Who So

I’ve been a Linux Ubuntu Desktop user for quite some time now. Ever since I experienced how Linux could save an old laptop.

And I must admit. It is nice to not think about viruses and such, not that this is something that worries me when I am using a computer with Windows installed. It is also nice to have a stable computer that does not show me the blue screen from time to time; and lastly: It is very nice to not reboot every time you have installed a new program or updated your system.

How ever: There are reasons for not using Linux for me anymore:

• I am developing in more than just PHP. I am also doing some C# development for the Windows operating system.
  Yes. I can use Mono for this type of work, but as the .Net framework is more known and better distributed (aka: Installed) on most systems, it is better to use native .Net and use Visual Studio.
  Also. When it comes to PHP-development I am moving from writing directly on the test-web server (aka on the laptop) and in stead write in the defined workspace of the IDE, and then move the code to the test web server. This because I don’t want to clutter my test web server with SVN-directories, nor do I want to accidentally upload SVN-directories to the production web server.
• Better PHP development tools
  If I move back to Windows I can choose from a wide range of programs. Like for instance PHPed or the PHP Delphi plugin which is a Rapid application Development tool. PHPed shall work on Linux under Wine, but I haven’t installed Wine, and I am not sure if I want to install and run wine.
• I need access to a clients network which is using a closed VPN-system.
  My client is using CheckPoint VPN which there was a Redhat (RPM) package for back in the days. Now there isn’t any such thing. And if you search for it, you’ll see that I am not alone here. To fix this I have borrowed a computer from this client which is a tad bit older than this one and quite a lot slower.
• Limitations in Open Source software
  As I am working on a database project that is soon to be launched, I need more than one type of export/import into this one. Currently the importing is CSV-files, but as Excel can export in XML, this is a serious alternative. This is also something that I can instruct partners on how to do. This way I can normalize external data.
  The alternative in Open Office is creating an XSLT document and transforming the sheet. The benefit with this solution is that you have more control on the outcome.
  And it would have been an option if most partners out there used Open Office. They aren’t. They are using MS Office.
  I’ve also read that the XSLT-support in Open Office isn’t really that easy to work with. There are very few messages that shows if something is wrong, and the only way to find out that there is something wrong with the XSLT-document, is that the program freezes. Now that’s user friendly… Not that XSLT document transformation is user friendly to begin with…
• I need accounting software and invoice software that supports Norwegian standards. I have found a Norwegian invoice program, but has failed to find accounting software.
• Quality: I really don’t think that the quality on Open Source software is that great. Yes, it cures and itch – mostly for the developer(s), but that’s pretty much it. (I believe I have written posts regarding the “business”-model behind Open Source Software before, please check).
• Linux based Desktop OS isn’t really that stable.
  I have had a few hard freezes and I have had soft freezes. Hard freezes is where the LEDs on the computer is blinking and everything is either black or frozen. Soft Freezes is where there are parts of the OS that works, while other things have stopped working. Like when I am writing this: The mouse pointer is frozen to the side of the screen – and it is impossible to move it around. So X or Mouse support has frozen… sigh.

As I am looking at my list now, there are less reasons for me to stay on Ubuntu and more reasons for me to move back to Windows. But I’ll give this a few more weeks and months and then we’ll see what happens.