Re: [PLUG] OT: Web development on an iPad

[Walt Mankowski <waltman@pobox.com>]

On Tue, May 22, 2012 at 07:50:01AM -0400, Eric at Lucii.org wrote:
> At the last PLUG Central meeting we discussed a wide range of topics
> - some were even related to Linux and open source!  This happened
> because we had no speaker (and because there were only 6 of us at
> the meeting.)
> 
> Despite the lack of a main speaker I really enjoyed the meeting!
> You should have been there.  Nah, on second thought, it would have
> spoiled the effect.
> 
> One topic that came up was the use of tablet and mobile devices for
> doing "real work."  Several of us observed that IOS and Android
> applications are never developed on the actual device but instead on
> a Mac, Linux, or Windows laptop or workstation.  Others felt that
> the trend was clear - desktop workstations were being replaced by
> tablets and mobile devices.
> 
> I'm in the former camp.  I think that these mobile devices suffer
> from a couple of major faults that limit their usefulness as a
> development platform: small(er) screen size and the lack of a
> keyboard.  Clearly there are add-on devices to address these
> limitations but, in my opinion, they convert the mobile device into
> a sort-of desktop computer.
> 
> I recalled our discussion this morning when I became aware of "Diet
> Coda"[1] web development software for the iPad.  It turns out that I
> have their earlier product, Coda, on my Mac.  Coda is great web
> development software and if I was not addicted to Linux as my
> primary development platform I'd be using Coda on the Mac all the
> time.
> 
> It appears that the "mobile device as a development platform" crowd
> is about to get a big push forward.
> 
> I remain unconvinced - but less so than I was yesterday.

There was just an article in Linux Journal a few months ago about
using an iPad as a Linux development platform.  You can read it online
at http://www.linuxjournal.com/content/swap-your-laptop-ipad-linode

I've also heard news that more development tools such as programming
editors are being designed to run natively on the iPad.  I don't know
how well they work, for the reasons you indicated.  But as more and
more people get these devices and want to use them as their main
system, I expect to see this trend continue.

Walt

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