
iPad and Linode: 1 Year Later - moconnor
http://yieldthought.com/post/31857050698/ipad-linode-1-year-later
======
lazerwalker
I've been able to accomplish the "meander around, finding cool new places to
work" thing pretty well with an 11" MB Air (and optional tethered iPhone).

It doesn't have the ridiculous battery life of an iPad, but other than that it
essentially gives you the same portability without feeling like you're
constraining yourself to a subpar development environment (I've tried doing
serious web dev on an iPad, but the lack of a web inspector and the ability to
remap caps lock as control are both dealbreakers for me).

~~~
bergie
This is essentially what I'm doing these days. I wrote quite a lot of my
upcoming CoffeeScript book (and its example applications) this way in
Istanbul. Spending the morning in one waterpipe cafe, then afternoon in
another.

Battery life was the main hindrance, as I would always need to find a place
with a convenient power socket at least for the other half of the day. If
somebody made an MBA-like, Linux-capable machine with a full-day battery, I'd
buy it no matter the cost.

~~~
moconnor
Have you looked at ultrabook-class laptops with removable battery packs? Might
work out for you. How was Istanbul?

~~~
peteretep
Can't comment from a working perspective, but Istanbul - as with all of Turkey
I've been to - is _awesome_ (and I've lived in a bunch of places). All the
exotic of North Africa filled with people who are honest, decent, friendly,
and won't harass you. If I get myself mobile again, Turkey is top on my list
of places to spend 3-6 months. Did I mention the food is great?

------
driverdan
This is an impossible setup for a front end dev. As you mentioned Mobile
Safari is junk. To add to that, its debug tools are laughable. Don't even
think about cross browser testing unless you have additional remote systems +
VNC.

I tried an iPad + keyboard + remote vim a while back and found it slowed me
down significantly. Having to take my hands off the keyboard and swipe or use
the button slows my flow. Writing code and want to look something up? Swiping
to Safari is much slower than Cmd+tab to a real browser.

------
s00pcan
The original article inspired me to get a retina ipad and wireless keyboard
with hopes of connecting to my home server and developing with
issh/tmux/vim/chrome and working anywhere from my tethered 4g phone. It was an
immediate disappointment: issh is extremely unreliable, has awkward rendering
glitches and a UI that can't be configured to actually fullscreen. Oh and it
times out after a short while, especially if you've switched to some other
app. iOS can't remap caps lock to control either, which would have otherwise
made it usable for me. I didn't waste any more time attempting to fix these
issues; the only way I see this working perfectly is if I had actual linux
running on the ipad.

<http://s00pcan.com/photos/ipad1.jpg> <http://s00pcan.com/photos/ipad2.jpg>

~~~
pooriaazimi
Give Prompt (from Panic) a shot. Much much better than iSSH IMO (if you need
just an ssh client, not VNC or other crazy stuff).

[http://www.panic.com/blog/2011/04/introducing-prompt-ssh-
for...](http://www.panic.com/blog/2011/04/introducing-prompt-ssh-for-ios/)

<http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/prompt/id421507115?mt=8>

And for VNC, "Screens" is the best: [http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/screens-
vnc-control-your-comp...](http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/screens-vnc-control-
your-computer/id400012962?mt=8)

~~~
moconnor
I've only had bad experiences with Prompt + 256-color vim/screen, but I've
hear it works better with tmux.

------
MatthewPhillips
About the Surface. I've been doing some Windows 8 HTML5/JS SDK development for
the past few months using a Vaio All-in-One with a touchscreen and the
responsiveness and feel of HTML5 is on par with the C#/Xaml environment. Using
the apps, you absolutely can not tell which SDK is being used.

Of course this is on a fast x86 chip. No one has been able to get a comparable
experience on a table or phone yet. I'm slightly worried that things won't be
as crisp or as nice on the Surface ARM (and other ARM tablets). If it is it's
not just a step up from Mobile Safari, Chrome for Android, and Firefox for
Android, but a _major_ step forward.

------
moconnor
OP here, I'm happy to answer any more technically detailed questions; I had to
cut a lot out of the blog post!

~~~
bergie
First of all, thanks for writing about your experiences! This was an
inspiration for me when attempting to do something similar on a Transformer
Prime. Unfortunately the Asus keyboard wasn't good enough, and that fell into
misuse.

However, this has prompted me to re-evaluate what I need on my work computer.
Essentially, there are only three things I actually run: vim, Vagrant and a
browser.

This means that when the lease period on my current Air ends in February I
will have a lot of freedom to choose my next "workstation". Theoretically it
could be any small-and-light laptop, or maybe even something like iPad or
Surface. Though even with the little requirements I have, I'm not so keen to
go Windows...

Oh, and an actual question: I do quite a lot of front-end development (see for
instance <http://createjs.org/> ). One thing that mobile browsers lack is
access to proper inspectors and JavaScript consoles. Any ideas on that?

~~~
moconnor
Well, I plan to use a Surface as a client but my development will stil be on
Linux, of course. The whole no-browsers-except-IE-on-a-surface might be a real
killer for anyone doing web development though.

~~~
Splines
I thought I saw Chrome & Firefox doing Windows 8-style apps?

~~~
bergie
The last I heard of this is that the Metro versions of the different browsers
can run on Intel-based Windows 8 devices, but not on ARM-powered Windows RT.

This is a shame. Firefox is great on Android.

------
jawr
Maybe I'm missing the point, but this looks more clunky; having to carry
around a keyboard and an iPad, surely just a laptop is more convenient?

~~~
moconnor
I throw it all in a rucksack. The keyboard + iPad are lighter than any laptop
I've seen that I'd like to use, but it's purely a matter of taste.

Having a keyboard that's not joined to the screen has been convenient a number
of times though - I can hang the iPad in a bush and rest the keyboard on my
knees, for example.

~~~
jawr
Upvoting for hanging your iPad in a bush.

------
rguzman
maybe i'm really missing the point, but once you attach a keyboard to an ipad
you've are bound to have a sub-par user experience.

in terms of portability, i see no difference between ipad + kb and a macbook
air. heck, i see very little difference between ipad + kb and ipad + macbook
air, which is what i carry around. ipad for reading, macbook air for coding
and writing.

iOS does not seem like an environment designed for people who spend most of
their time writing and typing or otherwise creating. rather, it is an
environment optimized for what most people do with their computers most of the
time: consume information. that doesn't mean you _can't_ create on the ipad.
OSX, on the other hand, is such an environment. there is no reason to pick
either or, you can have both at relatively low cost.

------
stcredzero
This isn't an article about iPad or about tablets. It's an article about
_working in the cloud._

Considering all of the comments here, is there a service where you can use a
browser that's hosted in the cloud, but have its UI appear in a client over
something like VNC?

~~~
gizzlon
Wouldn't good ol' X forewarning through ssh do? Try enabling compression (-C)
as well. Use it a lot, but for simpler programs than browsers.

------
ashray
Great article! I have an iPad 2 and a Macbook air 11''. I've tried using the
iPad for development (I do web development, both front end and backend) and
really couldn't use it. I do have an external keyboard but I believe it's just
an interface issue. I find that I'm very used to the touchpad/keyboard combo
and that speeds me up a whole lot. Requiring to reach for the iPad to swipe
something is a _MASSIVE_ annoyance. Plus, the fact that you can't Alt+Tab
between applications (WTH is THAT all about ?!)

As far as weight is concerned the Macbook air is an absolutely WONDERFUL
device. Coming in at 2.2lbs it's almost the same weight as my iPad+keyboard.
Plus, the fact that it's a shell design (case closes and protects the
screen+keyboard) works way better for me than an iPad could (though arguably
one could get a similar 'protector' for the iPad).

Oh and the kicker ? I'm currently traveling fulltime with my girlfriend (have
been doing so for a year now..) and between us, we carry an iPad2+keyboard and
Macbook air combo. We do all sorts of things including photo editing, video
editing, web development (for me..) on this combination.

But using the iPad for any useful work ? Nuh-uh!

Given our situation, it's also difficult to get good WiFi connectivity most of
the time and the macbook air's wifi hardware is better than the iPad's by far.
(in terms of wireless reception quality). There've been plenty of times that I
pick up the WiFi signal on the Air and then share it over bluetooth for the
iPad. More info on our gear is here: <http://bkpk.me/about-a-z/>

------
petercooper
The author must be very tolerant or otherwise accustomed to lag. He says "no
noticeable lag" but is 3G even _that_ good on paper? Wavering pings of
100-1000ms are pretty normal on 3G in my experience, so given a round trip, if
the difference is an optimistic 200ms that's should be pretty noticeable when
typing, tailing logs or jumping around vim on a remote system versus doing it
locally.

I'm sure you can build confidence and get used to pulling off a string of
moves with no immediate visual feedback, but it sounds like something you'd
have to get used to tolerating, rather than not notice?

~~~
vegardx
Yeah, that has to be horrible. I remember working remotely from Thailand, and
had around 150ms to a linode in Japan, and it was infuriating. Even worse when
trying to access services at home, with latency around 300ms. With latency
over 30ms you start to notice it. There are good tools out there, though. Mosh
is one of them.

------
st3fan
The problem with replacing the iPad with a MacBook Air 11" is that there are
way way more distractions on the MacBook. Maybe this also works so well for
the author because the iPad is very limited. He basically degraded his super-
multi-functional laptop to a simpler device that just does email/web/ssh very
well. Maybe that is part of the reason why it works so well for him.

------
d0m
I still have the first ipad generation and I can't see a damn thing outside.
Do you have a screen protector or something special? Is it _fixed_ in the
second ipad generation?

Also, what kind of programming do you do? I often hack in plain console.. but
more often than not, I need a browser with the inspector/console open and lots
of documentation tabs.. How do you make it work for these cases?

Thanks!

------
epaga
fascinating stuff, makes me long for a good IDE on iPad that doesn't feel like
a "toy", that can handle Objective-C for example. In an ideal world, Apple
would be working on "iCode" as we speak... ;)

~~~
moconnor
Yeah, I love Vim as an IDE, but there are a features I'd want to import from
other IDEs if I had a magic VimScript wand...

Edit: correction - I love Vim as an editor with incredibly powerful macro and
scripting capabilities. That makes up for a lot of otherwise missing IDE
features, but it could be so much better.

------
udpheaders
Working with limitations is what yields creativity. But unlike the limitations
of computing's yesteryear, the limitations of the iPad seem artificial. OSX is
built from BSD UNIX, and iOS is built from OSX. Why should it be so limited?
Where is the "iPad Pro"? The uncrippled version with USB and SD card slots.

~~~
moconnor
That's probably what Microsoft were thinking when they designed the Surface.
We'll see how well it works out for them.

~~~
udpheaders
If I can use my own bootloader with Surface, I'd buy one.

------
farinasa
Have you tried just using VNC to access your macbook? This would turn the ipad
into a windows, linux, and mac osx device, plus no monthly cost. Also, Android
tablets could do the same thing. If safari won't cut it, try chrome. It seems
a bit odd none of this was mentioned/tried. Also, look at the magnetic
logitech ipad keyboard.

------
talkingquickly
I've been wanting to try this for a while, the one thing holding me back is
frontend work, day to day I do a mixture of frontend and backend development
and I'm concerned that Mobile Safari/ Chrome might not cut it. Has anyone had
any experience with this?

~~~
moconnor
Mobile Safari is a bit of a pain for frontend developement. There's the
javascript-based FireBug but it's a far cry from the real thing or the Chrome
developer tools.

Of course, you don't need to do it all day every day - you can use your laptop
for frontend work and an iPad for backend development in the park on nice
days.

~~~
talkingquickly
Thanks, definitely going to give it a go for backend development. It might
actually be quite nice to have some forced segmentation between backend and
frontend work to avoid getting distracted by the design at the wrong times.

Do you have many problems with sunlight on the screen/ glare?

------
Aykroyd
I'll be curious to see how he finds the surface keyboard. I'm dubious of the
one that doesn't have physical keys on it. I find it really hard to type
effectively without that physical feedback.

Great to read the year-after follow up, by the way. Really well done.

~~~
adsr
Me too, and if the surface is the same size as an iPad then the keyboard is
not going to be fullsize. If I add the wireless Apple keyboard ontop of the
iPad about 2 keys sticks out over the edge if I line it up on the other end.

------
kayoone
Looks great, sadly i need a powerful machine locally because i develop
hardware heavy 3D Games/Apps.

But i might use something like that for everything that isnt coding, i still
love my 11" MBA for that though.

------
dfrey
I don't think I could handle working full time on such a small display.

------
Roelven
I love these glimpses of the future. I'm far to visual and need more
applications then what's available on iPad now, but I'd love to work like this
too.

------
codehero
I see that you don't have a physical hold on the iPad while you work outside.
Has anybody tried stealing it?

~~~
moconnor
No, but Munich is a pretty safe and affluent place. Also, what're they going
to do? Run away in front of hundreds of witnesses while I video them with my
iPhone and call for the (ever-present) police?

------
ww520
Lack of offline mode really makes this setup unworkable.

------
taligent
I can't understand why ANYONE is still using Linode after their disgraceful
behaviour at the start of this year.

For those that don't remember they were hacked and a sizeable sum of Bitcoins
were stolen from a number of VPSs after their customer service app was hacked.

The problem is that (a) customers were the last to hear about it having to
find out the news from Reddit, (b) we still don't know exactly what happened,
(c) we don't know whether it affected other VPS or whether it is still an
issue, (d) what they've learnt/changed.

Compare this to Cloudflare which was transparent and open with everyone and
clearly learnt a lot of lessons. Trying to hide your mistakes at every turn is
NOT how you run a service company.

~~~
mjs7231
OK, let's be sensationalist for a moment: I should stop using Google, Dropbox,
Microsoft, Apple, Sony, Amazon... They have all been hacked at one point or
another and very rarely do we get details of what actually happened. Ohh yea,
I should give up my US citizenship as well. I hear about the US gov getting
hacked all the time and they don't let us know whats going on either.

People love hating on hosting companies, and touting their own horror or
success stories. When will people realize that mistakes are inevitable. To me,
one mistake every once in a while is forgivable. Perhaps I could also careless
about bitcoins (they seem about as worthless as Second Life money). Linode did
mention publicly that only 8 accounts were compromised and no credit card info
or passwords were available to them.

~~~
freehunter
Also, while I'm not commenting on Linode's response to the incident,
ultimately the security of your information is up to you. The owner of the
stolen Bitcoins has publicly stated that he learned a lesson: encrypt your
data.

Your server, your data, your information is only as safe as you make it. Even
if everything is fully encrypted and all a hacker could do to mess with you is
delete your instance, you should have offsite backups of your important stuff.
Always assume you're going to lose everything. Whether it's hardware failure,
hacking, or a simple mistake, treat a gun like it's loaded.

Encrypt your important data. Use two-factor authentication on privileged
accounts. If you want Bitcoins to be a currency, then read up on Payment Card
Industry regulations and really understand how to keep a currency secure.Hire
an auditor if need be. Everyone is going to be hacked, everyone is going to be
embarrassed, and your data is never secure unless you make it secure.

~~~
throwaway64
encrypting your data doesn't help when it is inside memory and somebody else
has root.

the attack was a hypervisor intrusion, linode's VM setup was hacked, none of
these recommendations would have helped at all in this case.

~~~
freehunter
Linode does offer basic two-factor authentication, which was one of the things
I mentioned. You have the ability to set up IP address whitelists. If you try
to log in from an address not on the whitelist, you get an email to confirm
you are who you say you are. If I know the attack correctly, the hacker reset
(or otherwise gained) the password via the support console and used that to
log in. With two-factor, he could get the right password but would still need
access to the email account as well. Unless you've majorly fucked up, there is
no way anyone besides you is getting root.

You sign no SLA with Linode. They make no guarantees. That leaves it up to you
to make sure you're secure, and fortunately they give you the tools needed to
make this a reality.

