Recommended Linux config

[Nocturnal]

Hi,

I'm contemplating installing linux on another boot partition or perhaps run it as andLinux within my XP install. The purpose would be to build my module for 32 and 64 bit distribution. I use Linux every day for work (command line only) so I've been bitten plenty of times with the bewildering variety of versions available of both the OS and libraries.

What is the recommended OS and package set I should install to ensure compatibility with PCL?

Thanks!

[Juan Conejero]

Hi Sander,

PixInsight is being developed entirely on Fedora x86_64:

http://fedoraproject.org/

I'd recommend a fresh Fedora 10 installation or, if you're willing to wait for about one month, Fedora 11. Don't forget to include the required development tools in your initial installation (C/C++ GNU compiler and libraries, plus the Eclipse platform).

Other distributions will also work, of course. Ubuntu Linux is a popular option, but I don't recommend it for development.

[Nocturnal]

Hi Juan,

great, that sounds good. We use an older version of FedoraCore at work so it won't be a complete surprise.

Have you tried cross compiling 64 bit windows on a 32 bit client? I realize I'd need to install PCL64 for that to have any chance of working.

[Juan Conejero]

Let me know if you need help with Linux builds.

Have you tried cross compiling 64 bit windows on a 32 bit client?

No, I have Vista x64 (on a virtual machine) where I compile both 32 and 64-bit versions. I'm not sure if the opposite is even possible with VC++ 2008.

I've been reading the following with *great* interest:

http://fedoraproject.org/wiki/Features/Windows_cross_compiler

If the cross compiler works well on Fedora 11, then I won't use VC++ anymore (except to generate VC++ project files for distribution, but this can also be done without VC++). This would do my life much simpler (for example, DSS TIFF files would load fine ), so crossing fingers! 8). If this works I'll use Windows only for testing purposes, since of course, Wine is not a serious option to test a real Windows application. My main doubt is if the Linux cross compiler supports 64-bit Windows builds... probably not.

[Nocturnal]

Hi Juan,

indeed that sounds very interesting. It seems possible to do 64 bit cross compiling on 32 bit windows but I can't figure it out yet. This post seemed interesting but I can't replicate it yet.

http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/msbuild/thread/711766e3-9e3d-458a-9a88-d20522fdcc8a

[Nocturnal]

I just got an FC10 install going in a VirtualBox on my XP system. Cool. I'll have to repeat it downstairs on my other PC which supports 64 bit OSs. Then see if I can do a module build on it.

Eclipse? Ugh. Tried that for Ruby programming and man was it terrible. Maybe c++ works better.

[georg.viehoever]

Sander,

I am also working with Fedora 10-x64 and VirtualBox on my WinXP32 bits system. Works nicely except for the limited memory (limited by Windows, not Fedora). Graphics can sometimes be slow. But certainly good for doing first steps.

Georg

[Nocturnal]

Thanks Georg. I got various things working but I need to try to build my module. PI doesn't want to run yet due to a missing library but that can be fixed with an LD_LIBRARY_PATH setting I hope, provided I do have that library. On one system Fedora64 installed OK, on the other it did not. At least I get the impression VirtualBox (brilliant software) didn't allow a 64 bit environment even though the bios says the CPU supports 64 bit. Odd.

Oh well, I don't care much for performance. Just need to compile my module. When I get a new system I'll support hardware virtualization which will provide better performance. Maybe skip virtualization and make the system multi-boot. Lots of options. Fedora sure installed easily though.

[georg.viehoever]

- Did you activate VT-x/AMD-V in your host system's BIOS (some systems are delivered without or deactivated, although the CPU would support it)?
- Did you activate VT-x/AMD-V in your virtual machine? If your host supports it, you should do it.
- Stay away from Virtual Box 3D acceleration if you dont need it. It has quirks.
- Try the latest VBox version (2.2.2, published a few days ago).

Apart from these issues, I dont see reasons why Fedora installs on one VM running on hardware 1 , but not on a hardware 2, since it gives pretty similar virtual machines from the point of view of the guest.

Georg

[Nocturnal]

Hi,

on my laptop I can't get to the bios for some reason, perhaps my company's IT dept disabled it. It's a Lenovo Thinkpad. I'll have to ask them. I disabled the VT-x setting in the virtual machine so it doesn't keep complaining. On my desktop machine there is no bios option. Too old I think. It's a P4D.

On the other system Fedora installed fine but I suspect it's the 32 bit version as VB didn't give me the option to create a Fedora/64 VM.

I downloaded and installed VB yesterday so it is indeed 2.2.2.

[Nocturnal]

Ah, need to add both pcl/bin and pcl/bin/lib to LD_LIBRARY_PATH.