JavaGaming and Linux..

General Discussions
#1

Hei!

im swapping my WinXP to Linux, still i have no idea what Linux to choose, thats why i need a bit of a help here…
my Linux needs to run following programs ->

Java/Flash Games…
NetBeans/Eclipse…
JDK1.5->…
JOGL->…
TomCat…
my own Java Server for my Java Applet Games from my TomCat… ( Chess, Reversi, FiveInARow, BattleShips and so on )

i also want to use some multimedia applications with my Linux… ( DVD, MP3, WMA lossless, Internet animations )

so, if maybe you already have an Linux in use (maybe with years) then
could you please, please type me an small Post to my question what Linux to my Home for the use what i just describded…

thousands of thanks to you,

//----

JariTapio / Helsinki
www.EuroJari.net

#2

Hi

I’ve had success running Ubuntu on the desktop. There are pages on the Ubuntu forums that describe in a few easy steps how to get DVD playback working, how to get WMA playback working etc. I have a run it on my old desktop machine with a GeForce 4200 and on my laptop with a GeForce FX 5650 Go and both got accelerated desktops working nicely. I didn’t run any JOGL applications, but I did run my own code which uses Jme, which is based on LWJGL.

I use a mix of distributions on servers depending on my needs, but ubuntu will happily run tomcat etc.

HTH

Endolf

#3

I see a lot of college-age folks running Ubuntu, and it seems to have a bit if a cult following. However, I’ve had several people switch from it to Mandriva and be very happy with it. Mandriva has great hardware detection and configuration tools, and urpmi (package management) is fantastic, especially with http://easyurpmi.zarb.org. I’m running Mandriva 2007.1 with beryl on an nVidia card using their drivers. JOGL works fine.

I like to be on the bleeding edge, so I always download Sun’s JDK and install it in /usr/local/. I use a symlink at /usr/local/java point to the most recent version, e.g.:


sudo ln -s /usr/local/jdk1.6.0_02 /usr/local/java

Then I put this into my ~/.bash_profile:


JAVA_HOME=/usr/local/java
export JAVA_HOME

PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH:$HOME/bin

export PATH

# Java fix for beryl
export AWT_TOOLKIT=MToolkit

I just found that AWT_TOOLKIT fix last night, so I have not rigorously tested it. However, it’s enough for my comboboxtest to pass and for my wife to run MoneyDance.

Also, if you’re doing a fresh install, I recommend 32-bit Linux, even if you have a 64-bit processor. Sun’s Java does not have complete support for 64-bit linux; as I recall, applets and WebStart do not work correctly. I think this was going to be fixed in Java 7, but if anyone has more information, please share it. In the meantime, 32-bit has prevented headaches.

#4

I think any of the distributions can handle that, so first get one that is fully compatible with your hardware and meets your OS requirements - such as touch and click installation of packages as opposed to having to install everything from the command line.

#5

I wish I were that young :slight_smile:

Each distro has it’s plus points, and it’s down sides. Each distro has it’s own cult following.

There are some that seem to work well for desktop (Ubuntu, Mandriva, SuSe), and there are some that work well for server environment (Slackware, debian).

My experience of redhat enterprise is that you are fine if you only want their approved packages on. Step outside of that and you end up on your own. Debian, and by extension, Ubuntu has a huge range of packages, including bleeding edge, and stable versions of each one.

I personally prefer debian/ubuntu’s package manager (apt) to rpm’s, but thats due to experiences of rpm eating it’s own database in the past.

Most of the distro’s do the job, and which ever one you pick, you’ll get used to. I’d recommend against any of the enterprise versions of a distribution as it’s likely to be limited on the packages it has (in my experience of RHEL), I’d also recommend against Gentoo at this stage. I used it for a year or so, and wouldn’t go back.

One thing to consider is the community support you’ll be getting. Check out the forums of the distributions you are thinking of using, see what is on their wiki, see if you can find information there for all the things you want to do, and see how friendly and knowledgeable the folks on there are. If they know what they are doing, are friendly, and there is information on what you need to do, then that distro will do.

HTH

Endolf

#6

The ubuntu bunch were nice; I remember getting random bad vibes from the Suse lot, really antisocial they were.

#7

I advice you to use Mandriva 2007. The only problem you can have under Linux is the fullscreen mode. Sometimes the taskbar is drawn onto your AWT window, it is very problematic, it decreases the performance a lot.

If you want a complete and simple OS with the same features than XP, Mandriva is an excellent choice but it is less stable than Ubuntu and Debian.

#8

Hei!

i tryed Ubuntu last night it worked all right, well still without my net connection, heh, Linux did not found my PCI ADSL card,
so, i could not use net when i was Linuxing…

im currently bittorrenting Mandriva and my final choice for my Linux will be between…

Fedora7
Ubuntu
Mandriva

heh, im not trying to be rude here, but, can i start a small war here, by asking what is the best for the following use…

Windows Games, i would love to run my old win games with
Linux and also my CorelDraw and PhotoSuite drawing programs…what Linux programs i need for this…

Java JDK + JOGL should work fine i need them…

TomCat server, serving my Applet games to people, definedly need to run steadily…

3D windows would be nice…

thanks,

//----

#9

The problem I have with Linux is that it doesn’t run with the hardware I have. I bought a Ubuntu live cd, and Ubuntu doesn’t have a driver for my wireless card for some reason.

More importantly, there’s no Linux drivers for my Natural Point SmartNav device. This means that no matter which Linux distro I get, I won’t be able to use it. I really like having that device.

When Linux support for SmartNav finally comes out, I’ll buy a new computer with Linux (assuming I have the money for it). I plan to keep my current Windows XP laptop just to test software for minimum requirements. Although it’s only 3 years old, the hardware that made it obsolete is obsolete as well. :slight_smile:

#10

Exactly. Unless you are happy losing your entire OS, you should never use any distro that isn’t based on Debian. Obviously, if you can’t get ubuntu to detect your hardware, and you can’t bear to use basic debian, you may have no choice - but try hard.

NB: it is worth recompiling your own kernel under ubuntu if that’s what it takes to support your hardware. You will ahve to do this sooner or later with every distro, might as well get used to it now.

#11

I do not question your experience, for I too once had to deal with RPM dependency hell. However, since using urpmi on Mandriva, I have had zero problems as long as I’m using the sources at easyurpmi, which I linked earlier. The only time I had system problems was when using unofficial RPM sources or mixing cooker (development/unstable) sources with stable sources. Some folks say SMART is even tighter than urpmi, but I have not tried it.

Hearing people still complain about rpms is like hearing people complain that Java is too slow :wink:

#12

This may be obvious advice, but if you are a Linux newbie then maybe it will help. A lot of Linux hardware support comes from hobbyists whose hardware is designed to only run on Windows. That is, there is no vendor support for Linux. In my experience, you can find a way to get almost any hardware to work with some help from Google. Use Windows’ or Ubuntu’s hardware manager to get the exact model of your PCI ADSL (or whatever) card, and throw that at google with keywords like “Linux”, “Ubuntu”, “Mandriva”, etc. Very often you may find some easy fix to make it work. Point in case, I bought a wireless adapter for my mythtv box but the latest Mandriva did not recognize it. All I needed was the madwifi package, so after one “sudo urpmi madwifi”, it worked like a charm! As always, ymmv.

#13

I pretty much switched totally to Ubuntu and can only support anyone who wants to do likewise.
But be warned, some stuff will make you want to yank your hair out by the fist-load.

If you need any help with Ubuntu, go to their forums. They will have one How-To on nearly every subject you might need.

I would also recommend installing Automatix.
I had problems with my GFX card and most of my attempts to install it failed badly, yet Automatix never gave me issues.

Plus some extra utils can make Ubuntu work really nicely. F.i. Tilda gives you a console Quake style.

Oh, I know that one. Did you plug it in BEFORE installing?
I have an onboard one and it gave me issues if I did not plug it in before.
Dunno how to do it afterwards.

#14

I say get a text IRC client like BitchX or ircii and make sure you’re already signed up; maybe even a text browser. That way when X goes you’ll be ok!