Skip to main content

Change in the testing environment

Following the successful test of WPS Office to stand in the shoes of Excel, the test environment needs to change.

The virtual Linux machine Gimli is hosted on Windows host Legolas via Virtual Box.  Legolas now needs to share data with the Virtual Box, so as to reduce the workload on synchronisation (grive and google-drive-ocamlfuse), thus stepping closer to a "big-bang" migration from Windows to Linux (where parallel co-existence of the two platforms wouldn't happen).

This is nearly a transitional phase.  It enables normal operations in Windows to the extent that apps in the Linux environment are either not available, or there is no time to find them to meet functional requirements.

This change took place ~30 days ago, and so far, is proving very successful as a test environment.  The Linux Mint test environment is handling more and more functionality with each month, successfully manipulating "live" data with no prejudice to the Windows environment or the data that the Windows environment handles.

It'll take a few more months for the test environment to prove that it can meet all functional objectives with no input from Windows, perhaps even longer to blog about them.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Downgrading of the project: Calc has a fatal bug - it cannot reliably link workbooks

The project is to build a Linux Mint machine to have the identical functionality and ergonomics as the existing Windows 10 machine. This stage relates to on-going work to make LibreOffice Calc workable. Unfortunately, it turns out that LibreOffice isn't fit for purpose.  Specifically, it cannot reliably link workbooks, even in its own native workbooks. As a consequence, the project is now downgraded.  My time is now better spent doing other, more productive things, with a greater chance of success. Background On 29Jul2018, I complied a detailed test using fresh, sample data created specifically for the purpose, in Excel on Windows 10, then had a virtual machine running LibreCalc on Linux Mint to import it. The basic spreadsheet functionality of linked workbooks failed haphazardly. I logged the test results on 29Jul2018 on AskLibreOffice  and, to date, have yet to see any evidence of anybody taking ownership of recognising the issue and thus fixing it. The s...

The Big Bang: Microsoft Windows goes for good, positive adaptations required

On 27Mar2021, Linux Mint ate Microsoft Windows 10 on Legolas. Three months on, I conclude beyond any doubt that wiping out Windows was the best decision I ever made. The second best decision I ever made was to test Linux Mint in Virtual Box five years ago. The third best decision I ever made was to take ownership of the learning curve that migrating in Windows really entails. A quick reminder: what’s Microsoft Windows like nowadays? I still need to use Windows at work. I cannot easily describe how painful it now is to use Windows. So I’ll try to describe it difficultly. My work machine is a powerful beast, but it exhibits constant latency. For a keyboard-orientated power user, this means that some keystrokes go walkabouts when other services on the Windows machine go to nuclear war with each other, scrambling to feed their narcissistic self-importance for besieged system resources wholly at the user’s expense. Something on Windows tends to clear the keyboard buffer randomly, resulting ...

Deployment of Wine

The project is to build a Linux Mint machine to have the identical functionality and ergonomics as the existing Windows 10 machine. Having established that there is no way to migrate fully from Windows to Linux , the project now needs to consider running Windows apps in Linux.   This is a big change to the strategy of the project.   This is a big change to the deployment of a Linux workstation, a crushing admission of failure, and the opening of a whole new world of risks to an otherwise secure operating system. Environment & required functionality For this blog post, Wine was tested on: The Linux Mint Xfce 19 virtual machine " Bilbo ", on host Windows 10 laptop " Saruman " The Linux Mint Xfce 18.3 virtual machine " Gimli ", on host Windows 10 host " Legolas ". Alternatives There are alternatives to Wine/PlayOnLinux, notably the paid software Crossover. Software selection Wine and PlayOnLinux are present in L...