I just upgraded from one of the beta releases of DominoBlog to the latest full release. I hadn't been holding back or anything - just a little too busy to get around to it.
In the process of doing so, I got to thinking about other upgrades I should be looking at. I'm usually fairly current with my software releases, but sometimes I delay on purpose (because I want to wait for a service pack, or to hear good things about the release) or because of cost/time. Usually cost, but some upgrades can just be so much work it's not worthwhile. (That's rare, but some companies just don't seem to care about their customers like that...)
The one thing that I do know is that eventually, I will be running Linux. There are a variety of reasons as to why this is, some of them social/political and some of them technical. I won't go into those reasons just now, but I would like to share why I'm still with Windows at the moment.
The main reason is applications. Not a lack of available ones - Linux seems to pick up software like small children pick up rude words. It's one of those unstoppable, unfathomable things of the universe... The problem I have is that there are some applications that will be incredibly hard to replace or migrate to Linux. So here's a handy list of them, in no particular order:
- My Palm software - I have a Palm T3. I've had a Palm since the days of the old Palm 3, and I only had that because I just missed out on buying the good old Palm Professional... Through years of Palm ownership, I've gained a small but valuable set of programs that sync data to the Palm in ways that are incredibly useful. Documents To Go, SmartList To Go and Passwords Plus from Dataviz are three good examples. Iambic's Agendus is another. I have some outliner/project software and some accounting software which also have both a Windows program and a Palm program that synchronise. Unless I can find a way to get HotSync running under Linux perfectly, this area is going to be a major problem for me. Just looking for replacements will be a long and painful task.
- WordPerfect - Nothing beats WordPerfect for writing. Explaining that would require an entire new entry, but just trust me - no word processor has ever beaten WordPerfect's simplicity, elegance or predictability. At a pinch, I would switch to OpenOffice.org's Writer - but I'd really rather take WordPerfect with me. They did produce a Linux version a long time ago, but good luck finding a copy... *sighs* I do already use OpenOffice.org as a secondary word processor, in case WordPerfect chokes on an MS Office document. Which means that it's rarely used, but has been used enough to know it's good enough. I'd just like to not lose WordPerfect.
- My development tools - Mostly my development tools are from PowerBASIC, with their excellent Console Compiler and Windows Compiler. I have a few third party tools which revolve around those compilers, making my development ecosystem rather Windows-centric. A long term solution to this is to pull my finger out and learn Java...
- My mail client - I use The Bat! as a mail client at home. Like WordPerfect, there's a whole blog entry on its own about why that is - but rest assured that if I'm moving to Linux, then I want a mail client at least as good as The Bat! - if not better.
- Paint Shop Pro - Or any decent image manipulation and creation software, actually. Paint Shop Pro does 95% of Photoshop's work at a fraction of the price. The GIMP is nice, but not as nice as PSP. I don't want to have to relearn my image editing package - I did that once when I tried to switch from PSP to Photoshop, and don't want to try it again. It's a waste of time I could be using to do creative or satisfying things in.
- Hardware support - My laptop is my main concern, but I might find other hardware that's problematic. You never know, really. On the whole, for the past few years I've avoided buying anything that might cause hassle. Cameras have ALWAYS had to be ones that did USB drive mode, so I
didn't face awkward problems. My printer had to do PCL or PostScript, and had to have both a parallel and network interface so that I could get it to talk to anything... I hope I'll have minimal problems with hardware, but even a Windows upgrade can cause problems - so who knows? - Notes, Domino Designer and Domino Administrator - These go without saying. If I can't tinker with products that I like SO MUCH that I made my career from them, then I'm not switching.
You could say that's a long list - longer than it needs to be. But actually, it's pretty short - far shorter than it ever has been before now. With Opera available for Linux, and most other needs catered for, Linux is actually "almost there" for me.
The problem I think I now have is that some of these issues are insurmountable. I have faith in IBM to provide a solution for the last item, but some of the other problems are very serious.
Hopefully, with time, the WINE project can probably solve all of them except for my Palm issue. That, I suspect, will be the sticking point for some time to come, and may be the cause of a painful set of decisions.
Two more years? One more? Well, I'm certainly not planning on running Vista... So here's hoping...
But I wonder how many other people have similar lists? If you still run on Windows, what's keeping you there except inertia?
Comments (6)Philip Storry May 14th, 2006 22:17:03
Good list. Hmmm..., for me?
Mainly, I do iSeries Admin and Domino Admin for a private company. Definitely the last one would be a holdoff, but moreso Designer than anything. With WMC and Notes Plug-in, that should catch the Notes client and WebAdmin is really great at 7.0. I could keep around a test Windows box with Designer and Admin, so that wouldn't be too bad.
As far as iSeries admin, I can do pretty much everything through telnet applications that work in Linux. But there are some things that can only be done in the iSeries Navigator GUI.
I have a BlackBerry, so no issues there for PDA and applications that I need personally. I use OpenOffice a LOT already, and it works well for what I need.
The Bat! LOL, if you can get to it without signing in, here's what some people think of it:
{ Link }
Basically, admins block anything with "The Bat!" in the headers and catch a TON of spam. Then just whitelist the good guys like yourself...
Yeah, I'm aware of The Bat!'s reputation.
But the thing is, it's still an excellent mail client. To be absolutely honest, it's the lack of users that makes the policies applied by such people work.
Even more spam arrives with a X-Mailer header that says Outlook Express. But does that get blocked? Um, no - more users. ;-)
Such a pity. But not a good enough reason for me to switch. *grins*
Have you checked out Mono ? A Multi-platform .Net framework ?
{ Link }
:-)
My two sticking points was Domino designer and iTunes. I know, I know..
Another 4 weeks till we get the Notes Plug-in for Workplace - on Linux....
Designer will take far far longer.
---* Bill
OK, if any of you have read anything I post it's all about getting of Windows and I take the stance that Lotus and IBM hate Microsoft but force us to use it as loyal Lotus Users and why? Because they are to damn lazy and short sighted to care IMHO.
I have to use Windows at work for the same reasons Chris does. I am an iSeries Admin and Domino Admin. I look forward to the new tools, but in the same breath they are 4 years late and as for Ops Nav I am not sure what they are going to do about that. I would rather move to MacOSX, but Linux would be ok too.
I am working on the WINE project and the CrossOver Office too, to help make Lotus and CA400w work better on Linux and soon MacOSX.
-David
@3 Bill,
I've looked at Mono, but I'm just not sure about it to be honest.
The main problem I have with it is that it's always going to be chasing Microsoft's coat tails. It's a great idea, a valiant effort, and no doubt valuable to many people. But I have about as much .Net code as I have gold-plated Llamas...
And the idea of learning a platform that I won't be able to fully use leaves me a little cold - and you can rest assured that Microsoft wants to make sure that Mono is going to be in that position. :-(
I'll not draw undue attention to your nasty iTunes infection, by the way. ;-)
Here's hoping that we're just a hope and a skip away from migration soon...
@4 David,
To my shame I haven't read your blog - but it's not on my list, and I expect to be entertained! :-)
I agree on the short-sightedness, although I think laziness is a little strong. Lotus/IBM found themselves at a point where the OS/2/*NIX client usage was so low it was hardly worth reporting - and their Windows client was suffering because of the compromises they had to make to keep multiple clients going. They had to make a choice, and they made the right one for the short term. Long term, it's not been such a smart selection...
If they could have seen the future, I think they would have pressed harder along the iNotes/Domino Web Administrator lines, putting the clients into maintenance mode apart from focussing on the Designer more. But sadly, they had to hedge their bets...
Nice to know you're working on WINE. Crossover Office is very nice, by the way - well worth the money if you have the need. :-)
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