To build an X11 version of VPython, a reasonable place to start is the
tar ball available on the Linux download page at vpython.org.
Alternatively, go to the VPython project at sourceforge.net, where the
relevant CVS branch is vpython-core2.
The file INSTALL.txt has detailed information about building on Linux,
but much of this is relevant for Unix as well. Also see the file
MAC-OSX.txt, which starts out talking about building on Carbon, but
there is a later section labeled "Obsolete" which describes building
in the Fink environment. Martin Costabel has continued to build
VPython for Fink and can advise as to what in the "Obsolete" material
is truly obsolete.
It is certainly desirable to have an X11 version of VPython on the
Mac, because it will satisfy the needs of many users, and it's great
that Martin has maintained such a version. However, the reason why the
Carbon version came into being was that many Mac users were vocally
very unhappy about VPython running in a way that did not have the look
and feel they expected. Moreover, many nonexpert users were put off by
having to install and use Fink before they could install VPython (this
problem was eventually addressed by extracting from Fink just the
libraries needed by VPython and bundling them into the VPython
installer). Remember in this context that VPython is deliberately
positioned to be easy to use not only by programming experts but also
by users who may not be programming experts, and for whom the Unix
environment can feel exceptionally daunting.
No, I didn't know about Stackoverflow.com; thanks for the tip. A
couple years ago I did interact on the Cocoa and Carbon mailing lists
about the issue. An amusing interaction occurred on the Cocoa list. I
attempted to explain the problem (it has to do with who can be the
main thread) and was yelled at for being stupid, followed by a more
knowledgeable person saying, "No, there really is a major problem.
Basically the same problem made it extremely difficult to get Java to
work with Cocoa." It's really sad that Apple is eliminating Carbon, as
its architecture is more similar to architectures on other platforms,
which makes it much more feasible to port from other platforms.
Bruce Sherwood
On Mon, Jan 24, 2011 at 5:29 PM, Daniel <boy...@gm...> wrote:
> Hi folks,
>
> So let me get this correct, 64-bit vpython is possible using X11? This is fine for all my (and probably everyone's purposes -- it just a window right?), it doesn't have to be Cocoa. So then:
>
> * Is there a tutorial on how to build 32-bit/64-bit vpython on MacOS? i.e. list of dependencies, useful CFLAGS etc?
>
> >From there is sounds easy to include vpython in homebrew.
>
>> The demise of Carbon
>> has had me very worried, as no one seems to know how to make VPython
>> work within a Cocoa environment.
>
> Bruce, have you thought about asking this on Stackoverflow.com?
>
> Best,
>
> Dan
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