Opinions on a purchase

[kdjanz]

I have a platform credit with Runrev that would give me a free platform. I have Mac/Windows and iOS already and have signed up as an Apple dev already. I work with Windows in my day job as an architect because Revit only runs on Windows, so Parallels has become my friend. But bottom line I am a Mac guy.

Given that I am deluded lotus eater that is happy in the walled iOS garden, I look out at the Wild West craziness of the Android world and shudder - how can you even begin to test something in that mish mash of hardware and a market that's fragmented 16 ways from Sunday. So, even though I know about the Android numbers and how open is going to take over the world yada yada, I'm not really interested in getting into that sandbox - so scratch the Android platform addon.

With all respect to Richard Gaskin, Linux sort of strikes me in the same way. I have installed Mint and even had an Asus EEE for travelling (hated that keyboard) so I'm not scared of Linux. But everyone that has enough savvy to install Linux and get it fully operational is geek enough to do their own coding and not likely to be a customer of mine. Linux is also tied tightly to open source, so paying for software is not ingrained in the culture - so scratch the Android platform addon.

Windows Mobile 6.5 is another non-starter - but I'm watching for 8 to see if they can float the ship.

I hear the web deployment platform requires a plugin (yuck - 90's) that I have not been able to successfully install or test on Firefox 9 or 10, Safari 5.1.3 or Chrome 16. I also hear that this has been this way for a while without progress being visible. I'm also confused with rev-on - is this hosting with the engine enabled or is it the engine that I can install on my own host? I would love to host web apps on a server and have friends and family play online, but I'm skeptical that I would be able to actually make that happen.

Basically, I have all the platforms that I really am interested in but hate the idea of credits going to waste. Any discussion on what the future might be would help me decide what to do.

Thanks

Kelly

[FourthWorld]

Linux is good for the pleasure of learning, and for the community; lately I'm not sure which I enjoy more. And with more than 30 million users and new OEMs coming on board every few months, you may be surprised at how Linux many aren't programmers, just regular folks using their computers to get stuff done. But I would agree that the opportunities for purely fiscal return are specialized at this time. There are many reasons to enjoy Linux, but money is rarely among them.

If you already have Mac, Win, and iOS I'd go with Android. The current gold-rush mentality in the mobile space means plenty of work available, even with LiveCode's current shortcoming on that platform.

Yes, the ecosystem is a wild jungle of different form factors, and a savvy developer has to think on his feet to make dynamic layouts for them. But if you've ever made a web page you're already acclimated to dynamic layouts anyway, so it's not nearly as hard as folks make it out. A bit more challenging at times with LiveCode than with CSS, but not too bad.

And the devices are cheap and plentiful. You can get a cheap tablet for $150 or less, and a great one for $400 (Asus Transformer is my fave; I rarely boot my iPad2 since I got the Asus).

[sturgis]

I have the same feelings about livecode for web. Too much hassle, too many hurdles and ways in which it will fail. In a controlled environment i'm sure it works well enough but for 'out yonder on that thar web' it falls short.

on-rev is a hosting package with livecode-server installed and ready to go as part of the package.
livecode-server is an engine you can install on your own host. So 2 different products. I use both, do testing and personal stuff here at home on my teeny network, and use on-rev for.. ok. I don't do all that much with it either but having both makes it easy to poke around with things here then pop a working solution onto my on-rev sites. I don't know if the credits will apply to lc server or not, but a quick note to support@runrev.com should get a quick answer.

As for the android stuff again my own position is pretty simple. The stuff I make only has to work on my little tablet. (and so far things work very well)However, like you I would rather avoid worrying about android fractureville.

I hear the web deployment platform requires a plugin (yuck - 90's) that I have not been able to successfully install or test on Firefox 9 or 10, Safari 5.1.3 or Chrome 16. I also hear that this has been this way for a while without progress being visible. I'm also confused with rev-on - is this hosting with the engine enabled or is it the engine that I can install on my own host? I would love to host web apps on a server and have friends and family play online, but I'm skeptical that I would be able to actually make that happen.

Thanks

Kelly

[kdjanz]

Thanks guys - anyone else want to weigh in?

Kelly

[flintGA2c5a]

I would go for Android. If you are making iOS apps then especially if they become successful you will want to deploy them on Android as well.

[jacque]

Ditto, go Android. I just released my first app the Android market and it was far easier than the hoops Apple requires (though my app will follow with iOS soon.) It was trivial to build for both iOS and Android using the same code base, there are a few minor changes and that's it. I don't think you'll be sorry, even if you only rarely build for Android. The market there is very large, even if the users do tend to expect cheaper apps.

One caveat is that the Android engine has fewer features than the iOS engine offers. I was able to release because my app doesn't require any of the features that aren't quite "there" yet. It is, however, a rapidly evolving platform and RR's stated goal is to achieve parity as quickly as possible.