Flex development on Ubuntu 8.04
June 2nd, 2008
Ok so first things fist which version of linux do I install? My first choice is surely Ubuntu Hardy Heron 8.04 although I have a soft spot for their values and celebrity endorsement 
the Ubuntu community really do have a great release that has all the tools I need to get started.
My second choice and certainly worth mentioning would have been Fedora, this is a really professional distribution with great support and a large community.
The difference between the two? Ubuntu roots are Debian based while Fedora is based on RedHat. (Keep in mind that linux is very customizable and most of the time workarounds exist for both).
So after installation everything worked first time no major problems, installation was easier than windows and most of my devices were detected and working straight out the box. Not bad for an open source operating system eh?
So whats the first thing I do once my installation is complete, install Flex Builder of course. InisdeRIA.com had a great article on getting java and eclipse set up, that’s pretty much all you need to get flex builder rocking.
Next up, vmware workstation. With vmware workstation installed you can run windows inside a virtual machine and use all your favourites like photoshop and flash. I had a few problems when I had to install vmware workstaition on the latest linux kernel, luckily in true linux tradition, somebody wrote a patch that fixes any issues during installation. I have mirrored the patch here for other people who need it.
Download vmware-any-any-update-115-k2624-wirelessbridgetar
Since making the switch I would say that yes I probably did not have to switch to Linux to get my work done, but every day I honestly do find a reason not to switch back and although there are a few bits of windows that I do miss, nothing compares to the amount of useful development software available for linux. I really am in programmer heaven right now. Give it a go if you have the time, you won’t be sorry…