A breif look at the tools you need as a web developer in 2020, running Linux on the desktop as a web developer.
OSX is my os of choice, but I’ve always used linux on at least one of my machines (I use Kali a ton, and Centos / Debian on servers every day). I thought I’d visit if my regular work flows work on linux in 2020.
A list of tools:
- git
- Docker
- Vagrant (with VirtualBox)
- Firefox
- Chrome
- VSCode
- MySQL workbench
- php
- python3
- pip
- composer
- npm
- vuejs
Preinstalled tools
Python
In most distros you should have Python installed.
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Php
In most distros you should have a verison of php installed
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Firefox
In most distros you should have Firefox installed too (though you may want to update to the latest version):
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Linux on the desktop as a web developer – Installing missing tools
Git
Out of the box, you should be able to install git with your package manager if its not already installed:
sudo apt install git
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VSCode
https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/setup/linux
install via snap, or via apt
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Docker
https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/ubuntu/
add the repo, install and run
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Vagrant (and VirtualBox)
First, install virtualbox using apt:
sudo apt install virtualbox
Once you have virtualbox installed, install vagrant from https://www.vagrantup.com/
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Chrome
Chrome isnt installed on most distros, but its very easy to install – just search google for ‘google chrome’ and click the install button on the chrome site
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MySQL Workbench
Head to the mysql website and download the latest versoin of workbench:
you can download here
Composer
Follow the usual install instructions here
Pip
Pip usually has a package available for the major distros:
sudo apt install python3-pip
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NPM
npm is included in nodejs, so follow the install instruction here and here
VueJS
install nodejs – https://nodejs.org/en/
install vuecli3 – Building a PWA vuejs app with wordpress API – Part 1
npm install -g @vue/cli
npm install -g @vue/cli-service-global
create a new project (I like to create in github, clone and then initiate vue)
git clone XXXXXX
cd XXXXX
vue create .
Ten years ago, it was difficult to run Linux on the desktop as a web developer for your everyday dev machine for web. Today, its very simple – there is no reason to not use a linux machine as your daily-driver (in the same way that there is no reason not to run windows or osx – alll the tools you need are available on all platforms, except xcode, which is osx only, and is only needed if you are submitting to the apple app-store)