I spent the past couple of days exploring Ubuntu and since I came away pretty impressed, I wanted to blog my thoughts. The reason this came about was that I had just upgraded some parts to my computer and I was doing a fresh reinstall of Vista (it runs BEAUTIFULLY on the new hardware). While waiting for the install process I read this months Maximum PC and it had an article on getting started with Linux. It seemed pretty easy and since I now had an extra hard drive, I figured I’d give it a shot.

The install went very well. I had to use the “graphics safe mode” when you boot off the CD but other than that, it worked normally. Once in Ubuntu, I was actually pretty surprised how easy it was to install software. The Add/Remove Programs on Ubuntu is very good and make installing things simple. The Maximum PC article went over how to install the “Restricted Software” (things like Flash Player, Java, etc) and it went off without a hitch. The only problems I ran into where when I tried to install my Nvidia drivers. But here Linux actually helped me more than Vista. I had forgotten to plug auxiliary power into my graphics card which Ubuntu detected on startup. Vista just lowered my graphics card “Vista experience score” and I couldn’t figure out why. Once I plugged that in, Ubuntu booted back up just fine (and my Vista score went up).
So up to this point, I loved Ubuntu. Then I tried to install software that wasn’t included or listed in the Add/Removes program files and figured out why Linux is still for the geeks. I had to Google things a LOT and figure out how to convert .rpm packages to .deb packages so I could install them. I still haven’t figured out how to compile apps from source code, but maybe I’ll figure that out next week. Here’s how I see the learning curve for Ubuntu:

Initially, everything is very easy. It’s easy to install, easy to get started and easy to do things like email, browse the web and use everyday applications. Once you get beyond that however, it gets very difficult very quickly. But overall I really enjoy using it. As a kid who grew up with DOS I really like using the terminal for more tasks. It’s also amazing to see how many different projects there are out there. Beryl is the desktop manager I’m using and it’s a slick bit of software. Ubuntu can’t compete with Vista in my opinion. I just like Vista more (and I know how to use it), but I do suggest that everyone take a chance to play in the Ubuntu sandbox. If nothing else you can just boot from the Live CD and give it a whirl without having to install anything.

[tags]Ubuntu, Linux[/tags]

I’m on “vacation” this week before I start at Adobe (Tuesday the 29th) so I’ve been kind of bad about keeping up on things while I spend time doing little projects that I probably won’t have time for when I start (more on that later). But it’s been hard to miss just how gigantically Flash, Flex and Apollo have loomed over the past couple of days.

The first example is the Digg API contest. Now the fact that these are Flash isn’t really newsworthy, but what is very interesting is the combination of Apollo and Flex that were used to create a lot of these. TechCrunch has a wrap up of the Apollo versions and it’s really great to see an alpha product get traction like this. Not to mention that people seem to be embracing “beyond the browser”. Josh Tynjala also submitted an entry that was done with Flex 2 and it’s very cool.

Then we saw the announcement of Facebook’s platform yesterday and I was thrilled to see a bunch of Flash applications like Picnik and Scrapblog that are launch partners for Facebook. In some ways I think these are “mini-RIAs” (which is cool) and they do a great job of adding important, application-like functionality to Facebook. I also think this could be very significant to mainstream RIA adoption as Facebook users start to realize how cool things like these and Popfly are.

It’s been a good week but I’m looking forward to getting started on Tuesday. Right now I’m configuring a Linux install I just did, so I’ve been trying to have some fun this week

[tags]Flash, Flex, Apollo, Facebook, Digg[/tags]

Since I’m starting at Adobe on Tuesday I thought it would be a good idea to add the full Adobe Blogs RSS feed to my feedreader so I can keep up with what else is going on inside the company. Because I’ve been following Macromedia blogs so long I had unfortunately gotten used to partial text feeds. But the Adobe blog feed is all full text so you can quickly and easily get all of the info from every blog at Adobe.

MSDN Blogs is the same way, so it was very cool to see both of these companies “get it”. Now I want to see more ex-Macromedia people move over to the Adobe blog system so I can follow them more easily. It’s a *fairly* low traffic feed, so if you’re interested, it’s worth subscribing to the whole thing.

[tags]Adobe, Microsoft, Blogging[/tags]

I think a lot of us have seen Ely Greenfield’s Display Shelf component, which gives the same iTunes-like interface, but I found this flash example on digg and thought it was pretty cool. The author is using Papervision3D and Tweener to recreate the library visualization with a few extra bits. It’s got some very cool polish. What I thought was interesting is that while this uses Papervision3D, Ely got very close to the same thing with Flex.

Also, I apologize for the lack of pictures. For some reason CS2 decided that I needed to reactivate it, but I’m out of activations. I’m doing a format/reinstall of my computer today so I decided I wouldn’t worry about it yet.

[tags]Papervision3D, Tweener, Flash[/tags]

It sounds like there is a lot of buzz around Flex and the Salesforce’s Apex Developer Platform. James Ward of Flex Evangelist fame has been at the Salesforce Developer Conference in Santa Clara this week and he said there were some great Salesforce applications and that his session had about 250 people. I also heard the Birds of a Feather for Flex and Apollo was really crowded.

The Flex Toolkit for Apex seems to be a huge hit. Salesforce is such a giant player and they’ve built a rock solid back end. As James mentioned, with Flex and Apollo people are able to build equally powerful front ends for what ends up being a full picture. James has a screenshot of an Apollo application built on top of Salesforce and you can download the application over at his blog.

It looks like we’re going to have some great case studies and examples of how RIAs can enhance something like Salesforce by brining a better user experience.

[tags]Salesforce, Flex, Apollo, Apex[/tags]

This isn’t really RIA related, but I’ve been playing with Spock, a “people search engine” the past few days and for the most part, I’m pretty impressed (TechCrunch review here). Except for not being able to merge my actual profile with the one that it automagically generated for me based on my LinkedIn profile, it’s been a smooth ride.

If you want to try it out, I’ve got 3 invites. Just leave a comment (type your real email address into the box, it won’t show on the site).

[tags]Spock[/tags]

I saw this while reading feeds, so I’m not sure if it’s old or filled, but it looks like we’re hiring an Apollo Experience Designer. It sounds like a fun job for people who want to make building Rich Internet Applications with Apollo better:

The designer in this position will help define the user experiences associated with developing and running Apollo applications, as well as helping to design reference applications built on the Apollo platform. Therefore, the ideal candidate is a exceptional visual and interaction designer with extensive Flash and/or Flex experience. You have experience designing and building world-class rich internet applications.

There are a lot of other Apollo-related jobs open it looks like. Searching the job page for Apollo brings up quite a few jobs.

[tags]Adobe, Apollo, Job[/tags]

I was reading Dare Obasanjo’s post Understanding Apollo which led me to a post by Harry Pierson about Silverlight. Harry’s post touched a bit on the “platform competition” that is brewing between Adobe and Microsoft. But I tend to think the “competition” is a bit overblown as Adobe and Microsoft are taking two very, very different strategies as they expand their respective platforms. There is definitely starting to be some overlap in the two platforms, but I think we’re targeting different types of developers.

Rich Internet Applications are the latest battleground partly because they blend the web and the desktop, but for right now, they’re just one part of a wider picture that encompasses desktops, the web, devices and everything in between. Microsoft has always had a strong desktop developer base with Windows. Adobe/Macromedia targeted the web early on and focused on using Flash to expand the experience on the web.

Microsoft wants to move onto the web, and they should, the web is great. They’re doing that by taking their desktop knowledge and bringing some of that to the web environment. Things like the .NET framework, XAML and their media codecs come from a desktop-centric world. This gives Microsoft developers a huge new sandbox to play in. If you’ve been doing desktop development on Microsoft’s platform, you now can take those skills to the web.

Adobe is taking their web mentality and using Apollo to give web developers a way to deploy desktop applications. I feel pretty safe in saying that Apollo isn’t targeted at desktop developers, it’s targeted at web developers. The cross-platform nature, the core technologies, the easy install – all of it is meant to behave a lot like the web does so that web developers will feel at home. We (Adobe) want to give those web developers a bigger sandbox to play in just as Microsoft wants to give desktop developers an easy way to deploy to the web.

Sure there will be some overlap, and part of the “battle” is trying to get new developers to the platform, but I think the line breaks pretty clearly between different developer types and methods. The differences between the actual technologies are going to get smaller I think, so part of the reason to choose a platform should be what appeals to your particular view of development. As a web developer, I think Adobe has a good strategy (that’s part of the reason I went to work for them). I love the openness of the web and the creativity that it’s let loose. I like that Adobe is trying to enhance that and bring it to the wider world of software.

Disclosure: I’m now working for Adobe as a Rich Internet Application Evangelist on the Platform Team. I’m employeed by Adobe but the thoughts here on my blog are my own.

[tags]Adobe, Microsoft, Rich Internet Applications, Development, Platform, Silverlight, Flash, Apollo[/tags]

Little known fact: when I started this blog I wanted to talk about the convergence of technology and the outdoors (hence the name DigitalBackcountry). Then I started building RIAs and jumped in head first as a RIA blogger. I thought about this blogs’ origins though when I read this story over at the BBC about a British climber making a phone call from the summit of Everest and also setting the record for the highest text message.

I’ve always tried to let technology be a part of everything I do. I once had Ciara help me sew together a case made of Gore-Tex fabric for my PocketPC so I could take it with me when we went backpacking. The interfaces that come with that technology range from great to terrible. As a developer, one of the first reasons I got so hooked on Rich Internet Applications was that they provided me an easy way to create interfaces that were way above what you could do on the web to that point. Now that RIAs encompass technologies that run on a variety of devices, the story is even more compelling.

I want my software to give me an experience that feels perfect and natural. I want that software experience to be tailored for the device I’m on. Finally, I want it to be easy for me to help create it. To me, that’s the power of Rich Internet Applications. They make those things possible.

[tags]Everest, Rich Internet Applications[/tags]

Donna Bogatin has a post today about Google and Microsoft fighting it out for talent in Seattle and it got me thinking. The main Google office is in Kirkland, which is across Lake Washington from me (Redmond, where Microsoft is located is also across the lake).  But there is a Google office in Fremont that some of the employees try to work from every once in a while (it’s much easier to get to from downtown than the Kirkland office). Adobe has an office right across the street from Google in Fremont. Hopefully that means I’ll run into a lot of smart Google engineers at lunches and happy hours. Those guys are always fun to talk technology with so I’m hoping for some brain-expanding chat from the Google side of the street.

But I won’t be able to partake in any of the delights of the Googleplex of course. Maybe just live vicariously through the Google employees.

Disclosure: I’m now working for Adobe as an evangelist on the Platform Team. I’m employed by Adobe but my opinions on this blog are my own.

[tags]Google, Adobe, Fremont, Seattle[/tags]