Use windows or linux to start work with Ruby On Rails?

Question

I'm new to Ruby On Rails and I want to know which is better to use for work with it. Windows or Linux. I've never worked with Linux before but I heard It's better to work with it. Is it necessary for someone like me to install linux or I can use windows and the results will be same with linux?

Answer 1

If your current dev machine is running Windows, and you don't have access to a Linux environment right now, don't let that stop you from getting started with Rails. Definitely , definitely , definitely install the DevKit first thing (if it's not included in RubyInstaller yet). See https://github.com/oneclick/rubyinstaller/wiki/Development-Kit for that.

If you get deep into Rails development, or even start doing it for a living, you will inevitably drift towards using Linux on your dev machine. The problem is not Rails, but the many binary gems which are difficult or impossible to install on Windows.

The most popular Ruby library for manipulating images (ie. generating thumbnails) is RMagick, but trying to install it on Windows is enough to make a strong man cry. Paperclip is very nice for dealing with images and other attachments, but it is also a problem. Then there is a popular JSON parsing library which is also problematic on Windows. Unicorn (a popular Rails server) won't run at all on Windows, and Thin (my favorite) may also give you headaches. And so on, and so on.

You can get pretty far with Rails development on Windows these days, but at times you will find yourself having to test code on a remote server, rather than locally, and it can waste a lot of time.

Answer 2

Linux, without hesitation. You will find a lot of problems if you want to develop on windows with ruby on rails. I already tried with windows, at my beginning, and it's very difficult. Since I am with Linux, it works! It's hard in the beginning but it's very powerful.

• Linux is very powerful;
• The majority of the documentation is on a UNIX environment;
• This requires less configuration;
• You will have fewer bugs;
• Every tools are optimized for UNIX systems;

Answer 3

Yes, this thread is an old thread but I am here to express how awfully you will encounter problems on windows platform while using Ruby on Rails. It may be 'OK' to build normal application however, as soon as you start scratching the surface of sqlite3 , ASCII Characters , Internationalisation for an application , ... Your hair will start to fall off, I mean literally . Whereas if you stick with Mac or Linux (Ubuntu), You will feel invincible, take pride on projects, progress further without having to configure yourself manually with setting of (gems') native extensions library and it is horrendous.

In Summary, to make it work on windows is just nightmare. Whatever you have done it is entirely your decision. I hope everything is fine.

Answer 4

It mostly depends on how comfortable you are in each environment. I have been developing on both Windows and Linux for 4 years (because I can't afford a Mac) and I have found Windows to be the easiest in setup, as of late. Engineyard has released an installer for Windows that is an all in one for Ruby, Rails, Git, Bundler, SQLite, and DevKit among others.

Windows users are used to simple installers such as that Engineyard provides so if this sounds more like what you are used to, go with that.

Linux provides much more support online for installing Ruby on Rails. There are minor differences with each distro of linux for installing it so I can't provide you with any links. You will also be able to find separate tutorials for installing Git, SQLite, and DevKit.

If you are much more comfortable working in the terminal, than I would suggest taking the plunge into Linux development. It can take a little longer to set up than Windows but you will find it much more command line friendly (and fulfilling).

After you set up Rails, the differences diminish quickly. Development will depend more on what IDE or text editor you are using. Most provide both Linux and Windows versions.

If your focus will be mostly server-side programming then Linux would be the best to look into. If you are working more on client-side, then I would suggest Windows (or MacOS).

My best possible suggestion would be to download VirtualBox, or some other VM, and try Linux. It is free and will only take up a day or so of your time to install and mess around in. If you don't like it, go back to Windows.

(I personally use a combination of both thanks to the miracle that is Bundler)

Answer 5

Linux or Mac. This is because many helpful Gems for Ruby on Rails haven't been ported over to Windows, and never will be (at least, that was the case when I last used Rails). If you do end up doing development on Windows, you may find yourself having to reinvent the wheel many times.