Due to some gems not working for windows im considering either
installing cygwin or even going as far as installing linux (linux isnt
the evil here, its the partioning and a whole sunday spent figuring out
stuff).
Id rather go with cygwin but ive read posts that mention problems when
you have cywin ruby and a windows ruby on the same system something
about —ubygems or something.
I know nothing about cygwin and its pros/cons nor how it will affect my
current ruby projects and rails setup.
Do i need to install a cygwin verion of ruby? Can it coexist with my
current version on windows. I dont want to have to uninstall it because
ive just spent 3 days figuring out hwo to get get mysql working with
rails 2.+ that requried multiple reinstalls. Id liek to leave it as it
is.
any tips pointers etc greatly will really help out
Due to some gems not working for windows im considering either
installing cygwin or even going as far as installing linux (linux isnt
the evil here, its the partioning and a whole sunday spent figuring out
stuff).
I’d suggest using virtualization (VMWare, etc.) to install a Linux
distro.
Much simpler than setting up dual-boot, and much more versatile than
cygwin (you can snapshot and revert VMs, clone them, etc.)
Do i need to install a cygwin verion of ruby? Can it coexist with my
current version on windows. I dont want to have to uninstall it because
ive just spent 3 days figuring out hwo to get get mysql working with
rails 2.+ that requried multiple reinstalls. Id liek to leave it as it
is.
Disclaimer: I am not using any database bindings at the moment. I’m
pretty happy using the cygwin version only. Currently you need to
compile from source if you want to have 1.9.1 but that’s not a big
issue on cygwin (the usual configure, make, make install loop). I
would guess that you do not have to delete the Windows version but I
believe you better keep them apart. That would mean installing gems
twice if you want to have them in both environments.
Personally I haven’t felt the need to use another Windows version but
I’m not doing GUI either.
ahh robert, missed your reply there. Initially Id like to keep the
windows version in reserve just in case i dont take to well to cygwin.
If cygwin goes well then id be willing to just delete the windows
version and keep only the cygwin one.
ahh that sounds good. Unfortunately i just realised I wont be able to
use my beloved e-editor via linux…
(is there a text-mate / e-editor style editor for linux?)
I don’t use either of those [1] but there are any number of possible
alternatives: shared folders for the two “systems”, edit on Windows
and cap deploy to Linux, etc.
[1] I mostly use jEdit, which is cross-platform and extremely easy to
customize through shortcuts, macros, and plugins.
Usually virtualization (VMWare, etc.) is too slow to use. I would
recommend dual boot.
If it’s a not a Mac then friendly Linux distros (Ubuntu, Debain,
CentOS, Fedora,…) will install the dual boot very smoothly. The
hardest part is making the decision on what part of the hard drive to
allocate to Linux.
On Thu, Apr 30, 2009 at 11:40 AM, Aleksandr L. [email protected]
wrote:
Usually virtualization (VMWare, etc.) is too slow to use.
That’s a uselessly broad statement. I’ve used VMWare on Windows,
Linux, and Mac hosts, and never found that to be true, even running
multiple VMs simultaneously.
Maybe slow on a netbook or an iPhone or something.
But certainly the OP can try a virtualization approach first and see if
it’s performant enough on his hardware for his needs.
ahh that sounds good. Unfortunately i just realised I wont be able to
use my beloved e-editor via linux… perhaps cygwin is the way to go.
But ill definately look into it as a way to try out linux.
(is there a text-mate / e-editor style editor for linux?)
ahh that sounds good. Unfortunately i just realised I wont be able to
use my beloved e-editor via linux… perhaps cygwin is the way to go.
But ill definately look into it as a way to try out linux.
(is there a text-mate / e-editor style editor for linux?)
e-text was just released “shared source” with a “build your own” linux
port available (check their blog).
I’d recommend virtualbox works like a champ for me–using it right now
Linux guest on XP host.
-=r
My experience was with VirtualBox on Windows on a new IBM Touchpad
laptop about a year ago. The environment was snappy at the very
beginning, but became slow (compared to native Linux installations)
when I used Ubuntu’s package manager to install software.
an other approach is to run a linux kernel inside windows, http://www.andlinux.org/
the andLinux project is very surprising, it allows you to run windows
and
linux in the same desktop environment, compatible with ubuntu
repositories…
This is getting slightly off topic but does somebody know how this
compares, performance-wise, to virtualbox? I’m wondering if it is
worth the hassle to try andlinux just so that the virtual windows show
up in windows.
I’d imagine andlinux is faster [1], not sure how much.
virtualbox does have “seemless” mode which is nice, but it shows all
virtualbox windows, not just the topmost, when you use it, so it’s
sometimes annoying.
an other approach is to run a linux kernel inside windows,http://www.andlinux.org/
the andLinux project is very surprising, it allows you to run windows and
linux in the same desktop environment, compatible with ubuntu
repositories…
This is getting slightly off topic but does somebody know how this
compares, performance-wise, to virtualbox? I’m wondering if it is
worth the hassle to try andlinux just so that the virtual windows show
up in windows.
I tried cygwin it seemed ok but then i explored using virtualbox and how
easy it is to get linux running within windows without having to
partition or worry about losing your drive. Theres a great recent
tutorial on how to get up and running at
The good thing about using virtual linux is i can use my windows
e-editor to edit my files whilst at the same time having linux be the
host for rails which means less hassles with gems etc.
If i take to linux and find a linux based replacement for e-editor Ill
do a fully fledged install but for now its excellent! better than i
imagined. Id heartedly reccommend any other windows based users who are
either fed up with having to deal with gems not supported for windows or
who were contemplating trying out linux but feared the installation
process to check virtual ware out!
thanks again all for your input.
re: addlinux i couldnt find much on using it with rails and as im a newb
to linux i thought its go the more popular route - more blogs with how
tos etc
I tried cygwin it seemed ok but then i explored using virtualbox and how
easy it is to get linux running within windows without having to
partition or worry about losing your drive. Theres a great recent
tutorial on how to get up and running at
Thanks for your feedback! One question out of curiosity: why did you
pick VirtualBox over VMWare Server (free as well)? Was it just
because of the ease of installation?
Yes just the ease. I did look into performance comparissons briefly but
for a light user like me it didnt really matter. The ease was more
important plus the the lifehacker post on setting up was the most recent
guide i found via google.
over at hardocp.com a lot of people were saying they were happy they
switched but i cant remember exactly why.
This is getting slightly off topic but does somebody know how this
compares, performance-wise, to virtualbox? I’m wondering if it is
worth the hassle to try andlinux just so that the virtual windows show
up in windows.
Twould appear that they’re all close to the same speed
windows mingw:
$ time ruby -ve ‘10000000.times {33}’
ruby 1.8.6 (2009-03-31 patchlevel 368) [i386-mingw32]
real 0m1.235s
user 0m0.015s
sys 0m0.030s
rogerdpack@andLinux:$ time ~/installs/ruby-187-p160/bin/ruby -e
‘10000000.times {33}’
real 0m1.490s
user 0m1.460s
sys 0m0.030s
ubuntu as a guest VM:
rdp@rdp-vm:~/$ time ~/installs/ruby_187_p160/bin/ruby -e ‘10000000.times
{33}’
real 0m1.251s
user 0m1.160s
sys 0m0.024s
I have had a few troubles with andLinux not working perfectly. It does
integrate nicely, window wise, though.
-=r
