In the last few days several people in the Rails world wrote about their “tools of the trade”. And as I have never written about the tools I use, I think it is a good time to do it now.
There isn’t much to say about the hardware I use: my only machine is a Dual-Core Toshiba Notebook with 4GB RAM and a trackpoint (the most important feature to me, as it allows me to keep my hands on the keyboard all the time).
And here my (probably incomplete) list of software I often use:
- OS – Arch Linux with KDE as window manager
- Browsers – My preferred browser is Konqueror, it is light-weight and, thanks to the good KDE integration, it is a Swiss Army knife. However, it doesn’t work properly with some websites… The other browser I use is Firefox with the Adblock Plus plugin (additionally I have Firebug installed, though it is usually deactivated).
- Chat – To chat I use either Kopete or Skype
- Mail – Thunderbird
- IRC – Konversation
- Database Tools – MySQL Query Browser
- Coding – Eclipse with PDT has been for a long time my primary development environment. However, as it seems like it becomes worse with each release, I use more and more the Vim editor.
- Source Control – For the few remaining Subversion repositories I use the Subversive Eclipse plugin, and for everything else I simply use Git
- Graphics – Inkscape
- Debugging – To see what’s going on when working with OpenID or some APIs I like the Wireshark network protocol analyzer
And last, but not least, my favorite tools: paper and pen. I use them primarily to manage my todos and most of my passwords, to draw UML diagrams, and to sketch UIs.