I''ve never used Linux before, but now I want to get started with it. Not mainly because I need a stable and free OS but because I want my games to run on both Win32 and Linux. I just thought that I needed a testing environment to be sure my code was in fact portable.

So I have a few questions, too.

1) Which distribution should I choose? I''m very advanced in hardware, software, problem-solving and programming issues so I don''t need a "too" user-friendly distribution. Only restriction: I don''t want to pay for it. The slackware distribution looks good to me, do you all agree?

2) Which compiler/IDE would you suggest? A command-line tool might be OK, just tell me what you would use. Again, I won''t pay for it.

3) I run Win98 and WinXP on my machine (on different partitions, of course)... Do you see any problem installing Linux on another partition and using it together with the other OS''s? I''ve got several bootmanagers I might use.

And, of course, feel free to give me additional advice not directly related to these questions. How do *you* develop portable games? Do you have all OS''s on one machine? Do you compile everything on one OS and then just test it on the other OS''s or do you compile in separate turns on the respective target OS''s?

To put it again another way: How should a semi-professional Win32-developer who decides to integrate Linux support in his software setup his working environment?

I would like to thank the one person who acually answered my question. Also these replys have gone off topic from the original question.

quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
I''ve never used Linux before, but now I want to get started with it. Not mainly because I need a stable and free OS but because I want my games to run on both Win32 and Linux. I just thought that I needed a testing environment to be sure my code was in fact portable.

So I have a few questions, too.

1) Which distribution should I choose? I''m very advanced in hardware, software, problem-solving and programming issues so I don''t need a "too" user-friendly distribution. Only restriction: I don''t want to pay for it. The slackware distribution looks good to me, do you all agree?

2) Which compiler/IDE would you suggest? A command-line tool might be OK, just tell me what you would use. Again, I won''t pay for it.

3) I run Win98 and WinXP on my machine (on different partitions, of course)... Do you see any problem installing Linux on another partition and using it together with the other OS''s? I''ve got several bootmanagers I might use.

And, of course, feel free to give me additional advice not directly related to these questions. How do *you* develop portable games? Do you have all OS''s on one machine? Do you compile everything on one OS and then just test it on the other OS''s or do you compile in separate turns on the respective target OS''s?

To put it again another way: How should a semi-professional Win32-developer who decides to integrate Linux support in his software setup his working environment?

I just quoted my own post again because I don''t want my questions to get lost on the bottom of page 1.

I have seen some Linux source code and expect the actual programming to be very easy. The Win32 API should in fact be difficult like hell compared to it. So the main problem for me remains to find a good and gratuitous distribution that supports FAT32 and that can run on a logical partition.

The IDE is a second issue. As I said, a command-line tool would be just fine, but of course, a complete IDE would be marvelous - as long as it is free of charge.

Please don''t forget to post the appropriate links when mentioning a distribution or an IDE/compiler! Thanks.

PS: I simply don''t want to pay for it because I only want to use it as a testing environment for my software. I don''t want to use it myself, but I want to develop for it. Nonetheless, you make a good point there. If I can get something legally without having to pay for it, I will always take that chance.

One question: On mandrake.com, I can download the whole distribution in form of 3 CD-ROM ISO''s... But I thought this was a commercial distribution...?

Am I missing something here?

quote:Original post by Anonymous Poster
So the main problem for me remains to find a good and gratuitous distribution that supports FAT32 and that can run on a logical partition.

Pick a distro at random. Take that one. (What I mean is, they all do).

quote:
The IDE is a second issue. As I said, a command-line tool would be just fine, but of course, a complete IDE would be marvelous - as long as it is free of charge.

Anjuta.sourceforge.net, KDevelop.org.

quote:
PS: I simply don''t want to pay for it because I only want to use it as a testing environment for my software. I don''t want to use it myself, but I want to develop for it. Nonetheless, you make a good point there. If I can get something legally without having to pay for it, I will always take that chance.

Linux is free (gratis) and Free (libre), meaning that you can legally obtain it at no cost by downloading the binary ISOs (or the sources, if need be) and you can do what you please with it, provided you do not put any additional restrictions on people who obtain it from you (yes, you can share it with your friends).

quote:
One question: On mandrake.com, I can download the whole distribution in form of 3 CD-ROM ISO''s... But I thought this was a commercial distribution...?

Am I missing something here?

Nope. Linux is free! Yes, they sell it (and they try to give you incentive to buy the boxed versions, as I have several times), but they also provide it for free download. Always have, always will, as long as the OS is alive.