Arch Linux

sbogde

Member

Registered: 2009-06-29

Posts: 1

php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

Hi,

I am a php/mysq programmer & I'd like to completely get rid of windows and switch to linux.

I am mainly using these:
- zend dev environment/php editor
- browsers: ie, ff, safari
- a web localhost - apache, php, mysql
- sometimes adobe photoshop - screenshots, basic image manipulation

considering all these what linux distribution do you think I should use?

are there any php/mysql programmers that work in linux only?

I am really looking forward to hearing from you guys.

thank you.

marxav

Member

From: Gatineau, PQ, Canada

Registered: 2006-09-24

Posts: 386

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

If you are not afraid of command prompt, you will certainly enjoy.  If you are not familiar with linux, learning curve may be sharp.  If you have installed Arch arleady, you can get started with what you want to very easily.  You should check the wiki for stuff like LAMP (http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/LAMP).  I switched to Linux in 2002 and no regret whatsoever.  My main reason for switching was actually because I wanted to do some programming and networking stuff.

Ranguvar

Member

Registered: 2008-08-12

Posts: 2,549

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

- zend dev environment/php editor

Emacs, Vim, Eclipse (different plugins), and Netbeans are all possible replacements. Zend appears to work with Linux, but I wouldn't know how to get it working in Arch.

- browsers: ie, ff, safari

Firefox works in GNU/Linux, IE and Safari you will need Wine for (Windows Safari in Wine) or virtual machines.

- a web localhost - apache, php, mysql

All good.

- sometimes adobe photoshop - screenshots, basic image manipulation

Photoshop works in Wine, with less compatibility as you go from CS1 up to CS4 (though the latter will still work, mostly). For your purposes, it sounds as though the GIMP or a derivative would do fine.

considering all these what linux distribution do you think I should use?

It doesn't sound as though you need Arch, Arch is more for those who really want to tinker, or really "have it their way" mostly. Pretty much any distro will do what you want... I'd look at Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS, and Debian.

are there any php/mysql programmers that work in linux only?

I am sure there are.

arkham

Member

From: Stockholm

Registered: 2008-10-26

Posts: 516

Website

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

I don't see many problems for a php/mysql developer in the Linux environment: apache, mysql and php are really easy to setup, there is a great number of editors/environments and wine does a pretty good job for IE.

Although, if you have never tried Linux before, probably ubuntu is the best distro you can try right now; if you will stick with linux and if you'll feel the urge of trying something more advanced, Arch will be still here waiting

---

"I'm Winston Wolfe. I solve problems."

~ Need moar games? [arch-games] ~ [aurcheck] AUR haz updates? ~

Vladman

Member

Registered: 2009-01-28

Posts: 118

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

I guess I would be one
Did the switch last year to mint, was a pain to get lamp working.
Arch is better in that department as there are only few files to edit.
I don't do a lot of php coding, mostly use text editor for my needs, same for html.

If your server is running on ubuntu then maybe you better off using that or what ever distro it is.
This way you get more familiar with your working server.

Photshop 7 works in wine for me, a bit buggy but not bad.

Also, I have learned more about linux by just installing arch then any other distro.
Give it a try, you might like it.

Great comunity here, always willing to help.

dr0p

Member

From: Seattle, WA, USA

Registered: 2008-06-11

Posts: 120

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

Although it's not my job, I do PHP / MySQL dev all of the time on my laptop. As my editor I use vim (it will take some getting used to, but it's a nice editor). Personally I don't use IE/Safari ever but I'm sure they would run just fine through wine. Apache/PHP/MySQL are super easy to setup, just see the wiki article about them. For your purposes, the GIMP will be a fine replacement for photoshop and if not, it does run through wine without too many problems.

---

Arch i686 User
xmonad :: xmobar :: urxvt :: vim

barjo

Member

Registered: 2006-02-20

Posts: 33

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

Any distro will do the job. Applications is what matters.

I don't care much about IE personally. if my code make sens, is valid, and render correctly in 3 major engines (Firefox, Midori, Opera), I consider my job done. IE8 is still behind for (not so) recent tech, but it finally get the very basics quite right, in my experience at least.
Using the gimp for graphics here, it does the job for me, but I am a dev, not a web designer;

Changing development environment can be a real frustration.
I'm a linux user for some years now and I had to use windows for my job. In Linux, my whole desktop is the development workspace,  never seen the point of an IDE. In windows, I had no choice but using some sort of IDE and I even want more functions integrated in it. Since a decent cli is a far dream and more than 5 windows is a barely manageable concept in Windows, you end up wanting a "thing" cover of panels with a giant "tools" menu .

If you have to heavily rely on Wine to work, I doubt your experience of linux will be that good though.

Last edited by barjo (2009-06-29 23:23:33)

whoops

Member

Registered: 2009-03-19

Posts: 891

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

Hi!

I'd really recommend you to use gimp for a while (2 months minimum ) before you go any further. That's the only way to find out, if the things you are doing with photoshop can just as well be done with gimp. Don't count on wine, if you need photoshop. Imho that's more like an extra for people who only just "like having photoshop"

Last edited by whoops (2009-06-29 23:38:14)

ralvez

Member

From: Canada

Registered: 2005-12-06

Posts: 1,694

Website

Re: php/mysq programmer moving to linux?

I've been a web developer, for a living, for years now (+/- 13) and abut 10 of those years using Linux.
Arch is a fine choice of Linux, easy to set up and has plenty of good choice of software for web development.
To set up your LAMP you just do "pacman apache php mysql" and edit /etc/httpd/conf/httpd.conf and /etc/php/php.ini
... I think there is a guide in the wiki for that. Check for LAMP in the wiki.

The tools I find useful:

MySQL Query Browser (which is part of the mysql-guy-tools) and MySQL Workbench

For PHP, Python, JavaScrilpt I like Netbeans (you can also do MySQL and I use it a lot to write stored procedures).
For HTML I like Quanta Plus.
For CSS editing: CSSEd.

For the very few things I need to use Windows (usually browser compatibility testing or ActionScript) I installed VirtualBox  with Windows XP Pro.

And that's pretty much it.

Hope this helps.

R.

p.s: With regard to browsers I use Firefox 3.5 and Opera in Linux