Blogging platform
I use the open source WordPress blogging platform for paasTalk. The main reason that I am using WordPress is the wide range of plugins that are available for common platforms. I want to focus on creating original content for my paasTalk readers, and not reinventing the wheel coding basic blogging features.
Version control
I maintain the paasTalk website, WordPress source code and all graphic and deployment files using the open-source Subversion version control system. Subversion is impressive when compared with the version control systems I have seen ISVs and their development teams use over the years…
Subversion access
I access the (rapidly growing, now at revision 2772) Subversion repository using the excellent and recommended TortoiseSVN Subversion client. TortoiseSVN is an open-source Subversion client implemented as a Windows shell extension. It seamlessly integrates into Windows Explorer. If you are developing under Windows and using Subversion then I cannot recommend TortoiseSVN enough.
Local development
I develop and test paasTalk locally using WordPress installed under the Ubuntu Linux-based OS. I gained broad experience with Unix in my developer days. Installing Ubuntu server and the LAMP stack was a pleasant reminder of command lines from the old days. The depth and quality of the technical information available from the Ubuntu community impressive me, and I easily found answers to the technical questions I had.
Virtual machines for testing
I have installed Ubuntu on a virtual Intel server using the free VMware Server from VMware, Inc. I have created virtual machines to run browser and OS combinations to (try to) ensure cross-platform portability as far as possible.
When I first started using VMware it reminded of the IBM VM virtual machine OS I first used way back in 1982 . That development project was a for a Life Assurance company in the UK and we used VM running on an IBM 4341 mainframe.
