[nzlug] Where to start... where to start...

[Nevyn]

On Feb 11, 2008 7:57 PM, Daniel Pittman <daniel at rimspace.net> wrote:
> Nick Taylor <nick at tangerineworks.com> writes:
>
> > For years I've been saying "right that's the last MS machine I'm going
> > to get" and now it's finally happened. New Laptop... Vista
> > pre-installed (entirely against my will) but with xp on disc if
> > so-desired etc...
> >
> > so it looks like Ubuntu is where I'm headed.
> >
> > I write web-apps for people who use Windows and IE, so I'm kindof
> > thinking that maybe it might be a good idea if I can dip into
> > Windows/IE for testing things, but the rest of the time stay with
> > Linux.
>
> I would consider running a VMWare or equivalent instance with XP inside,
> rather than dual-booting, but I have been committed for some time.
>
> Also, while you are on your own with the legal issues, you may find the
> tools available at http://www.tatanka.com.br/ helpful in testing IE
> behaviour.
>
> > Which (I imagine) would probably mean either having a dual-boot system
> > or running windows in some sort of... window, or something. Which I'd
> > prefer because... rebooting is a pain in the arse.
> >
> > What do you reckon?
>
> VMWare server runs XP fine, is free-as-in-no-cost, and as long as you
> don't require 3D support within it will give you an environment within
> your running Linux desktop.
>
> Also, wine is useful and will run a reasonable proportion of Windows
> software unmodified; with the Hardy (8.04) release of Ubuntu you can
> look forward to solid Photoshop CS2 support in addition to a range of
> other packages.
>
> > I'm a fairly adept PHP bloke (about 8 years experience etc) - but my
> > linux knowledge is about the same as my dos knowledge... about 10
> > words - Enough for rudimentry server admin, but that's about it.
>
> Expect significant pain and disruption during the transition.
>
> (This would be true in reverse, for the same reasons; everything is hard
>  when you don't know what you are doing yet. :)
>
> Regards,
>         Daniel

Other little tips. Although you can get some windows applications
running in Linux, it's usually best to use the alternatives. I.e. The
Gimp, although it still doesn't have CMYK support, is still a
brilliant program and can do what your average user of photoshop does.

There is a project aimed at developers needing to cross test on IE
while running Linux. The details can be found here:
http://www.tatanka.com.br/ies4linux/page/Main_Page

Don't expect everything to work the same way. Best example of this is
probably OpenOffice (one of my biggest gripes - users WILL notice if
you change it. It is a VERY long way off from being a drop in
replacement). While it works well for the most part, you'll probably
find yourself pulling out your hair when you can't find something like
"File > Page Setup" (It's in Format > Page in OpenOffice). Also
there's no "My Computer".

There are loads of tutorials out there for getting a Lamp stack
together (Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP) in Ubuntu so setting up a
testing environment shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Welcome to Linux... where updating drivers is as simple as typing in:
sudo aptitude update ; sudo safe-upgrade -y
(or dist-upgrade depending on how daring you are)

Regards,
Nevyn.