LinuxDesktop4i mailing list
Since becoming a daily user of Linux on my desktop over a year ago, I have been taking notice of who else also uses either Linux of OSX for their desktop. I was pleasantly surprised that there are a lot of people out there that have dabbled in Linux desktops or have completely embraced them. The most recent convert I learned of is Paul Touhy (www.SystemiDeveloper.com fame).We have been exchanging emails back and forth with comments/questions on our approach to using Ubuntu Linux as our primary desktop environment and then it hit us that others would probably like to have an “outlet” to either express themselves or find help as it relates to “a day in the life of an IBM i developer using a Linux/OSX desktop”.We approached David Gibbs at midrange.com and he has agreed to host a mailing list for us named LinuxDesktop4i. You can sign up at the following location: http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/linuxdesktop4iEven if you don’t have a Linux desktop in your future it might do you good to sign up to learn more about Linux. I consider it a great learning environment to keep myself “fresh” with other operating systems given today’s economy and the jobless rates rising.Has anybody recently adopted Linux? Why did you do it and what distro are you using? (i.e. Ubuntu is a distro as is RedHat, Fedora, etc)
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[...] Desktop for IBM i Users Aaron Bartell, and a few others, came up with a pretty neat idea:? A Linux desktop for IBM i developers (and/or [...]
I just subscribed – mostly for trolling purposes ;)
Well hopefully IBM will notice the interest and ‘actually’ integrate it into their MS Free Desktop campaign. They are touting their alliance with Canonical to provide a ‘real’ alternative to a MS based office. Now they need to deliver. And making iNav and RDI work on Ubuntu is one place it should start. Developing file transfer plugins for Symphony, like they have for Excel, would be another place IBM could show their true commitment. And making *Nix Notes not do a full Sync every time it does a POP connect to Domino.
Glad to see the forum. Thanks Aaron and Dave!
Lukas, I would expect nothing less ;-)
Jay, I couldn’t agree more. I actually tried to figure out which Lotus product would potentially give me client email/calendar capabilities, but I couldn’t figure out what to download, and on top of that I don’t even know if they can connect to an IMAP server.
Aaron Bartell
My laptop was set up for dual boot: Win/XP and Ubuntu. Unfortunately, I never used Ubuntu as planned. The same way bilingual classrooms fail non-native language speakers, I always fell back into what I knew: Windows.
Alas, my current laptop of four years is about to give up the ghost. I must buy new, and am contemplating a “total immersion” strategy where it’s all Ubuntu. I won’t even buy Windows on the new laptop. This may be the shove I need into the deep end of the pool.
This new forum will help. Now if you have something to cure my chronic use of mixed metaphors…
Jon,
I am not sure that is the approach I would take as you may get so frustrated that you go back. Here’s what I did that forced me into Linux but also gave me Windows when I needed it: I boot directly into Ubuntu, and once in Ubuntu I run a virtual instance of Windows for things like GoToMeeting/Outlook/Camtasia Studio. This is a nice balance as it require you be in Linux to get to your Windows.
HTH,
Aaron Bartell