I don't use VMware anymore as nowadays wine is able to run most windows applications. Last version I used was 4.5.
Out of curiosity, I installed QtStalker on my Novell/Suse Pro 9.3. Installation went very smoothly. (Don't forget to install the Berkeley DB devel libraries - available in Yast-Suse; Also make sure to set up the Qt environment variables in your profile). It can download history files from yahoo to give you a quick demo. Many indicators as well. (All Free) This is in fact a VERY comprehensive package for developers. It also shows the power of the Qt framework. Can't stand comparison this with anything available in windoz! I you dunno, try it to find out. Linux <---> M$: http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1895,1850345,00.asp
1. You can make your own indicators, but only based on combinations of existing indicators (e.g., vol, price, open interest, ROC, etc) using simple arithmetic or logic relationships. I guess in principle you could make any indicator with combinations of these but the process would become too tedious. 2. I believe it does support tick data but I haven't tested that myself.
I should add that in addition to using the customized indicator, it is trivial to write your own indicator plugin if you know a little c++. It took me 10 minutes to write one myself. The whole thing is beautifully modularized.
Have not done any serious coding for many, many years but I am sure that I can pick it up again. Thing is do I want to spend my time trading or being a geek? Leaves the tick issue and real time datafeed - if that is not in it then I do not even want to waste my time. I also seem to remember that Amibroker has only certain fixed time frame (and that it was not adjustable) in addition to no tick charts. Don't know if it has changed over the years but once again I am not going to waste time on installing it and then discovering it cannot do it. (Had a look on their website and could not find a reference to it and this indicates to me that it most likely is not there) Thanks for the reply Sherlock
We know that Linux is very stable, can be configured to run on everything from a Cray super-computer to a toaster, unsurpassed hardware detection, security, ect..However, for the average joe lunchbox like me who knows little or nothing about writing software, it still comes down to Windows. I have some live Linux-Knoppix cd's that I use all the time for basic internet. What would be great is a pre-built Linux for trading, charting, back testing, and such. Something that can do everything Tradestation, Metatrader, Metastock, and all those can do, but even better. And MUCH cheaper too!
Using octave, R, gnuplot and some other free resources from sourceforge.net ( http://sourceforge.net/search/?type_of_search=soft&words=trading&imageField.x=0&imageField.y=0 ), you sure do far better than with tradestation, metatrader and metastock. There is a very good Knoppix version called Quantian out there too. http://dirk.eddelbuettel.com/quantian.html
Well, that is only because you haven't been hit in the pocketbook by either licensing fees, or lost productivity due to arbitrary or unannounced API changes, or the elimination or dropping of support for a feature that is in-use at your company - and for which you have no source code. Everything you need is already available on Linux and is free: you just need to do a little bit of programming, and in most cases the required work is not difficult. Things like qtstalker and other open source tools make it possibly to dump $soft even for trading platforms ......
If you have to do a little bit of programming, then it isn't true that everything you need is already available.
And that "little bit of programming" chews up more time than ever thought possible. Rather spend my time trading than being a geek. Cost me already enough time to keep existing stuff going. Sherlock