Ray Brinzer

Every now and then, it’s expeditious to use Windows.

By and large, Gentoo Linux and WindowMaker suit me quite well. It’s not for everybody, but I like using good, straightforward tools, and having control over my machine. And while I have any number of complaints about Linux, for my purposes it’s still the best there is. Macintosh is pretty, but from the few occasions I’ve used them in modern times I don’t like the command line environment as well, and the command line is where I live. Windows is much better than it used to be, but still no comparison to a proper Unix for my needs.

It depends, though, on how you’re using it. Back in the ’90s, at a little dot-com I worked for, we had Windows workstations, but we all just ran full-screen X sessions and worked on the server. Then we could drop back into Windows when it was time to play Command & Conquer. That’s using Windows for its strength.

These days, too, Cygwin and a large batch of open-source software can ameliorate the situation. With a lot of configuration, Windows can be almost as tasty as the real thing for casual use. And with SSH, it really doesn’t matter that the command line you’re using isn’t on the system in front of you. So, you’re mostly using Windows as a window manager. If you have to test websites in Internet Explorer, this is a very likely scenario.

But it doesn’t have virtual desktops.

Really, this is madness… Read more »

After poking around Squeak for a few days, I noticed a blog post about an image called “Pharo”. So, I downloaded it, and tried it out.

I was nothing short of astonished. It was very attractive, and loaded almost instantly. Someone has been working hard on this. Turns out the project is a fork from Squeak; the rapid progress reminds me a lot of when X.Org broke away from XFree86.

Now, my instincts tell me that when you’re just getting started with a not-so-mainstream development tool, it’s not the time to pick up an even-less-mainstream fork which is less than a year old. I’m really tempted to do so, anyway, though. It’s not like I’m trying to get work done with it (yet).

It is a shame, though, to see a small community divided. Besides, I like the mouse.