OS for rails development: Windows vs. Mac?

Rails
1

Caveat: this is not a discussion about hosting a rails app on windows.

Anyway…Macs are everywhere you look when researching rails (demo vids,
tutorials, and pictures from rails training classes). I’m interested in
what the pros to using a Mac for rails development are (besides
textmate). Is it more of a cultural thing, a what would 37 signals do
thing, is it a unix thing, or something else…

2

On Friday, May 19, 2006, at 4:05 PM, Nathan P. Verni wrote:

Rails mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

I recently switched to a mac for development because.

  1. you can run nearly everything on it. With bootcamp and parallels,
    you can run windows too. This makes cross-platform testing on a single
    machine possible.
  2. its fundamentally a *nix machine, which gives you some nice tools to
    work with.
  3. You can’t get textmate on a PC.
  4. peer pressure

The only thing I miss is TortoiseSVN.

_Kevin

3

On Friday, May 19, 2006, at 1:22 PM, Bill P. wrote:

myself at the command line doing svn commit, svn status, etc…

you can run windows too. This makes cross-platform testing on a

Ben R.

  • Bill

Rails mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

That is what I’m using now, but it’s just not as easy (or as fast) as
TortoiseSVN.

_Kevin

4

The only thing I miss is TortoiseSVN.

Seconded. I prefer development on my Mac hands down, but I find
myself at the command line doing svn commit, svn status, etc…
Tortoise is a really great tool for subversion.

~ Ben

On 19 May 2006 20:10:54 -0000, Kevin O.
[email protected] wrote:

thing, is it a unix thing, or something else…

  1. you can run nearly everything on it. With bootcamp and parallels,
    –
    Posted with http://DevLists.com. Sign up and save your mailbox.

Rails mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

–
Ben R.
303-947-0446
http://www.benr75.com

5

Have you looked at svnX?

http://www.lachoseinteractive.net/en/community/subversion/svnx/features/

On May 19, 2006, at 1:16 PM, Ben R. wrote:

what the pros to using a Mac for rails development are (besides

  1. peer pressure
  • Bill
6

I found svnX to be acceptable. I set things up on the command line but
use svnX to commit, update, add etc.

On 5/19/06, Ben R. [email protected] wrote:

you can run windows too. This makes cross-platform testing on a single
Posted with http://DevLists.com. Sign up and save your mailbox.
http://www.benr75.com

Rails mailing list
[email protected]
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

–

7

Hi,
I’m going to switch to a Mac (probably the Mac Mini - cost about $800)
– any advice on the hardware/software/OS/Disk configuration and I’ll be
connecting to a cable modem. I’m going to be doing Web D. using
RoR and MySQL.
Cheers,
Pat

8

Kevin O. wrote:

On Friday, May 19, 2006, at 4:05 PM, Nathan P. Verni wrote:

  1. You can’t get textmate on a PC.

The only thing I miss is TortoiseSVN.

In my copy of TextMate, control-shift-A brings up a list of subversion
commands I can choose from. I only use a shell for the less-common ones.

–Al Evans

9

My advices:
dont get the ram from Apple! Buy it from elsewhere and upgrade it
yourself, you will save some cash. Also, make sure you have at least
1gig.

Get an external HD, preferably FW sicne it is faster and will spare the
CPU.

Personnaly, I would get wireless internet and mouse/keyboard just
because I hate cables.

Software to get: Textmate and CSSEdit. Two great software and must for
every webdev!

There are a lot of accessories made by third parties for the mini, look
around!

You should also consider the new macbook, they cost a bit more but are
way faster and cooler!

And welcome to the mac community!

10

Hey Pat, I would recommend getting a new MacBook if you’re need
portability.

Peace,

-Conrad

11

Thank you for the good advice…I will take it.
I hope I can return the favor someday.
Cheers,
Pat

12

No. This will not require much from your hardware.
If you want to use java based IDE or anything like that you might want
to get at least 1gb of ram since Java is a big memory hogger.

I’m mostly developing on a 12" PowerBookG4 with 512 mb ram. It’s works
fine. I have the standard Textmate, Safari, iTerm and DarwinPorts
setup. If you get a Mac Mini or a MacBook now you will have at least 2
times faster computer so you should be ok.

On 5/20/06, Pat L. [email protected] wrote:

From: [email protected]
Tortoise is a really great tool for subversion.

single

–
303-947-0446
http://lists.rubyonrails.org/mailman/listinfo/rails

–

13

Good evening Conrad,
I’m planning on implementing three applications using RoR.
I’ll take a look at MacBook, but I really like the Mac Mini.
What do you think would be a good configuration - ie OSX, Tiger,
External Hard Drive, memory.
I currently have a LinkSys router but I’m going to go with a wireless
router (to connect to my cable modem) - I’m also looking at a wireless
mouse and keyboard.
I need the external hard drive for backups.
Good weekend,
Pat

14

Hey Pat, if you’re buying RAM, don’t get the less quality stuff to save
a
buck. You can save money by going outside of Apple but you want to look
for
the same quality of RAM.

Peace,

-Conrad

15

No more Java or ASP.Net for me…I’ve really ‘fallen in love’ with RoR.
I’m planning on putting up three applications using it and MySql, wish
me luck.

I’m currently going thru the ‘Pick Axe’ book and the ‘AWDWR’ book and
for the first time in a long time, I’m really having a ball…

Good weekend and thanks for the advice.
Pat

16

Hey Nathan, your question is like asking what are the pros to developing
.net on windows. Anyway, here are the pros to developing Rails on Mac
OS X:

  1. Mac OS X
  2. Unix based (FreeBSD + Mach Kernel)
  3. Many Unix and Commercial Applications
  4. It’s the BEST commerical OS out there with the best hardware
    to go along with it.
  5. Wasn’t Ruby and Rails born in the Unix environment? If so, then
    this is another reason.

Peace,

-Conrad

17

Hey Pat, the black MacBook looks GREAT. I saw it and simply said,
“WOW…”. Thus, I would highly look at getting a MacBook because you
can
add an external monitor when you’re at home but allows you to be mobile
as
well. For example, your clients would
like you to come to the office; laptop for demostration. I would
recommend
the following development environment:

o MacBook (Mac OS X comes installed)
o Max out the memory to 2 GB
o Get a network external harddrive
o LinkSys router is good
a) connect the networt drive to the router
o Add an AirPort Express for wireless (printing and connectivity to
internet)

Peace,

-Conrad

18
  1. peer pressure
    I’m going to go against the grain here.

I’ve done the textmate thing. Looks nice, but well, it’s just a text
editor (ducks for cover). If you want full integration of your
workflow go no further than RadRails + Subclipse. In IDE versioning of
your files, code assist, data navigator, rails generators etc etc etc.
It’s nice and has a lot of promise for the future for where it’s
going.

My preference is actually WinXP (even though I can have either, it’s
my preference). Maybe as I’ve lived on XP for so long… and that
desktop gui performance just feels way more snappier than OSX. At
work, it’s full time RadRails work on OSX (Tiger). At home it’s
Windows + RadRails + PuTTY for managing servers, or Suse 10.1 which
I’m trying to get some love for to feel better about my open source
self.

OS X can be a right royal PITA for getting stuff compiled and working
on it, you’ll find some stuff just doesn’t work as advertised (eg
compiling graphicsmagick via darwinports). I’d far prefer to manage a
*nix box via PuTTY and keep windows for development.

That fantastic thing about Rails is you can run it on windows without
any pain.

That’s my experience at any rate.
Rowan

19

Hey Rowan, I haven’t had any troubles compiling any of those things
that you mentioned. Also, I don’t have to go through the trouble of
installing another OS as in Suse 10.1 or another application like
Putty. It comes standard out of the box. However, I do agree with
you in regards to RadRails and that it has alot of promise.
Furthermore, I can create my own Rails tutorial videos, create
podcasts, and make
this available to the Rails community. In Mac OS X, it simply works.

Peace,

-Conrad

20

Pat L. wrote:

Hi,
I’m going to switch to a Mac (probably the Mac Mini - cost about $800)
– any advice on the hardware/software/OS/Disk configuration and I’ll be
connecting to a cable modem. I’m going to be doing Web D. using
RoR and MySQL.
Cheers,
Pat

The mini is great. I have one for doing some cross-platform
development. Downside is that it can’t drive two monitors. I don’t
know how the hell anyone gets stuff done with just one monitor.

Jake