your own ram is more difficult due to proprietary screws; ever update a JDK on a Mac??  ouch) and the much extra cost to hook up two monitors (this machine will funtion at home as a dev workstation).   Also, there’s a “exclusive” design/you aren’t cool thing with a lot of Mac owners, compounded by the fact that their Foxconn manufacturer in China has its workers sign a non-suicide pact.

HP struck a nice balance with the features and cost and gave some good service years back as well.  I’m NOT their whipping boy, they just happened to put together what I would like.  Other runners up were Alienware (a little over the top looking, heavy and power hungry) and Asus (I just didn’t like the form factor — but I do own a netbook its rock solid).

Now The Linux

I’ve been trying two different distributions:  Ubuntu 11 for about 2-3 months, and recently Mint 11.   I am still deciding.

Mint is a lot like Windows.   It is very very user friendly.   But I am not sure I enjoy the look of it so much and, being a power user, fell a little bit farther back from the OS than I’d ike.   it is however Ubuntu underneath (support is a question for me before I commit as well).  I’ll leave it on my old Compaq for now.

Right now I am leaning towards Ubuntu 11.  I like the top-side menu bar, the launcher, and feel close to what’s underneath.  Everything I use works on it.

One thing:  Linux cannot run Netflix because it does not support DRM.  this is SO annoying; I tried VMWare is a Chrome OS image but Chrome OS is so annoying I won’t do it.  So I may either be dropping Netflix or making a Windows image.

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So that’s it, we’ll see.  My main apps:  browsers, Eclipse, Sublime Text, Tomcat etc. all run on Linux easy.   Libre office will be an adventure, but so is “Page.”

My plan is to test it for 9 months to 1 year, and if it works, great, if not, switch back to Mac or Windows.

Why am I doing this?  Because Windows pissed me off, Macs are too expensive for what they deliver and I like to work in a terminal.  So there.