10 ms·

Remotely tunneling to a server using an iPad Pro for programming

64 points by TheArcane 9y ago

therealmarv 9y ago
With Android and Termux you will also have offline support more. But from my experience: Better buy a good ultra portable Intel CPU notebook from/with a brand/os of your choice. There will be a time where you need to install something which only runs locally.
0x006A 9y ago
can you work with those keyboards without a table, like put it on your lap?
- eludwig 9y ago
  No, not really, or at least, not comfortably. I tried this with my 12.9 (with the same keyboard, the foldable one) for a few days on the train and it is possible to balance it on your lap while sitting nicely with your legs bent at the knee at a 90ish degree angle, feet flat on the floor. The keyboard is stiff enough as long as the gulf between your legs isn't too wide. The problem is that any shifting around can cause this set to move and tip. It just doesn't feel long-term stable. It is possible to do it for a few minutes, say, to reply to an email. That said, the keyboard is really nice to type on and is really easy to get used to. I know these things are very subjective.
- brightrhino 9y ago
  The Logitech Create keyboard/case [0] for the 12.9 iPad Pro works great on my lap. The new Logitech Slim Combo case/keyboard [1] has a removable keyboard that doesn't work well on a lap but makes using it as a tablet easier. Both keyboards are backlit and I like typing on them. [0] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/create-ipad-pro-keyboard?crid=1762 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/create-ipad-pro-keybo... [1] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/slimcombo?crid=1762 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/slimcombo?crid=1762
dogruck 9y ago
I would summarize the answer as "it's surprising how much programming you can do, but it's not a great setup." (Disclaimer: I love my iPad Pro, and am typing this note from mine.)
otp124 9y ago
So the actual development is all done on a remote server, no local development? In that case, it would appear that this setup would be more classified as a thin client than a “main computer”.
scaryclam 9y ago
Wait, what? This isn't about using an iPad as a development machine, it's about using a server as a development machine and an iPad + keyboard to access said development machine. I get that the author wants to use his iPad for day-to-day stuff, and that's fine, but it's a stretch to say it's their main programming machine when it's not actually running the "local" setup. Heck, it would drive me bananas having to stop working every time I went through a tunnel on a train, or didn't have reliable connection to my VPN. Kind of destroys the point of a local environment.
- masklinn 9y ago
  Indeed the article is about the ipad as a thin/remote client, not as a "main computer for programming" in any way, shape or form.
- vim_wannabe 9y ago
  Depends on the length of the tunnel since he is using Mosh. Also then there's the Macbook for when you know you are going through some swiss megatunnel. ;)
  - microtheo 9y ago
    Hey, brace yourself, we have 3g coverage in all tunnels in Switzerland!
    - deleted 9y ago
      [deleted]
- TheArcane 9y ago
  > every time I went through a tunnel on a train The author made it seem that mosh would make that a non-issue.
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
  - 9y ago
jlebrech 9y ago
it's looks more like a classic terminal, I bet you get more work done that way
teekert 9y ago
This seems more appropriate as a title: "Using the iPad pro as a screen for my server based programming environment."
DrNuke 9y ago
I use my mini 2 to connect remotely and do some work from my couch or my bed. I cannot see doing this 8 hours a day though.
basilesimon 9y ago
Posts like these are fun. OP, I am now curious about using Docker to manage dotfiles and some installs. Could you tell us more about it, or give some resources to get started?
- vultour 9y ago
  What resources other than the Docker quickstart do you need? He is basically using a VM to contain all of his settings and software.
DigitalSea 9y ago
Should be titled, "I remotely tunnel to a server using my iPad Pro for programming" very misleading. Furthermore to the point: what's the benefit of tunneling to a remote machine for dev work? The latency would suck as would the overall slowness of things, it would drive you insane. You can hammer nails into a piece of wood using a rock, but why would you when you can use a hammer?
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > Furthermore to the point: what's the benefit of tunneling to a remote machine for dev work? You can do it from anywhere; you don't need a powerful local machine; controlling what devs do is easier; etc. 3 of my last 4 contracts have been development on remote machines. It's perfectly fine unless you somehow have abysmal networking (and then you really have bigger problems.)
  - codegladiator 9y ago
    I love to work offline. Sometimes I am most productive when there is no network. > You can do it from anywhere; you don't need a powerful local machine; controlling what devs do is easier; etc. I can do that from my mobile too. There is absolutely no comparision with the "powerful local machine". And yes, you do need a powerful local machine, unless you are just writing text.
  - DigitalSea 9y ago
    In your instance though, it sounds like the development on remote machines was a client choice and not your own? The author is choosing to develop remotely themselves because Docker makes their MacBook get hot and burns their thighs when they don't wear pants. Would have just been easier to buy one of those laptop rests with inbuilt fans than spend money on a monthly server though, right?
    - zimpenfish 9y ago
      > the development on remote machines was a client choice and not your own? I do 90% of my personal development on remote servers too.
rollinDyno 9y ago
I've worked on a similar setup during the last summer. My laptop's battery busted and since I already own a desktop I decided to buy an iPad and SSH into my desktop with Prompt. Prompt is alright although I need to stay active on it due to the iOS app lifecycle constraints. If an application is suspended for more than 10 minutes iOS will kill it, meaning that if I'm working on a different application I'll constantly receive notifications to switch back to Prompt just to reset the death counter. I have also spinned up a jupyter server so whenever I want to work on a notebook I'll SSH into my desktop and start the server. I can then use Safari on iOS to do browser based work. I imagine something similar can work for web developers. React Native developers can also upload their applications to hosting services such as Expo or Codepush and work on mobile applications on the go.
- TheArcane 9y ago
  > If an application is suspended for more than 10 minutes iOS will kill it That sounds ridiculous. Is that still the case with iOS 11? Can you not make an app persistent?
- scribu 9y ago
  Using Prompt to occasionally run a command on a remote server might be tolerable, but I’ve found it very annoying to work in as a Vim user. I’m sure it’s not even the app’s fault, but rather a consequence of how iOS and SSH work.
- bergie 9y ago
  Blink and mosh fix this issue, as with that you can resume sessions even after the app is suspended by the OS. However, this doesn't work perfectly yet: https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/59 https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/59
GEBBL 9y ago
I feel a bit sorry for the author of the article to have put so much effort into fancy graphics and so on when he has completely missed the point. This isn't using your iPad as your main coding device. As someone else said earlier, this is a thin client at best.
- reacweb 9y ago
  IMHO, he has not missed the point. Tablet makers (IOS or Android) are fighting very hard to avoid that tablet becomes a generic versatile computer that you can use the way you want. We can stop fighting. Network is more and more reliable and we can rent very cheaply very good computers in the cloud. I use a bluetooth keyboard, connectbot and tmux to connect regularly to my web server. It works very well and I have more latency from the keyboard than from the network. If your computer (tablet) breaks or is stolen, you do not lose any data. Welcome to the cloud ;-)
gws 9y ago
The show-stopper for me of all these set-ups is that you cannot sit on a sofa with your legs crossed and the machine on your lap which is by far the most comfortable setting for me
- Finnucane 9y ago
  http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/desks/desk-computer-desks/byllan-laptop-support-majviken-multicolour-white-art-30278242/ http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/desks/desk-computer-desks...
- deepGem 9y ago
  It's a very comfortable position, but not for the cervical spine. I just had an injury that according to the doc was because of this posture. I don't believe it though. Anyways, try not to sit in this position for long durations. The injury isn't fatal but will leave you with shooting pain in your arms and shoulders for weeks.
  - speedplane 9y ago
    If slouching in a chair for long durations is harmful, I would have had serious problems by now. I haven't met a chair I didn't love to slouch in. That said, I did twist out my back last year. My doc said ti was due to sports, but who knows.
cm2187 9y ago
The title should really say "Using an ipad to be able to develop in one's underwear"... Outside of this key element, there is really no upside over using a laptop!
- zimpenfish 9y ago
  > Outside of this key element, there is really no upside over using a laptop! From the article: > Even though the MacBook's retina display is a really great display, the iPad Pro's display is another big step up. I don't know if it's the Pro Motion, the True Tone or the Wide color (P3) but the iPad Pro display just looks a lot better than my 2015 MacBook Pro's.
  - cm2187 9y ago
    For writing some javascript?
    - zimpenfish 9y ago
      It's what you're looking at whilst doing that, yes.
Lapsa 9y ago
I wish my vim could show ligatures. still - not enough to switch away from simple term
- majewsky 9y ago
  Are you sure that's a problem with vim and not with your terminal (emulator)?
- yuryk 9y ago
  Like this? https://pasteboard.co/GQHSjW7.png https://pasteboard.co/GQHSjW7.png
vim_wannabe 9y ago
Comments here went a bit crazy. Just think of the article as "The iPad Pro as main computing device for programming".
- iddqd 9y ago
  "Remote server as main computing device for programming"
stevenleeg 9y ago
This is awesome! I've been eyeing the ability to use an iPad for a dev device for a while now. As a frontend and react native dev I'm unfortunately still restricted by my need for a good web debugging experience (eg chrome dev tools + react/redux dev tools) and the ability to compile to an iOS device. I can't imagine either of these are coming anytime soon, so for now I'll stick to an old fashioned MacBook Pro. That said, sometimes I wonder if Apple will ever make the plunge and make an iOS version of Xcode. The thought of a mobile version seems scary, and obviously this would only be practical on the iPad, but at the same time if they ever try to make the iPad replace the professional workhorse that the Mac currently is that'd be a natural direction to go in.
0xFFC 9y ago
When you are sshing into server you are using the server, not the local machine (beside the terminal and ssh app itself). Please correct the title.
- darrenf 9y ago
  The "but it's not local and therefore not programming!" style reactions make little sense to me. Programming is an activity; where the code resides or executes doesn't change that fact. How would you have the title "corrected"?
  - josteink 9y ago
    If the title says "using device $X as a main computer for programming", that linguistically entails two things: 1. that "main computer for programming" is the one running the stack and software used for programming and 2. that this device is $X. In this case the main computer for programming is a machine in the cloud ($Y, not $X), and $X is a terminal connecting to the cloud ($Y). The title for this submission is clearly inaccurate and misleading.
    - darrenf 9y ago
      We will have to agree to disagree. When I'm programming, as a backend engineer (like the article's author) I am almost always making use of numerous computers at once: my local hardware, a remote dev instance, remote production instances, databases, etc etc. The one I consider to be "main" is the one I use to input commands, write code, etc. Like the author's iPad Pro.
  - 0xFFC 9y ago
    Did I say it is not programming? Where you got that from?
magoon 9y ago
MacBook 12” works great, has a better keyboard, is probably lighter/smaller than an iPad Pro Why not use that instead?
- eludwig 9y ago
  Of course, the reason is that we wouldn't be talking about an article that described using your laptop to do something that its been doing since the 1990s! ;D But seriously, I think these kinds of articles are great. I love to hear about people's different setups and trying to push what can be done on iPads. Why not? The thing for me is that I absolutely LOVE my iPad (i have an Air2 for general use and a 12.9, mainly for art-related use) and I really, really want my iPads to do more -- to become more "real" work-capable. Why do I want that? I think the reason is because these things are so close to being a single thing to carry around. They are so perfect for certain things (web browsing, email, chat, and many types of gaming) that I would really like to keep expanding that list. I'd love a world where the iPad is the only device I take with me on trips. I also think it's real important for everyone to keep pointing out the glaring flaws of tablets (iPads in particular). In a way, this article just reinforces the fact that the inability to do real, local programming work is a real limiter for a lot of people. Also, my favorite complaint is about just how awful selecting and editing text is. I'd love for Apple to fix these things.
- josteink 9y ago
  If you want to work with Docker (like this guy does)... Using something Linux-friendly is probably better. Like a ThinkPad. Docker is a million times better on Linux than any other platform, so if all the work you do is through Docker, it seems insane not to make that as a base-optimization.
mpweiher 9y ago
Aka: I use an iPad Pro as a terminal.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]
josteink 9y ago
So basically what this guys says is "golden" and good enough reason to warrant buying the most expensive tablet on the market can be summed up as this: 1. iOS 11 now supports very basic multitasking, years after Android (and Windows mobile, if that counts) 2. iOS 11 has support for keyboard-shortcuts, which (you probably guessed it) Android has had full support for at least since Android 3.0 (and we're now at 8). 3. He does no actual local development and has moved his entire development setup into the cloud, rendering the iPad a mere terminal, and thus it as the base-platform utterly irrelevant. The only one who can call the cost-benefit factor of this as a development setup "good", are the ones already so invested in Apple-stuff that they're blinded to everything else. Especially its inherent limitations, not to mention the obscene cost given the limited offering you get. Really: The cheapest chinese Android-tablet you can find... And no, not one of the cheapest. I mean the utterly cheapest of the cheap Android-tablets you can find... Can do all this. At probably 1/20th the cost. And it can run local chroots and native docker-containers too, so you have full offline support. What's offered as an "amazing" experience here is only amazing if you don't consider cost a factor in what you get to work with. And once you do, it's about as far from amazing as you can possibly get, probably worst in class.
dhimes 9y ago
A guy (Mark O'Connor) did this 5 years ago. At the time I had a full dev stack (LAMP, vim, tmux, hg, etc.) on a netbook eee1001 (or whatever it was, the little guys) for portability. I liked my setup way better as I took my dev environment with me. But I would probably go nuts if I had to work on that little screen all the time. http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-for-an-ipad http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-...
scarface74 9y ago
I agree with everyone that is saying that he is not using the iPad Pro as his main computer, howeve I wouldn’t dismiss using an iPad Pro in a similar method with GUI based development. I’ve done remote troubleshooting with Windows environments with nothing more than my iPad and RDP -even remoting in Tony own desktop and using Visual Studio. After seeing how badly running a Windows VM on a Mac laptop kills battery and how cheaply you can setup a VM on Amazon, I will probably just use that for Windows development when I get another a Mac. Then again, I have a gigabit internet up and down at home so maybe not. I could also see using an iPad Pro for a terminal because I have “unlimited” data on my cellular equipped iPad for $20 a mont but I can’t get unlimited fast tethering to a laptop.
dekhn 9y ago
I got a Surface Book 3 for $600 and runs Windows 10. The keyboard detaches, and you can install a full dev environment (Ubuntu Linux).

64 points by TheArcane 9y ago

With Android and Termux you will also have offline support more. But from my experience: Better buy a good ultra portable Intel CPU notebook from/with a brand/os of your choice. There will be a time where you need to install something which only runs locally.

0x006A 9y ago

can you work with those keyboards without a table, like put it on your lap?

eludwig 9y ago
No, not really, or at least, not comfortably. I tried this with my 12.9 (with the same keyboard, the foldable one) for a few days on the train and it is possible to balance it on your lap while sitting nicely with your legs bent at the knee at a 90ish degree angle, feet flat on the floor. The keyboard is stiff enough as long as the gulf between your legs isn't too wide. The problem is that any shifting around can cause this set to move and tip. It just doesn't feel long-term stable. It is possible to do it for a few minutes, say, to reply to an email. That said, the keyboard is really nice to type on and is really easy to get used to. I know these things are very subjective.
brightrhino 9y ago
The Logitech Create keyboard/case [0] for the 12.9 iPad Pro works great on my lap. The new Logitech Slim Combo case/keyboard [1] has a removable keyboard that doesn't work well on a lap but makes using it as a tablet easier. Both keyboards are backlit and I like typing on them. [0] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/create-ipad-pro-keyboard?crid=1762 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/create-ipad-pro-keybo... [1] https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/slimcombo?crid=1762 https://www.logitech.com/en-us/product/slimcombo?crid=1762

dogruck 9y ago

I would summarize the answer as "it's surprising how much programming you can do, but it's not a great setup." (Disclaimer: I love my iPad Pro, and am typing this note from mine.)

otp124 9y ago

So the actual development is all done on a remote server, no local development? In that case, it would appear that this setup would be more classified as a thin client than a “main computer”.

scaryclam 9y ago

Wait, what? This isn't about using an iPad as a development machine, it's about using a server as a development machine and an iPad + keyboard to access said development machine. I get that the author wants to use his iPad for day-to-day stuff, and that's fine, but it's a stretch to say it's their main programming machine when it's not actually running the "local" setup. Heck, it would drive me bananas having to stop working every time I went through a tunnel on a train, or didn't have reliable connection to my VPN. Kind of destroys the point of a local environment.

masklinn 9y ago
Indeed the article is about the ipad as a thin/remote client, not as a "main computer for programming" in any way, shape or form.
vim_wannabe 9y ago
Depends on the length of the tunnel since he is using Mosh. Also then there's the Macbook for when you know you are going through some swiss megatunnel. ;)
- microtheo 9y ago
  Hey, brace yourself, we have 3g coverage in all tunnels in Switzerland!
  - deleted 9y ago
    [deleted]
TheArcane 9y ago
> every time I went through a tunnel on a train The author made it seem that mosh would make that a non-issue.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
- 9y ago

jlebrech 9y ago

it's looks more like a classic terminal, I bet you get more work done that way

teekert 9y ago

This seems more appropriate as a title: "Using the iPad pro as a screen for my server based programming environment."

DrNuke 9y ago

I use my mini 2 to connect remotely and do some work from my couch or my bed. I cannot see doing this 8 hours a day though.

basilesimon 9y ago

Posts like these are fun. OP, I am now curious about using Docker to manage dotfiles and some installs. Could you tell us more about it, or give some resources to get started?

vultour 9y ago
What resources other than the Docker quickstart do you need? He is basically using a VM to contain all of his settings and software.

DigitalSea 9y ago

Should be titled, "I remotely tunnel to a server using my iPad Pro for programming" very misleading. Furthermore to the point: what's the benefit of tunneling to a remote machine for dev work? The latency would suck as would the overall slowness of things, it would drive you insane. You can hammer nails into a piece of wood using a rock, but why would you when you can use a hammer?

zimpenfish 9y ago
> Furthermore to the point: what's the benefit of tunneling to a remote machine for dev work? You can do it from anywhere; you don't need a powerful local machine; controlling what devs do is easier; etc. 3 of my last 4 contracts have been development on remote machines. It's perfectly fine unless you somehow have abysmal networking (and then you really have bigger problems.)
- codegladiator 9y ago
  I love to work offline. Sometimes I am most productive when there is no network. > You can do it from anywhere; you don't need a powerful local machine; controlling what devs do is easier; etc. I can do that from my mobile too. There is absolutely no comparision with the "powerful local machine". And yes, you do need a powerful local machine, unless you are just writing text.
- DigitalSea 9y ago
  In your instance though, it sounds like the development on remote machines was a client choice and not your own? The author is choosing to develop remotely themselves because Docker makes their MacBook get hot and burns their thighs when they don't wear pants. Would have just been easier to buy one of those laptop rests with inbuilt fans than spend money on a monthly server though, right?
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    > the development on remote machines was a client choice and not your own? I do 90% of my personal development on remote servers too.

rollinDyno 9y ago

I've worked on a similar setup during the last summer. My laptop's battery busted and since I already own a desktop I decided to buy an iPad and SSH into my desktop with Prompt. Prompt is alright although I need to stay active on it due to the iOS app lifecycle constraints. If an application is suspended for more than 10 minutes iOS will kill it, meaning that if I'm working on a different application I'll constantly receive notifications to switch back to Prompt just to reset the death counter. I have also spinned up a jupyter server so whenever I want to work on a notebook I'll SSH into my desktop and start the server. I can then use Safari on iOS to do browser based work. I imagine something similar can work for web developers. React Native developers can also upload their applications to hosting services such as Expo or Codepush and work on mobile applications on the go.

TheArcane 9y ago
> If an application is suspended for more than 10 minutes iOS will kill it That sounds ridiculous. Is that still the case with iOS 11? Can you not make an app persistent?
scribu 9y ago
Using Prompt to occasionally run a command on a remote server might be tolerable, but I’ve found it very annoying to work in as a Vim user. I’m sure it’s not even the app’s fault, but rather a consequence of how iOS and SSH work.
bergie 9y ago
Blink and mosh fix this issue, as with that you can resume sessions even after the app is suspended by the OS. However, this doesn't work perfectly yet: https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/59 https://github.com/blinksh/blink/issues/59

GEBBL 9y ago

I feel a bit sorry for the author of the article to have put so much effort into fancy graphics and so on when he has completely missed the point. This isn't using your iPad as your main coding device. As someone else said earlier, this is a thin client at best.

reacweb 9y ago
IMHO, he has not missed the point. Tablet makers (IOS or Android) are fighting very hard to avoid that tablet becomes a generic versatile computer that you can use the way you want. We can stop fighting. Network is more and more reliable and we can rent very cheaply very good computers in the cloud. I use a bluetooth keyboard, connectbot and tmux to connect regularly to my web server. It works very well and I have more latency from the keyboard than from the network. If your computer (tablet) breaks or is stolen, you do not lose any data. Welcome to the cloud ;-)

gws 9y ago

The show-stopper for me of all these set-ups is that you cannot sit on a sofa with your legs crossed and the machine on your lap which is by far the most comfortable setting for me

Finnucane 9y ago
http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/desks/desk-computer-desks/byllan-laptop-support-majviken-multicolour-white-art-30278242/ http://www.ikea.com/gb/en/products/desks/desk-computer-desks...
deepGem 9y ago
It's a very comfortable position, but not for the cervical spine. I just had an injury that according to the doc was because of this posture. I don't believe it though. Anyways, try not to sit in this position for long durations. The injury isn't fatal but will leave you with shooting pain in your arms and shoulders for weeks.
- speedplane 9y ago
  If slouching in a chair for long durations is harmful, I would have had serious problems by now. I haven't met a chair I didn't love to slouch in. That said, I did twist out my back last year. My doc said ti was due to sports, but who knows.

cm2187 9y ago

The title should really say "Using an ipad to be able to develop in one's underwear"... Outside of this key element, there is really no upside over using a laptop!

zimpenfish 9y ago
> Outside of this key element, there is really no upside over using a laptop! From the article: > Even though the MacBook's retina display is a really great display, the iPad Pro's display is another big step up. I don't know if it's the Pro Motion, the True Tone or the Wide color (P3) but the iPad Pro display just looks a lot better than my 2015 MacBook Pro's.
- cm2187 9y ago
  For writing some javascript?
  - zimpenfish 9y ago
    It's what you're looking at whilst doing that, yes.

Lapsa 9y ago

I wish my vim could show ligatures. still - not enough to switch away from simple term

majewsky 9y ago
Are you sure that's a problem with vim and not with your terminal (emulator)?
yuryk 9y ago
Like this? https://pasteboard.co/GQHSjW7.png https://pasteboard.co/GQHSjW7.png

vim_wannabe 9y ago

Comments here went a bit crazy. Just think of the article as "The iPad Pro as main computing device for programming".

iddqd 9y ago
"Remote server as main computing device for programming"

stevenleeg 9y ago

This is awesome! I've been eyeing the ability to use an iPad for a dev device for a while now. As a frontend and react native dev I'm unfortunately still restricted by my need for a good web debugging experience (eg chrome dev tools + react/redux dev tools) and the ability to compile to an iOS device. I can't imagine either of these are coming anytime soon, so for now I'll stick to an old fashioned MacBook Pro. That said, sometimes I wonder if Apple will ever make the plunge and make an iOS version of Xcode. The thought of a mobile version seems scary, and obviously this would only be practical on the iPad, but at the same time if they ever try to make the iPad replace the professional workhorse that the Mac currently is that'd be a natural direction to go in.

0xFFC 9y ago

When you are sshing into server you are using the server, not the local machine (beside the terminal and ssh app itself). Please correct the title.

darrenf 9y ago
The "but it's not local and therefore not programming!" style reactions make little sense to me. Programming is an activity; where the code resides or executes doesn't change that fact. How would you have the title "corrected"?
- josteink 9y ago
  If the title says "using device $X as a main computer for programming", that linguistically entails two things: 1. that "main computer for programming" is the one running the stack and software used for programming and 2. that this device is $X. In this case the main computer for programming is a machine in the cloud ($Y, not $X), and $X is a terminal connecting to the cloud ($Y). The title for this submission is clearly inaccurate and misleading.
  - darrenf 9y ago
    We will have to agree to disagree. When I'm programming, as a backend engineer (like the article's author) I am almost always making use of numerous computers at once: my local hardware, a remote dev instance, remote production instances, databases, etc etc. The one I consider to be "main" is the one I use to input commands, write code, etc. Like the author's iPad Pro.
- 0xFFC 9y ago
  Did I say it is not programming? Where you got that from?

magoon 9y ago

MacBook 12” works great, has a better keyboard, is probably lighter/smaller than an iPad Pro Why not use that instead?

eludwig 9y ago
Of course, the reason is that we wouldn't be talking about an article that described using your laptop to do something that its been doing since the 1990s! ;D But seriously, I think these kinds of articles are great. I love to hear about people's different setups and trying to push what can be done on iPads. Why not? The thing for me is that I absolutely LOVE my iPad (i have an Air2 for general use and a 12.9, mainly for art-related use) and I really, really want my iPads to do more -- to become more "real" work-capable. Why do I want that? I think the reason is because these things are so close to being a single thing to carry around. They are so perfect for certain things (web browsing, email, chat, and many types of gaming) that I would really like to keep expanding that list. I'd love a world where the iPad is the only device I take with me on trips. I also think it's real important for everyone to keep pointing out the glaring flaws of tablets (iPads in particular). In a way, this article just reinforces the fact that the inability to do real, local programming work is a real limiter for a lot of people. Also, my favorite complaint is about just how awful selecting and editing text is. I'd love for Apple to fix these things.
josteink 9y ago
If you want to work with Docker (like this guy does)... Using something Linux-friendly is probably better. Like a ThinkPad. Docker is a million times better on Linux than any other platform, so if all the work you do is through Docker, it seems insane not to make that as a base-optimization.

mpweiher 9y ago

Aka: I use an iPad Pro as a terminal.

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

josteink 9y ago

So basically what this guys says is "golden" and good enough reason to warrant buying the most expensive tablet on the market can be summed up as this: 1. iOS 11 now supports very basic multitasking, years after Android (and Windows mobile, if that counts) 2. iOS 11 has support for keyboard-shortcuts, which (you probably guessed it) Android has had full support for at least since Android 3.0 (and we're now at 8). 3. He does no actual local development and has moved his entire development setup into the cloud, rendering the iPad a mere terminal, and thus it as the base-platform utterly irrelevant. The only one who can call the cost-benefit factor of this as a development setup "good", are the ones already so invested in Apple-stuff that they're blinded to everything else. Especially its inherent limitations, not to mention the obscene cost given the limited offering you get. Really: The cheapest chinese Android-tablet you can find... And no, not one of the cheapest. I mean the utterly cheapest of the cheap Android-tablets you can find... Can do all this. At probably 1/20th the cost. And it can run local chroots and native docker-containers too, so you have full offline support. What's offered as an "amazing" experience here is only amazing if you don't consider cost a factor in what you get to work with. And once you do, it's about as far from amazing as you can possibly get, probably worst in class.

dhimes 9y ago

A guy (Mark O'Connor) did this 5 years ago. At the time I had a full dev stack (LAMP, vim, tmux, hg, etc.) on a netbook eee1001 (or whatever it was, the little guys) for portability. I liked my setup way better as I took my dev environment with me. But I would probably go nuts if I had to work on that little screen all the time. http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-for-an-ipad http://yieldthought.com/post/12239282034/swapped-my-macbook-...

scarface74 9y ago

I agree with everyone that is saying that he is not using the iPad Pro as his main computer, howeve I wouldn’t dismiss using an iPad Pro in a similar method with GUI based development. I’ve done remote troubleshooting with Windows environments with nothing more than my iPad and RDP -even remoting in Tony own desktop and using Visual Studio. After seeing how badly running a Windows VM on a Mac laptop kills battery and how cheaply you can setup a VM on Amazon, I will probably just use that for Windows development when I get another a Mac. Then again, I have a gigabit internet up and down at home so maybe not. I could also see using an iPad Pro for a terminal because I have “unlimited” data on my cellular equipped iPad for $20 a mont but I can’t get unlimited fast tethering to a laptop.

dekhn 9y ago

I got a Surface Book 3 for $600 and runs Windows 10. The keyboard detaches, and you can install a full dev environment (Ubuntu Linux).