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I really like the iPad form factor and carry one around with me for almost all work and study because I really like the digital writing experience on that. Much

I really like the iPad form factor and carry one around with me for almost all work and study because I really like the digital writing experience on that. Much more than on a Surface, for example. So I wanted to make this work, I really wanted to be able to use it for light development so I could leave my notebook at home some/most days (depending on what I'm currently working on). But it doesn't stop with all the things in your collage. i(Pad)OS doesn't natively support my keyboard layout, so I was looking at getting a QMK-compatible keyboard so I could do all the remapping before the signal ever reaches the iPad. Only after sinking a non-trivial amount of time into researching that I realized how absurd this was. A device so powerful and yet so limited by its software. I have since made my peace with the fact that my iPad is a glorified notepad and PDF viewer, but I wish it didn't have to be.

epicide 7y ago
Depending on exactly what you want to work on, also look into using something like Blink[0]. I have several servers set up that I can now easily access from my iPad (or anything with an internet connection and an SSH client). I have one "bastion" server that basically acts as a headless dev box with mosh and tmux set up. As long as I have internet, I can quickly access machines that are far more capable than any laptop I've owned. Even when I inevitably do need my laptop for something, having this setup is great for continuity [1]. Of course, this is not a drop-in replacement for a proper desktop OS, especially if you aren't a heavy CLI user [2]. However, in a similar vein to "Linux is NOT Windows" [3], you can't expect a mobile experience to be significantly better without being significantly different. Over the past couple years where I've been dabbling with it, I have made a couple of mentality shifts about how I want to use computers going forward. Even if I don't every use an iPad as my main/only physical device, I now happily carry around one of the 12" Macbooks since I don't need all the computing power on my person. None of these ideas are particularly new, but I haven't seen many other people really taking it past "SSH into server, run command(s), exit". [0]: A very well-made SSH client for iOS that supports mosh): https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/ [1]: I can shut my laptop even if a large/long job is running since the job is running on a server. [2]: For some things, I've used VNC or other remote desktop type tools, but this experience also comes with heavy tradeoffs. YMMV. [3]: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm
- punnerud 7y ago
  My setup is Cloudflare in front that works as DDNS (https://github.com/punnerud/cloudflare-ddns https://github.com/punnerud/cloudflare-ddns), 5-10 VMs with Ubuntu running under Windows 10 Pro using Hyper-V, all VMs have dedicated MAC-address on my router so I easily can make snapshot or reinstall. One of the machines is dedicated for Reverse SSH port forwarding, with a script that auto-reconnect on disconnect. I often use RDP to the Windows through the reverse SSH-proxy. In a normal workweek I have tree days at the office with 9h of commute in total, all where I work (and get paid) on the train. Done this the last 5 years so the setup it starting to get solid on a variable 4G connection.
  - GhettoMaestro 7y ago
    How often do you experience remote connectivity issues with this setup? (EG: Packet loss, high latency, extreme jitter, low throughput). Thanks!
- Cu3PO42 7y ago
  Thank you for the pointers! I have Blink installed on my iPad and use it occasionally to restart a system service or similar, but any serious work that requires typing is impossible for me due to the keyboard layout issue. I use the Neo-layout [0] which has both a different layout for the letters, as well as using additional modifier keys, such as Caps Lock, to access extra "layers" which map more symbols. I like it very much, but it's so different from the more standard ones such as QWERTY, that I'm now significantly slower in the latter and loathe using it. [0] https://neo-layout.org https://neo-layout.org
  - epicide 7y ago
    Ahh yeah, I use the Apple keyboard cover and that's a bit cramped even for English. I can't imagine typing in German on it would be fun. Not sure if it covers everything you need, but have you tried using the Alt/Option key for typing certain things? e.g. Alt+u and then o gives ö. Alt+s gives ß.
    - 7y ago
speedgoose 7y ago
It's a bit better on Android, but far from perfect. And the hardware is not very exciting.
- thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
  On Android, I love Termux: https://termux.com/ https://termux.com/ It turns my Android devices into a powerful and versatile programming environment. ISH looks great. If I was still using any iOS devices, I would give it a try. I really wish iOS / iPadOS supported better software development environments and tools like ISH. Hopefully ISH does not get pulled by Apple App Store regulators.
  - wvenable 7y ago
    I got Visual Studio Code running "natively" on Android under Termux using code-server: https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/f6oy5y/quest_for_productivity_vs_code_almost_native_on/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/f6oy5y/quest_fo... It actually makes my Tab S6 somewhat useful for development.
  - hsitz 7y ago
    Termux is much, much better than iSH. iSH is not bad, it's just that it doesn't run any code natively, everything runs through a software emulation layer (I believe x86 to the Apple Axxx processors). So it's slow. Whereas Termux is native and very snappy. I tried running emacs on my iPad Pro (2017) and gave up because it was too slow. On Termux emacs is great, even on a midrange phone from several years ago (Moto G5 Plus).
- Cu3PO42 7y ago
  It is, but the writing and app experience was so much worse when I last tried it. If I were okay with other hardware, I could use a Surface, which requires no workarounds for almost all of my work scenarios. But I'd rather carry two devices than make that compromise, to be honest.
- wvenable 7y ago
  Hardware-wise the best Android tablet right now is the Samsung Tab S6. I think it's at least as exciting as some of Apple's offerings -- although the android tablet experience is probably not as good as iOS. However, for the purposes of this discussion the "Linux" experience is much better on Android.

epicide 7y ago

Depending on exactly what you want to work on, also look into using something like Blink[0]. I have several servers set up that I can now easily access from my iPad (or anything with an internet connection and an SSH client). I have one "bastion" server that basically acts as a headless dev box with mosh and tmux set up. As long as I have internet, I can quickly access machines that are far more capable than any laptop I've owned. Even when I inevitably do need my laptop for something, having this setup is great for continuity [1]. Of course, this is not a drop-in replacement for a proper desktop OS, especially if you aren't a heavy CLI user [2]. However, in a similar vein to "Linux is NOT Windows" [3], you can't expect a mobile experience to be significantly better without being significantly different. Over the past couple years where I've been dabbling with it, I have made a couple of mentality shifts about how I want to use computers going forward. Even if I don't every use an iPad as my main/only physical device, I now happily carry around one of the 12" Macbooks since I don't need all the computing power on my person. None of these ideas are particularly new, but I haven't seen many other people really taking it past "SSH into server, run command(s), exit". [0]: A very well-made SSH client for iOS that supports mosh): https://blink.sh/ https://blink.sh/ [1]: I can shut my laptop even if a large/long job is running since the job is running on a server. [2]: For some things, I've used VNC or other remote desktop type tools, but this experience also comes with heavy tradeoffs. YMMV. [3]: http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm http://linux.oneandoneis2.org/LNW.htm

punnerud 7y ago
My setup is Cloudflare in front that works as DDNS (https://github.com/punnerud/cloudflare-ddns https://github.com/punnerud/cloudflare-ddns), 5-10 VMs with Ubuntu running under Windows 10 Pro using Hyper-V, all VMs have dedicated MAC-address on my router so I easily can make snapshot or reinstall. One of the machines is dedicated for Reverse SSH port forwarding, with a script that auto-reconnect on disconnect. I often use RDP to the Windows through the reverse SSH-proxy. In a normal workweek I have tree days at the office with 9h of commute in total, all where I work (and get paid) on the train. Done this the last 5 years so the setup it starting to get solid on a variable 4G connection.
- GhettoMaestro 7y ago
  How often do you experience remote connectivity issues with this setup? (EG: Packet loss, high latency, extreme jitter, low throughput). Thanks!
Cu3PO42 7y ago
Thank you for the pointers! I have Blink installed on my iPad and use it occasionally to restart a system service or similar, but any serious work that requires typing is impossible for me due to the keyboard layout issue. I use the Neo-layout [0] which has both a different layout for the letters, as well as using additional modifier keys, such as Caps Lock, to access extra "layers" which map more symbols. I like it very much, but it's so different from the more standard ones such as QWERTY, that I'm now significantly slower in the latter and loathe using it. [0] https://neo-layout.org https://neo-layout.org
- epicide 7y ago
  Ahh yeah, I use the Apple keyboard cover and that's a bit cramped even for English. I can't imagine typing in German on it would be fun. Not sure if it covers everything you need, but have you tried using the Alt/Option key for typing certain things? e.g. Alt+u and then o gives ö. Alt+s gives ß.
  - 7y ago

speedgoose 7y ago

It's a bit better on Android, but far from perfect. And the hardware is not very exciting.

thesuperbigfrog 7y ago
On Android, I love Termux: https://termux.com/ https://termux.com/ It turns my Android devices into a powerful and versatile programming environment. ISH looks great. If I was still using any iOS devices, I would give it a try. I really wish iOS / iPadOS supported better software development environments and tools like ISH. Hopefully ISH does not get pulled by Apple App Store regulators.
- wvenable 7y ago
  I got Visual Studio Code running "natively" on Android under Termux using code-server: https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/f6oy5y/quest_for_productivity_vs_code_almost_native_on/ https://www.reddit.com/r/SamsungDex/comments/f6oy5y/quest_fo... It actually makes my Tab S6 somewhat useful for development.
- hsitz 7y ago
  Termux is much, much better than iSH. iSH is not bad, it's just that it doesn't run any code natively, everything runs through a software emulation layer (I believe x86 to the Apple Axxx processors). So it's slow. Whereas Termux is native and very snappy. I tried running emacs on my iPad Pro (2017) and gave up because it was too slow. On Termux emacs is great, even on a midrange phone from several years ago (Moto G5 Plus).
Cu3PO42 7y ago
It is, but the writing and app experience was so much worse when I last tried it. If I were okay with other hardware, I could use a Surface, which requires no workarounds for almost all of my work scenarios. But I'd rather carry two devices than make that compromise, to be honest.
wvenable 7y ago
Hardware-wise the best Android tablet right now is the Samsung Tab S6. I think it's at least as exciting as some of Apple's offerings -- although the android tablet experience is probably not as good as iOS. However, for the purposes of this discussion the "Linux" experience is much better on Android.