Re: [Visualpython-users] Linux users of VPython, unite!

[Andrew M. <mo...@tb...>]

This would be a great help, I think.  Obviously, I have had some problems
getting going with the linux version.  

What was so great about the Windows version is you download two files
(assuming you didn't have python to begin with) which you double click in
the proper order to install.  Then, you use the provided short-cut to
start IDLE, open an included example program, and hit F5 to see if it
works.   That was painless.

For linux, I had to find all the dependencies first.  That wasn't so bad,
except the key dependency that I was missing in the end was labeled as a
RedHat7.0 rpm.  I am running Redhat 6.2, but it turned out the 7.0 rpm for
the libstdc++ worked on my system anyway.  After that, I got the vpython
rpm to install with no worries.

What also confused me was the whole IDLE issue.  When I write perl
programs or C programs or whatever, I usually use pico or vi.  The only
python programming I have done is "Hello World" type stuff, which I also
wrote using pico.  But, in Windows, it was more convenient to use the IDLE
that was included.  So, I thought that was something special about the
visual module that made the python program necessary to run even on a
linux system.  Now, I see I was foolish for thinking that.

I would help critique or edit a Howto or help page for the linux
installation.  Right now, I am still not familiar enough with it to
actually be able to create it myself.  Let me know what I can do to help.

Andrew

On Wed, 11 Apr 2001, Bruce Sherwood wrote:

> I'd like to propose a small Linux VPython community project. I find it 
> frustrating that what look to me like the same Linux questions and problems 
> keep recurring. Ari Heitner has been trying to provide some compiled 
> packages, but it's clear that these often are not usable, depending on the 
> Linux flavor, so there should be a high-quality document explaining how to 
> do a source compile and install.
> 
> I propose that someone knowledgeable draft and post FULLY detailed, 
> comprehensive instructions for how to compile and install on various common 
> flavors of Linux. Other knowledgeable Linux users would critique and debate 
> the document. When everyone had thrashed out agreement, we would post this 
> prominently on the VPython site. The document needs in particular to state 
> clearly and in detail all the dependencies, and all the places where one 
> has to go to get the various pieces. And if we get that far, maybe we could 
> even get all the pieces together in one place!
> 
> Feel free also to tell me that my proposal makes no sense. Since I'm not a 
> Linux user, I may well have misunderstood everything. But watching from the 
> sidelines it sure sounds like utter chaos that one is sent to lots of 
> different repositories to find obscure files and keep trying to compile and 
> find other dependencies and ask some more questions and update the compiler 
> itself to the latest version and then.....
> 
> Bruce Sherwood
> 
> 
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