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Domino Designer Platform(s)

There's a big discussion about what platforms Domino Designer should run on. Currently it is Windows only. The contenders are Linux and OS/X. There's a catch: every new platform will slow development down in creating new functionality. I think with the current machine generation one platform will be enough: Linux. Make Designer a first class citizen on Linux and then package this into a VM that can play on any other platform. Since there isn't a license issue with Linux and we could strip down the VM content to run fast. VM players are available for free from VMWare or VirtualBox. I'm using VirtualBox and love it. This way we can eat our cake and have it too. Designer on all platforms without slowing the development team down.

Posted by Stephan H Wissel on 20 January 2009 | Comments (6) | categories: Lotusphere

Comments

posted by Theo Heselmans on Wednesday 21 January 2009 AD:
If I look around at LS, I see a lot of Macs being used. Call me stupid, but if we would get Designer for Linux, wouldn't it also work on Mac OS ??
I do hope so: 2 flies with 1 beat.
posted by Erik on Wednesday 21 January 2009 AD:
Hmm...there are several functions in Lotus Notes and Domino Designer that are only available on Windows. I wonder how you would develop and test a Notes app that makes use of Win32 specific features, needs to provide integration with other Win32 apps, etc. if Domino Designer only runs on Linux.
posted by Tony Palmer on Wednesday 21 January 2009 AD:
Great idea, I'd love that - make perfect sense to me. I currently do all my java development in a ubuntu VM. Not sure how many corporates security and risk departments would allow that type of scenario - so it could be an issue.
posted by John Foldager on Friday 23 January 2009 AD:
@1 Erik, what about Java native interfaces for Linux... these can't be tested on Windows ;o) What about running and testing applications for IBM i (AS/400)? It's time for people to realize that there are multiple alternatives in the field that has nothing to do with Windows.

That said, I hope that IBM will release a Designer AND Administrator client that runs on all Windows, all Linux and all Mac OS/X's.
posted by Bob Obringer/NYC/NHL on Sunday 20 December 2009 AD:
I'm not sure this needs to be a question of number of platforms vs. new enhancements. It's a matter of planning. If IBM decides Designer should be nothing more than a series of eclipse "plug ins" we would have this functionality across all platforms. Currently, I do my Rails, Jetty, JavaScript, SVN, SQL and even an LDAP browser in eclipse. The ONLY other client I need is Designer, and there is no reason I can't just switch to a Designer perspective to get to all my Domino stuff.
posted by Stephan H. Wissel on Sunday 20 December 2009 AD:
@Bob eventually it will be that way. Until then there is a lot of C++ Domino Designer core that has not been tested on other platforms. Once (if ever) everything is a native Eclipse plug-in platform shouldn't be an issue anymore. For the moment I rather see new functions in Designer than a new platform.