[PLUG] Microsoft Visual Web Developer 2005 Express Edition

[M. Edward (Ed) Borasky]

Quentin Hartman wrote:
> On 8/1/07, Rogan Creswick <creswick at gmail.com> wrote:
>> *Linux* is an integrated development environment with more
>> capabilities than any programming tool MS has ever pushed on their
>> customers.
>>
>> Maybe we just need to make an environment configuration that is
>> targeted at development, and provide an easy way to use that in
>> concert with the non-programming UI people expect.
>>
> 
> And there is the heart of the matter. Opening the eyes of novice developers
> to this "fact", and the long-term cost benefits are key.
> 
> How do we get there from here?
> 
> - De-balkanize Linux by reducing the number of distros?

There really are only 2.5 distros anyway: RPM-based, Debian-based and
everything else, like Gentoo.

> - Reducing the number of Desktop Environments?

It's a nice dream, but I don't think either Gnome or KDE is going away
soon. I've actually come to like Gnome in recent months. :)

> - Adhering more closely to LSB?

Sure ... standards are good.

> - Create a good GUI IDE that has the strengths of VS by nicely tying all the
> Linux pieces together?

Well ... KDevelop is great if you don't mind being locked into KDE, Qt
and Linux. I haven't tried the Gnome equivalent, nor have I tried GNUStep.

>   - Improve Glade/GTKbuilder? What about KDE?
>   - Improve Kdevelop? What about Gnome?

See above. But what about Eclipse and NetBeans?

> 
> It's a hard problem, and the only "real" solutions are sure to make someone
> cry. For now, I think it's up to the individual to find an environment they
> like and embrace it. In most cases this is determined by distro / DE choice.

It also depends on your "business model". If you're just in this for the
fun of it, that's one thing, but if you're looking to be *profitable*,
that's a whole different ball game. I've never used Visual Studio, but I
have worked with a few other IDEs and they all look and feel pretty much
the same to me. I finally bought Komodo because I do a lot of Ruby
development and almost no compiled language development. If you do
scripting languages, especially on Windows, you should check Komodo out.


> 
> What about web applications? If someone, like Ken, is looking to build web
> apps, what sort of "studio" do we have on offer for them? Arguably this is
> the battleground that the current generation of developers will be won or
> lost. How do we get them? How does Pyro Desktop (
> http://www.pyrodesktop.org/Main_Page) play into this?

Well, there's screem, quanta+, bluefish, nvu and a couple more I've
forgotten. I've never even heard of Pyro. But then, I don't develop web
apps.