I want to install linux, with a goods heads up.

Miscellaneous Topics
#1

Hey guys.

Iv been holding off installing linux for a while.
Now seems like a good enough time for it.

I basically want to program using eclipse.
and would really like the OS to be able to run LWJGL.

My specs are as follows (dont know if that important but here they are)
Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
Processor: Pentium® Dual-Core CPU E5200 @ 2.50GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Hard Drive: 500 GB
Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Sound Card: Realtek HD Audio output
NIC: NETGEAR WG311v2 802.11g Wireless PCI Adapter

so my main concerns about the distro are:

  • supports Uses eclipse well.
  • supports Runs LWJGL.
  • supports the video card/NIC/sounds card

I would really like experienced input.
I know there is tons of info online about linux. But im sure there are people here with similar priorities as myself.

#2

I have moved to Linux when Vista came out (too expensive for me and I was tired of XP).
It works perfectly for game development with Eclipse + Java.
I use JOGL but I think LWJGL should work as well.

To have a quick and good start. I suggest using the Ubuntu distribution with its default setup.
You can check that everything will work flawlessly using the LiveCD.

For using Eclipse, you have 2 options ; either use the version packaged by the Ubuntu team for you. It works like a charm but it will only be updated with the Ubuntu update. The other way is to have an application folder in your home directory where you just unpack Eclipse and keep it up to date manually. The later is what I have chosen since it allows you to fine grain your development environment more easily.

Vincent

#3

I think I should add something ; moving to Linux is now problem but you will losse a lot of great tools ; most NVidia / ATI free tools are Windows only and will not work under Wine (the windows emulator for linux). So think twice. I also used to monitor OpenGL with http://glintercept.nutty.org/ which is not available under Linux.

#4

You know I use often JOGL and sometimes LWJGL :persecutioncomplex: and I’m a Linux user. Therefore, there is no problem, use (K)Ubuntu or Mandriva for example and it will work fine, let me know if you need some help. You will have to set some environment variables for the JDK and that is all.

#5

I’ve been using LWJGL + Eclipse on linux for a few years now, never had any issues.

Only hurdle is usually getting the video drivers installed (official nvidia ones) but even that is really easy nowadays and usually works out of the box.

Recently I’ve moved to linux 64 bit and it just works fine.

Eclipse and Java are usually found on the install manager that comes with all modern linux distro’s, just select them and click install. So usually really easy to get started.

#6

I often change OSes, switching backwards and forwards between linux and windows. Normally I find an app that doesn’t work on linux, go back to windows for a few months, get tired of it and swap back to linux and round again. Ubuntu is very easy to install (compared to the olden days of linux), it does need a net connection to install most things as it’s a CD rather than a 15DVD distribution. I’ve used it a fair amount for programming using eclipse with jmonkey engine (which sits on LWJGL).

HTH

Endolf

#7

i dont think any one has mentioned which distro yet,

try the different flavors of ubuntu, such as kubuntu = kde desktop, ubuntu = gnome desktop, xubuntu = xfce = lighter desktop.
Debain based distros has a nice package handling system, its easy to update and upgrade stuff. I say use ubuntu because they are doing a great job at the moment.

If you prefer another distro and are new to linux, check out mandriva i think its called. Pclinuxos, and opensuse or even linuxmint. There are others for noobs as well those are just some common ones.

If you arn’t a noob and want something really custom, try archlinux. You install it, really really basic install. Then you start building, pick your desktop environment, then start getting the packages you want such as Perl or Java using the package manager.

There are a ton of tutorials on most distros on how to do things which is great.

My Suggestion is try a debian based distribution at least ubuntu. red had or slackware based is gonna be a little harder to start out on. To know if its debian, slackware, or redhat just scan the distros main page or faqs they usually say. And then try the live cd before installing the os, you want to make sure everything is recognized and works out of the box, if it doesnt google around seeing why your hardware doesnt work on that distro, there might be a easy fix. If not toss that cd away and try another distro.

good luck.

also check out compiz, google it. It makes your linux box super awesome and when showing other people, they will be impressed and fall in love with your box.

#8

I’m using ubuntu now, but I’m switching to opensolaris soon.

if stuff is going to work under opensolaris try http://www.sun.com/bigadmin/hcl/hcts/device_detect.jsp

or simply use(this also works for ubuntu) a live cd. simply insert the cd boot from it and look at what works out of the box, considering your hardware looks newish it probably all ‘just works’.

#9

cool thanx guys for all the help.

Im going with ubuntu. downloading the .iso at the moment.
Im now looking forward to the change, should be interesting.

#10

I hope you’re anticipating some pain too. I doesn’t matter which distro, or even OS you change to, there will be some learning involved, and some tricks you knew before won’t work, but there will be new ones to discover :).

Sounds like there are plenty of fellow ubuntu users here if things get sticky though.

Endolf

#11

I know I’m chiming in a little late here, but wanted to let you know you’re making the right choice (IMHO).

I’ve been a linux user for over a decade now, and although I’m currently developing on Mac OS X, I spent the 8 years before that trying out different linux distributions and learning everything I could about them (I used to work as a systems engineer). Some distributions are more “powerful” than Ubuntu, but none of them beat it for ease of use and installation (we’ll see how Fedora 11 does here though). And I’m guessing that since you’re looking for a development platform, you’d rather concentrate on developing than making your OS work for you.

Ubuntu (Canonical) was really one of the best things that could have happened in the desktop Linux world (once again, IMHO). Before that, things were really lagging behind (remember trying to get wireless networking setup anyone? or having to compile the nvidia drivers and hoping they’d work with your kernel? Or manually configuring X11?). Although those technical aspects of linux were fun, I sure appreciate having a distribution that lets me focus on my work instead. 8) I can now install Ubuntu on my wife’s Sony Vaio laptop and everything works right away. Love it.

Oh, and you may want to consider installing Sun Java and Eclipse manually (VERY easy to do now anyway), so you can keep up with updates a bit faster (if you’re the kind of person who likes that sort of thing).

#12

and JOGL ;D

#13

sweet, good luck on finding the right distrobution, check out hydrogen for linux as well, its a fairly cool drum machine :D, something you may want to know is that open source is good, but doesnt always mean there wont be some swear words from you. The more you dig into linux the more you will find out how much you can alter and change and break, which is why linux is so awesome. :smiley: its a time consumer.

#14

I can do everything I need to do on Windows XP. Going to Linux or MacOsX means I can’t use a lot of apps I’ve become very adept at using. I have tried going to Linux a few times in the past, but gave up on it. Linux is a fine OS, but not for me.

I’m just not quite sure what the benefits are, going to Linux. To me, it means leaving my perfectly good OS behind and trying something that doesn’t even fit.

#15

I also think Linux and OpenSolaris have a long way to go to become user friendly enough for a main stream OS - but as a developer you can get by better than average so you won’t feel it as much as a typical user. I’ve run a the last three versions of Ubuntu and OpenSolaris. I have used WinNT, Win2k, Win XP, Vista, and the last three or four versions of Max OS X as well. So I have some perspective.

All of them are capable OS’ - For Linux I recommend Ubuntu. OpenSolaris is good, but has less hardware support (e,g, good luck with your printer), I’m running OpenSolaris now mainly because I really like ZFS - Time Slider is excellent!

I have an iMac and OS X is clearly the most user friendly in general, though Java support lags the other OS’ a bit. (There is also limited support for ZFS on Mac…)

I’m about to install Windows 7 64-bit in the hope that it won’t suck as much as Vista and I can use all of my RAM since I only have 32-bit Windows so far. Though if you disable UAC, Vista is not all that bad and you can play all the main stream games.

So for Linux I give +1 to Ubuntu, and if your hardware is supported I would prefer OpenSolaris as an alternative “free” unix box. OpenSolaris feels a little more “professional” but isn’t as widely supported.

#16

I have completely moved to Ubuntu about 2 years ago and have not missed anything so far.
Well except the bluescreens or virii :wink:

Actually I have started using more software then before because not only are there multiple alternatives to each Win program but they are free as well.
No more using restrictive shareware from questionable origins to do stuff. Now I just install the different packages, compare and keep the ones that match my requirements best.

Only issues I had was with USB-Wifi, then again I have (in other occasions) been able to install external hardware for which the last win drivers available were for 98.

Plus the absolute freaky ctrl-shift-cursors … totally new way of working.

If you do go for Ubuntu, drop a note and we can share used software.