Re: [Visualpython-users] Help with Linux?

[Bruce S. <Bru...@nc...>]

Another issue:

* Find out how to get a working python-visual package into the regular
Ubuntu update process, so that we don't have to wait for another full
operating system update.

Bruce Sherwood

On Sat, Dec 10, 2011 at 7:57 PM, Bruce Sherwood <Bru...@nc...> wrote:
> If you have significant experience with Linux, please consider helping
> maintain the Linux version of VPython.
>
> It has been some years since a real Linux expert worked with VPython;
> that was Jonathan Brandmeyer. Some expertise is needed, because with
> every new release of Ubuntu, presumably the most popular Linux
> distribution, there's a pretty high probability that something will go
> wrong, as was the case with the function Gdk::GL::get_proc_address
> breaking. Moreover, the Ubuntu package python-visual is typically far
> behind the current version of Visual. The latest version of Ubuntu
> offers a python-visual package that is version 5.12, released in
> August 2009, over two years ago (the current version is 5.72).
>
> I hope very much that one or more Linux VPython users will step
> forward and take responsibility for some aspects of maintaining Visual
> on Linux. Here are the main issues that I see as needing ongoing
> attention:
>
> * Improve the build machinery. Brandmeyer made a very important
> contribution in creating the autoconfigure machinery that made it
> possible to build on diverse Linuxes. However, this machinery is
> showing its age. For example, it doesn't deal with 64-bit machines,
> and it's aimed at site-packages rather than the now-favored
> dist-packages. Moreover, the autoconfigure machinery is quite complex
> and not easy to modify. Probably someone(s) should experiment with
> using distutils instead of autoconfig for building Visual.
>
> * Get involved with the process that leads to a python-visual package
> for Ubuntu. I know nothing about this process, but it's clearly not
> working. It would seem that there is little or no testing of the
> package, and as noted above the package is woefully out of date. The
> Ubuntu/Debian package should be built and tested by users of VPython
> and offered to those who assemble the next version of the Linux
> distribution.
>
> I'm guessing that for someone who knows Linux well, these tasks would
> not be difficult, but they need to be done.
>
> Bruce Sherwood