In round numbers, it took me an hour to download Ubuntu 7.10 via BitTorrent. About 15 minutes to burn a CD. Another 15 minutes to install.
And another 20 hours to give back the bits to BitTorrent, twice over.
I’m not sure why it took me so long to realize this, but the four year old Win XP desktop that I infrequently use to test how things look on IE or to run an occasional $JOB required tool is mostly just taking up desktop space. Sure I use it as additional screen real estate, but it could do more.
So I plopped a second 40 gig hard drive into that machine and installed Gutsy there. My plans are to replicate my laptop configuration there, and when I’m happy with it, I will wipe my laptop and install Gutsy and rsync my home directory back. Then I will wipe my desktop and repeat the process with my server. Then everything will be running Ruby 1.8.6 and Python 2.5.1, and whenever I want to experiment with something new, or reproduce something from a clean install, I will be ready to do so. I will also be able to participate in betas of 08.04 when it comes.
I know some people like Virtual Machines for these kind of things. With machines as cheap as they are these days, I kinda prefer the real thing.
Win XP desktop that I infrequently use to test how things look on IE or to run an occasional $JOB required tool is mostly just taking up desktop space
I haven’t booted to my WinXP partition on my thinkpad in over 18 months. Many of the $JOB required tools you speak of are available now on the intranet for Ubuntu/Linux.
Count me as one of those preferring virtual machines.
Moved my Windows development environment from a physical to a virtual machine (using VMware’s converter tool) several months back. Copied the VM to a server machine (with lots of disk and memory) and ran under VMware Server. Backup is dead easy (just copy the VM), and now I can connect to that one Windows development “machine” from any computer on the home network (which includes from the laptop out in the backyard).
Especially nice is the fact that intense, long-running unit/regression tests have no effect on my desktop (or laptop). You can’t get that with a shared machine. (Plus the server box runs the tests a bit faster.) The always-up VPN connection and MS Outlook instance are on that VM as well.
The upshot is the desktop and server at home are running Ubuntu (though not the laptop - wireless issues).
There is another dimension to this. Configuring a development server - Trac/Subversion/CVS/etc - can be quite time consuming. Configure your development server as a VM, and another group can copy your server simply by copying the VM. Once stable, any VM can be easily moved from the local office to a beefier IT-managed server.
Just don’t see a point to dual boot anymore. (Unless you want to run Windows games...)
Gutsy on Dual Boot: In round numbers, it took me an hour to download Ubuntu 7.10 via BitTorrent. About 15 minutes to burn a CD. Another 15 minutes to install. [I installed it Sunday. Basic install took about as long as Sam’s. I used a...