Re: [Plib-users] plib app from windows to linux

[Steve B. <sjb...@ai...>]

Simon wrote:
> Hi all, I?ve made my application with plib and Borland builder 6 on my 
> windows platform.  I want to make my application work on linux.  I?ve 
> got redhat linux 7.3 installed on a vmware machine.   I was hoping you 
> could help me out by suggesting things I need to do.  I should point out 
> that I have no knowledge of programming under linux.    Here are my 
> questions:

Well, if you used only PLIB calls (and perhaps some OpenGL and GLUT) then
it should port to Linux with minimal problems.  However, if you used a ton
of Windoze API calls for things like opening windows and driving the GUI,
then you may have a major rewrite on your hands.

> Does plib work with redhat linux 7.3 straight out of the box or do I 
> need to modify one or both installations?

No - it should work straight out of the box.

> What do I use to program c++ on Linux, is it gcc?

Yes - the C++ compiler is called 'g++' - but it's really just gcc.

> Is glut installed on Linux as default or do I need to install it myself?

I don't think RedHat installs it by default - but I could be wrong about that.
You should be able to find an RPM for it - but (as with ALL other libraries),
be sure to specify that you want the DEVELOPER version of the RPM - otherwise
it probably won't install the header files.

> I?m a little confused on what I read about openGL implementations on 
> Linux.  I keep hearing about mesa.  I?ve not modified the openGL library 
> myself within my app so do I need to install the openGL source and 
> compile it on Linux or can I just get hold of some binaries?

Mesa is an OpenSourced implementation of OpenGL - depending on what graphics
card you have, you may want to use Mesa - or some other OpenGL driver.

If you have an ATI Radion or an nVidia card - use the drivers on their
respective web sites.  Otherwise you'll probably want Mesa.  There are a
couple of 3D cards that don't have free drivers (eg 3DLabs) and you'd
have to *buy* a 3rd party commercial driver from a company like XiG (they
charge a small fortune though - it would be cheaper to buy a different
graphics card!).  There are also some 3D cards which are completely
unsupported under Linux.

What hardware do you have?
---------------------------- Steve Baker -------------------------
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