Y'all,
I've got a fairly simple problem, and I'd like to narrow down the possible solutions. I'm looking for:
- A text editor for MacOS that looks and works like Geany; or
- A version of Geany that runs on MacOS without some kind of weird conversion requirement.
By "looks and works like Geany," I mean that it
- Allows for tabbed text editing (i.e. like tabbed surfing in Firefox or Safari, only editing text files, so that I can edit, say, seven files simultaneously without it being troublesome to switch between them);
- Accommodates multiple encodings (ASCII, UTF-8, etc.);
- Allows conversion of line break types (Windows, Unix, etc.);
- Preferably toggles easily back and forth between word wrap "on" and off"
I'm using JEdit (a Java text editor) at the moment, and it comes fairly close, but not close enough that I wouldn't prefer something better. I've downloaded and tested several other editors, and I'd rather not go through another 50 before finding what I need. Anyone know what's out there that fits my requirements?
Showing posts with label Macintosh. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Macintosh. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Karen de Coster and Linux
Please note up front that I didn't name this article "Karen de Coster versus Linux." There's a reason for that. Following the arc of the thing from her article on PC versus Mac to her Open Letter to Linux Geeks to Jim Davidson's Facebook Note in response to that letter, I don't see that there's really a fight to be picked here.
I do think that she has a view of Linux which I've seen elsewhere. It's a view I had myself for a few years after trying to get Red Hat 7 up and running on an old box and finally throwing up my hands back in, oh, 2003 or so. Back then, Linux was still not ready for "everyday computer user prime time." It was a pain in the ass to install, you had to be ready to leap into the command line interface to tweak it and push it around, the choice of apps was much more limited, and if it got messed up you either figured it out yourself or trolled discussion forums looking for a clue (if you could get online, that is). I resolved to avoid Linux at all costs, and would have stuck to that resolution if a virus hadn't eaten my machine alive at a point in time when I desperately needed a working machine right now and happened to have Mandrake Linux install CDs lying around.
As I've said many times since, things have changed. I've installed every version of Windows up through Vista on PCs over the years. The newer distributions of Linux are easier to install and configure than any Windows version since at least as far back as Windows 98 and possibly Windows 95. They're very stable and there's a very good chance you'll never have to leave the GUI and start messing around with command line stuff in the console. The GUIs I've been using (KDE, JWM, IceWM) are at least as intuitive, as attractive and as functional as Windows or Mac OS. There are multiple decent offerings in every broad applications category, and if you really must have a particular Windows app there's a good chance that you can run it in Linux using Wine. Oh, also: Linux doesn't crash as often, and it's free, and frankly the available user support for it is, in my opinion, very competitive with what's out there for Windows.
BUT!
That doesn't mean you're a snob if you don't run Linux.
Karen de Coster runs a business, invests a lot of time and effort in writing, and likes to ride (and, if I recall correctly, tinker with) big-ass motorcycles. She's willing to pay a premium, and can afford to pay that premium, for a computer and an operating system that do what she needs them to do without a steep learning curve and/or investment of a lot of time learning their ropes. She wants to run her business, write her essays, and ride her motorcycles, not mess around with her computer.
While I think she's over-estimating the complexity factor with respect to Linux these days, I also think that if I had her priorities and was in her situation, I'd do exactly what she did: Plunk down good money for a Mac and go about my business in the comfortable knowledge that the thing will work and that if it stops working there's a kick-ass support system standing behind it to get it working most ricky-tick and without a bunch of guff.
Over the years I've had to become a very minor league Linux geek -- new Macs are expensive! -- and if Linux distros hadn't improved so rapidly and remarkably, I'd probably have been forced back into Windows hell. Karen de Coster isn't in that position, so the choice she's made is completely understandable (and, of course her choice to make in any case).
As I've mentioned here at KN@PPSTER, I recently had the opportunity to get back into a (used but reasonably modern) Mac myself, and I have to say it's like moving from a decent hotel (indoor pool, continental breakfast) to one of those places with a hot tub in every room and champagne breakfast in bed on demand.
I do think that she has a view of Linux which I've seen elsewhere. It's a view I had myself for a few years after trying to get Red Hat 7 up and running on an old box and finally throwing up my hands back in, oh, 2003 or so. Back then, Linux was still not ready for "everyday computer user prime time." It was a pain in the ass to install, you had to be ready to leap into the command line interface to tweak it and push it around, the choice of apps was much more limited, and if it got messed up you either figured it out yourself or trolled discussion forums looking for a clue (if you could get online, that is). I resolved to avoid Linux at all costs, and would have stuck to that resolution if a virus hadn't eaten my machine alive at a point in time when I desperately needed a working machine right now and happened to have Mandrake Linux install CDs lying around.
As I've said many times since, things have changed. I've installed every version of Windows up through Vista on PCs over the years. The newer distributions of Linux are easier to install and configure than any Windows version since at least as far back as Windows 98 and possibly Windows 95. They're very stable and there's a very good chance you'll never have to leave the GUI and start messing around with command line stuff in the console. The GUIs I've been using (KDE, JWM, IceWM) are at least as intuitive, as attractive and as functional as Windows or Mac OS. There are multiple decent offerings in every broad applications category, and if you really must have a particular Windows app there's a good chance that you can run it in Linux using Wine. Oh, also: Linux doesn't crash as often, and it's free, and frankly the available user support for it is, in my opinion, very competitive with what's out there for Windows.
BUT!
That doesn't mean you're a snob if you don't run Linux.
Karen de Coster runs a business, invests a lot of time and effort in writing, and likes to ride (and, if I recall correctly, tinker with) big-ass motorcycles. She's willing to pay a premium, and can afford to pay that premium, for a computer and an operating system that do what she needs them to do without a steep learning curve and/or investment of a lot of time learning their ropes. She wants to run her business, write her essays, and ride her motorcycles, not mess around with her computer.
While I think she's over-estimating the complexity factor with respect to Linux these days, I also think that if I had her priorities and was in her situation, I'd do exactly what she did: Plunk down good money for a Mac and go about my business in the comfortable knowledge that the thing will work and that if it stops working there's a kick-ass support system standing behind it to get it working most ricky-tick and without a bunch of guff.
Over the years I've had to become a very minor league Linux geek -- new Macs are expensive! -- and if Linux distros hadn't improved so rapidly and remarkably, I'd probably have been forced back into Windows hell. Karen de Coster isn't in that position, so the choice she's made is completely understandable (and, of course her choice to make in any case).
As I've mentioned here at KN@PPSTER, I recently had the opportunity to get back into a (used but reasonably modern) Mac myself, and I have to say it's like moving from a decent hotel (indoor pool, continental breakfast) to one of those places with a hot tub in every room and champagne breakfast in bed on demand.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Mac musings
While we were at Mac HQ the other day, picking up an AC adaptor for Liam's treasured thrift-store PowerBook 165c (thanks to a close family friend, there's loads of software coming his way for that), I noticed what looked like some very good deals on older, "as is" Power Mac G4s.
One of them ($99) was running MacOS 9.x on, I think, a 400MHz processor with 192Mb of RAM. Another ($129) was running OS X on (again, I think) a 500+ MHz processor with 794 Mb of RAM. I almost grabbed that one right then, but it sounded awfully noisy and I was worried the fan was about to blow on it (Wikipedia says that fan noise was a frequent complaint on the G4, though).
Here's the thing, and I'm hoping some of the Mac aficionados who read KN@PPSTER will help me figure it out: I'm starting to think about going back to Mac, but I need to understand what I can expect to get for my (limited) money.
Back when I was a 680x0 and early PowerPC Mac person (original Mac, then an SE, then an SE/30, then a IIci, then a Performa), my personal, informal benchmarking tests gave me a simple rule of thumb: Whatever processor speed the Mac had, multiply it by three for a rough equivalent of how it matched a PC for speed. For example, my old 25MHz 68030 Mac IIci ran about as fast as my 75MHz Pentium Windows 95 Packard Bell unit. When Tamara and I moved in together, she had a 75MHz Mac Performa 6200; it seemed to run competitively with a generic 233 MHz Windows 98 box. My "benchmarks" were things like "how long is it from the time I click the browser icon to the time the window is open, the home page is loading and I can start typing in a URL?"
Question #1: Does that rule of thumb remain true for later models? If I put a 500MHz G4 on my desktop, can I expect it to run about as fast as a 1.5GHz Windows box?
Next, peripherals. I spend a lot of time at my computer, and contrary to all common sense and good advice, I often eat, drink and smoke while sitting there. This means that I go through a lot of keyboards and mice. Some of them I just plain wear out. Others I spill my drink on. Etc., etc. The optical mouse I'm using right now has lasted for more than a year, but I've probably gone through three or four keyboards in that time.
One of the nice things about the "standard PC platform" is that I can walk into just about any department store and walk out with a decent keyboard or mouse for ~$10 or less. When I'm at a thrift store, I often pick up a stack of keyboards for a buck or two apiece, stick them in the closet, and find out if they work the next time I need a new keyboard.
Question #2: Can the G4 PowerMacs work with "standard PC platform" keyboards and mice (I know that the ones I've seen will accept a standard VGA monitor instead of requiring the Mac brand)? Or do I have to buy proprietary Mac stuff? If the latter, how pricy is it?
I've been looking around lackadaisically for awhile, and I'm finally getting ready to jump. My exquisite, but becoming somewhat obsolete (256Mb of RAM) Shuttle PC, a fantastic machine in the couple of years I've had it (handed down to me by The Hogarth), is starting to act weird. I'm getting strange crashes and haven't figured out if I've somehow accidentally pranged the Puppy Linux install, or if the hardware is starting to go.
I think I can find a "standard PC" with a 1.5MHz+ processor and 1-2Gb of RAM for $100-$200 -- format the hard drive, install a nice Linux distro, and I'm good to go.
On the other hand, If I can find a Mac in a similar or better price range that I can expect to perform just as well, and if the peripherals aren't going to nickel-and-dime me to death, I might go that way instead. I'd definitely want OS X (actually, I'd like dual boot, OS X and OS 9, but I don't know if that's doable and it's not a dealbreaker).
I'm not too worried about applications. If I have a good web browser and a decent text editor, everything else is gravy.
Advise in comments, please!
Update -- bonus question: I'm not that much of a game player, but I do like me some Starcraft now and again. It's been ages since I've played (seemed to run slow on my Linux box using Wine). Will it run in OS X?
One of them ($99) was running MacOS 9.x on, I think, a 400MHz processor with 192Mb of RAM. Another ($129) was running OS X on (again, I think) a 500+ MHz processor with 794 Mb of RAM. I almost grabbed that one right then, but it sounded awfully noisy and I was worried the fan was about to blow on it (Wikipedia says that fan noise was a frequent complaint on the G4, though).
Here's the thing, and I'm hoping some of the Mac aficionados who read KN@PPSTER will help me figure it out: I'm starting to think about going back to Mac, but I need to understand what I can expect to get for my (limited) money.
Back when I was a 680x0 and early PowerPC Mac person (original Mac, then an SE, then an SE/30, then a IIci, then a Performa), my personal, informal benchmarking tests gave me a simple rule of thumb: Whatever processor speed the Mac had, multiply it by three for a rough equivalent of how it matched a PC for speed. For example, my old 25MHz 68030 Mac IIci ran about as fast as my 75MHz Pentium Windows 95 Packard Bell unit. When Tamara and I moved in together, she had a 75MHz Mac Performa 6200; it seemed to run competitively with a generic 233 MHz Windows 98 box. My "benchmarks" were things like "how long is it from the time I click the browser icon to the time the window is open, the home page is loading and I can start typing in a URL?"
Question #1: Does that rule of thumb remain true for later models? If I put a 500MHz G4 on my desktop, can I expect it to run about as fast as a 1.5GHz Windows box?
Next, peripherals. I spend a lot of time at my computer, and contrary to all common sense and good advice, I often eat, drink and smoke while sitting there. This means that I go through a lot of keyboards and mice. Some of them I just plain wear out. Others I spill my drink on. Etc., etc. The optical mouse I'm using right now has lasted for more than a year, but I've probably gone through three or four keyboards in that time.
One of the nice things about the "standard PC platform" is that I can walk into just about any department store and walk out with a decent keyboard or mouse for ~$10 or less. When I'm at a thrift store, I often pick up a stack of keyboards for a buck or two apiece, stick them in the closet, and find out if they work the next time I need a new keyboard.
Question #2: Can the G4 PowerMacs work with "standard PC platform" keyboards and mice (I know that the ones I've seen will accept a standard VGA monitor instead of requiring the Mac brand)? Or do I have to buy proprietary Mac stuff? If the latter, how pricy is it?
I've been looking around lackadaisically for awhile, and I'm finally getting ready to jump. My exquisite, but becoming somewhat obsolete (256Mb of RAM) Shuttle PC, a fantastic machine in the couple of years I've had it (handed down to me by The Hogarth), is starting to act weird. I'm getting strange crashes and haven't figured out if I've somehow accidentally pranged the Puppy Linux install, or if the hardware is starting to go.
I think I can find a "standard PC" with a 1.5MHz+ processor and 1-2Gb of RAM for $100-$200 -- format the hard drive, install a nice Linux distro, and I'm good to go.
On the other hand, If I can find a Mac in a similar or better price range that I can expect to perform just as well, and if the peripherals aren't going to nickel-and-dime me to death, I might go that way instead. I'd definitely want OS X (actually, I'd like dual boot, OS X and OS 9, but I don't know if that's doable and it's not a dealbreaker).
I'm not too worried about applications. If I have a good web browser and a decent text editor, everything else is gravy.
Advise in comments, please!
Update -- bonus question: I'm not that much of a game player, but I do like me some Starcraft now and again. It's been ages since I've played (seemed to run slow on my Linux box using Wine). Will it run in OS X?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)