Mac OS X or Windows?

Rails
1

Hey,

I know it’s a basic question and I do not want a discussion about
which one is the best in general, I only want to know which OS you’d
recomment for programing in Rails and to do webdesign.
Maybe you can also tel me why you think so?

Regards,
zok

2

Hey,

I know it’s a basic question and I do not want a discussion about
which one is the best in general, I only want to know which OS you’d
recomment for programing in Rails and to do webdesign.
Maybe you can also tel me why you think so?

Regards,
zok

the most simple question with the most clear answer. i’ve tried both.

3

Hi zok,

I’m not sure that it matters as much anymore. I used to work for an
all Windows shop that did ColdFusion and Adobe CS3. So I approached
Ruby from Windows. I found that it was fine. Now, I code in Mac OS
X, which is also pretty easy to do.

I have a slight preference for Mac or Linux because I prefer to use a
terminal sometimes. Its nice to be able to open terminal and type irb
and try an idea.

In either case, I think the more critical choice is what sort of IDE
you want to use. I use NetBeans and that works really well for me.

Ron

4

Hi,

I used ruby on both OS. I just felt that i got better performance on
the MAC.
I don’t have workbenches or so. just when I rum my unit tests. The
MAC was much faster…

guys, plz tell me if i am wrong.

5

It seems that people are making Rails development happen on all 3 major
platforms (OS X, Windows, Linux), so in the end it comes down to what
you prefer, and are comfortable with. That being said, I would
personally recommend Mac OS X or Linux over Windows. Working with rails
(or really any web programming) without a terminal by my side would be
frustrating for me. I think once people are comfortable with the Unix
command line, they realize it has major advantages over anything Windows
has.

I would also argue that software like Ruby, Rails, Subversion, mySQL,
etc were originally intended to run under a Unix environment, and that
much of the documentation on these tools assumes you are, too. Also, on
OS X, you can use Textmate, which is a great editor (although to be
fair, there are tons of great cross-platform editors - I use jEdit when
I’m on Windows).

I really can’t make a direct comparison to Windows. I had a bad
experience in the earlier days of Rails trying to get it running through
Apache and SCGI, but I would hope that Mongrel makes it much easier now.

6

All of the above?

By that I mean Mac OS X.

With VMware Fusion I’ve got Leopard, XP, Vista and Ubuntu (just for
kicks) and I can run them all simultaneously.

When I’m slapping up an app (especially the CSS) I get Safari,
Firefox, Windows XP IE 6, and a Vista IE 7 windows open all in one
“Space” (multiple desktops) and refresh my way to cross-browser
compatibility bliss. It’s funny to see an OS X window behind an XP
window, behind a Vista window all behaving in one desktop–like they
all belong there). I don’t have to code for one and then adjust for
others, I just code for them all at once.

(It also doesn’t hurt that the core developers of Rails all use OS X
and TextMate and that Rails comes with the Leopard either)

7

Hey thanks for your answers!

I think Mac OS has the better programs for developing with rails (e.g.
Textmate or cocoa MySQL), but I only have a windows machine and Macs
are not very cheap I think.

How can I get Mac OS X running under Windows? How did you’ve done that
with VMware?

Regards,
zok

8

How can I get Mac OS X running under Windows? How did you’ve done that
with VMware?

The sad news is, you can’t. At least not without using very specific PC
hardware configuration and an illegally cracked copy of OS X. OS X will
only work on Mac hardware (and in the case of OEM versions, I believed
it’s locked to the specific model of your computer).

I think that’s the other reason people generally recommend Macs. It’s
easy to run all 3 operating systems, but you can’t do it the other way
around. I certainly can’t blame you for not wanting to put up the money,
though. If you want OS X, you might want to look into a Mac Mini, it’s
not the most powerful system, but it should be fine for web dev.

9

zok wrote:

Hey,

I know it’s a basic question and I do not want a discussion about
which one is the best in general, I only want to know which OS you’d
recomment for programing in Rails and to do webdesign.
Maybe you can also tel me why you think so?

Regards,
zok

At the office I work on a Linux (CentOS-51.) desktop using gvim 7.1 with
ruby-vim gem together with vim scrips such as rails.vim,
vividchalk.vim, Ruby_Snippets and a couple of others that I cannot
recall. The DBMS is postgresql 8.3. and we use Subversion.

I have exactly the same setup on my MS-XPpro laptop, excepting that I
use Tortoise as the svn client, and I really cannot tell the difference
other than the damn / \ reversals. There is a Resource Kit Tools
package for XP (Server2003 actually) that provides a tail command on XP.
I recently had to switch to the pure ruby pg adapter because of a
missing dll in the recent 8.3 release but that works fine for
development.

If vim is too primitive for your tastes then Komodo seems a good
alternative for Rails developers. It comes in Linux and MicroSoft
flavours.

10

oh yes I thought about a mac mini, but I’ve also read instructions to
set up a mac OS X on a windows machine, so I thought it is possible!
What mac mini would you recomment? the cheapest is around EURO 600 ($
920).

Regards,
zok

11

On 3/9/08, zok [email protected] wrote:

Hey thanks for your answers!

I think Mac OS has the better programs for developing with rails (e.g.
Textmate or cocoa MySQL), but I only have a windows machine and Macs
are not very cheap I think.

While the hardware might be a bit more expensive at first, I think
that the case can be made that the total cost of ownership is at a par
or perhaps less than a windows machine.

Most of the Mac software I use is either open source/freeware or quite
reasonably priced. I find that I can “afford” more software for the
Mac than for Windows.

And for Ruby/Rails work I definitely prefer Mac first, Linux or other
open source posix system (e.g. BSD) second, and windows a distant
third.

–
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/

12

On 3/9/08, Frederick C. [email protected] wrote:

And (at least in my opinion), while $2000-$2500 for a mac book pro is
a decent chunk of cash in absolute terms, I don’t consider to be much
given that it is my main work tool, which I spend the best part of
most days looking at.

Also if you hurry, since the new penryn Macbooks and Mackbook pros
were just released, this is a good time to pick up a very slightly
back level model for a good price. They’re probably going quickly but
google can probably ferret out some bargains. The new models don’t
really add that much unless you REALLY want a pro with a multi-touch
trackpad.

13

On 9 Mar 2008, at 16:43, Rick DeNatale wrote:

While the hardware might be a bit more expensive at first, I think
that the case can be made that the total cost of ownership is at a par
or perhaps less than a windows machine.

And (at least in my opinion), while $2000-$2500 for a mac book pro is
a decent chunk of cash in absolute terms, I don’t consider to be much
given that it is my main work tool, which I spend the best part of
most days looking at.

Fred

14

Jeah I think you are right, I will go and buy me a mac!

What macbook hardware would you recomment? A G or Core2Duo processor?

On 9 Mrz., 20:44, James B. [email protected]

15

Rick Denatale wrote:

While the hardware might be a bit more expensive at first, I think
that the case can be made that the total cost of ownership is at a par
or perhaps less than a windows machine.

Or just get a Livino (formerly IBM ThinkPad) Ubantu (RedHat Linux) based
laptop from:

for between $700 - $1700 and stick with Linux everywhere!

16

Definitely go for the intel processor.

On 3/9/08, zok [email protected] wrote:

While the hardware might be a bit more expensive at first, I think

Posted viahttp://www.ruby-forum.com/.

–
Rick DeNatale

My blog on Ruby
http://talklikeaduck.denhaven2.com/

17

Refurbished iMacs are as low as $999 from Apple. Refurbished MacBooks
are as low as $850. Maximize the RAM from an online store and you’ve
got a great machine.

I just “upgraded” my MacBook. I bought it for $999, sold it on eBay
for $850 a year later and used that $850 to get a new one for $999.
What is that? $12/mo. cost? That’s cheap in anybody’s book. Even
Blue Hippo!! Macs are piles of trash after a couple years. Cost of
ownership is much lower (and explicit costs aren’t that different
anymore with comparable specs, they just don’t ship “junk” as Jobs
says).

18

FYI, Red Hat and Ubuntu are different distributions, based around
different
approaches to Linux. Ubuntu is based on Debian which is widely regarded
as
being one of the best choices due to its stability and scalability.

Gareth Howells, CertHE (Dunelm), BCS
CEO, GForce Industries

garethATgforce-industriesDOTcoDOTuk
07862725134

GForce Industries
86, Warwick Avenue,
Quorn,
Loughborough,
LEICS.
LE12 8HE
----- Original Message -----
From: “James B.” [email protected]
To: [email protected]
Sent: Sunday, March 09, 2008 7:44 PM
Subject: [Rails] Re: Mac OS X or Windows?

19

On Sun, 9 Mar 2008, zok wrote:

…but I only have a windows machine and Macs
are not very cheap I think.

Really?

Windows is not a great platform for many many reasons - OS X is likely
to
be closer to your hosting environment than Windows.

–
A

20

rpflorence wrote:

Macs are piles of trash after a couple years.

Don’t want to get off topic, but I think the opposite of this is true. I
see a lot of people and businesses hold on to their old Macs, even for
production use. We’ve got everything from Mac Pros to Quicksilver G4s
being used at my office. Looking at the system requirements for leopard,
it should be able to run on systems around 5 years old. Try to run Vista
on a system that old.

They also hold their value much longer, judging by ebay listings.

I think if you’re going to be buying a higher end system, I think a Mac
is a pretty good investment.