Java Hair

Everytime I install an OS on a new machine there is a list of software that I install that I find I can’t live without.  I guess I could actually technically survive, but my life would be a shell of what it used to be.  When I decided to make the switch to Ubuntu from Vista, it was no different, and actually the list didn’t even need to change too much.

1. Firefox - First off, the browser.  Windows or Linux, I always go with Mozilla’s Firefox.  For some of my work I need to use IE to make sure a web application may look okay in both browsers, but if I’m just browsing, I use Firefox.  Of course, if I’m doing more than browsing, like programming javascript or updating CSS or figuring out some DHTML, then I’m still using Firefox, but this time with some plug ins or add-ons such as Web Developer and Firebug.

2. Pidgin - Next, I need to be able to communicate.  We use a couple of different IM clients including Skype and AIM and I have a few friends on both Yahoo Messenger and GoogleTalk.  So, while I use Skype on my laptop and I have Trillian installed there, typically in the office I’ll use an IM client on my desktop, and for Ubuntu, this has been Pidgin so far.  I’m new to using it, but so far, I like it.

3. Filezilla - Another bit of software that I use on both Windows and Linux is Filezilla.  While Linux certainly includes FTP and SFTP and all the protocols I could want, I still like Filezilla for it’s ease of use.

4. JDK - Since I spend a lot of time writing or reviewing Java code, I need a JDK installed.  Typically, I’ll install the latest JDK.

5. Eclipse - When coding, Eclipse is my IDE of choice, unless it’s ADF work that I’m doing.

6. JDeveloper - As I mentioned in my last post, I just installed JDeveloper.  JDeveloper might not be my first choice for straight up Java coding, but you really can’t do anything in ADF without it, so JDeveloper needs to be on my machine somewhere.

7.  Netbeans - Yea, I know, I already have 2 IDE’s installed, so why a 3rd?  Well, for two things, one, I been playing around a lot with Java FX and the preview panel in Netbeans is invaluable.  Secondly, I’ve recently been doing some XML modeling, and the best free tools I found for that are plugins to Netbeans.

8. VMPlayer - We have a demo environment that we use a lot and a couple of database installs, one is XE on a Windows machine and one is an Oracle development environment in Oracle Unbreakable Linux.  I like to have these on whichever machine I am using, so I have them in virtual machines that I can use with VMPlayer.  Very convenient.

9. Rev - Obviously if I started a software company, I think our products are useful.  So Rev is always with me for quickly creating CRUD applications that we may need.

10.  Synergy - One of my favorite programs ever, Synergy is a small application that allows you to share one keyboard and mouse across multiple machines and montitors.  For example, my set up right now inlcudes my laptop which runs Windows XP and has a nice little docking station with a 21″ LCD, to the right of that are 2 more slightly smaller LCD’s which are both connected to my workstation which is now running Ubuntu.  With Synergy, when I move my mouse off the right edge of my laptop’s monitor, it seamlessly moves to the left edge of my workstation’s monitor and I can now use my workstation.  I’ve been using Synergy for years now and if you are using more than one computer at your desk, I cannot reccomend it enough.

11.  OpenOffice - While I use Microsoft Office on my laptop for consistency and because I have noticed a couple quirks in OpenOffice that prevent me from making a document or presentation look exactly how I want it in both OpenOffice and Microsoft Office, I always install OpenOffice on my workstation.  This saves me a large amount of money and still lets me create and view documents on my workstation if I need to.

There are a couple other tools that I install if it’s a Windows machine or my laptop.

My laptop needs e-mail and up until a few weeks ago, that was always Microsoft Outlook.  Outlook is okay as an e-mail client and it let’s me set up appointments easily, but since we don’t have an Exchange server, I am certainly not tied to it and after a while it has gotten really excruciatingly slow upon startup.  Maybe because I have so many messages in my local inbox, I’m not sure, whatever it is, it even got to the point where it would hang starting up and I would have to force close it and start it again, practically everyday.  So, I made the switch to Mozilla’s Thunderbird and I haven’t looked back.  I probably should have done it a long time ago.

For IM, I use Trillian and Skype on Windows.  Until Trillian has seamless integration with Skype, I guess that is the way it will have to be.  Trillain is another great product, even the free version is great for integrating various IM services.

Ultraedit has been my text editor of choice in Windows, I bought a license a couple times and I haven’t regretted it, but I think Notepad2 isn’t so bad either so since Ultraedit is on my laptop, Notepad2 goes on any other Windows machine I may have (or VM).

Oracle XE - I do a lot of work with Oracle and Oracle XE is a nice lightweight db that lets me develop on my workstation. I must admit however, that I am somewhat stubborn and I long ago vowed that I would never install any Oracle database directly on my primary OS, so even if it is XE, I run it in a VM.  Less services running that way and then it’s only taking up resources when I need it.

Oracle SQL Developer - I have been a long time fan of Quest’s TOAD product for doing PL/SQL and SQL work in an Oracle database, but since SQL Developer was released and is free, and connects to a multitude of databases, i’ve been using it for a while now.

PuTTY - a great free ssh client for Windows, always goes with me.

VNC - Synergy isn’t going to help you connect to a machine with no monitor or a monitor in another room, so if it’s a Window’s machine, I’ll use Remote Desktop, but if it’s a Linux machine, I use VNC.

Google Desktop - I just love the search feature in Google Desktop.  I don’t use the sidebar anymore, but I keep it for the searching.  My laptop tends to have so many documents and e-mails that the search provided by Windows just wasn’t cutting it and while the index file that Google Desktp creates is rather large, I can’t use my laptop without it.

So that list turned out to be longer than I expected.  Hopefully you’ll find something useful on it.  If you have any suggestions of software that make your life easier, let me know.  One other wonderful application on Ubuntu is the package manager which makes finding and installing all types of software a breeze, I can’t help but wonder when Microsoft is going to hop on that bandwagon and make something as useful.

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