This proberly sounds really stupid...

[andshrew]

Hi

Now I know nothing about Linux but I'm intrested in using it (proberly dual boot with windows) What I need to know is how much it costs and does MS Visual Studio 6 work with it or will I need to shell out for another programming studio?

Thanks

Andshrew

[schmoely]

Lo m8,

First things first - NOT a stupid question. If you're a developer, and you want to develop (!), then you're gonna want to know if you can do so on another OS and what the advantages/disadvantages are.

I won't go into my thoughts on pro's and con's but what I can tell you is that if you're a C++ programmer, then gcc will almost definately come with your chosen distribution of Linux. GCC is a free collection of compilers, maintained at http://www.gnu.org, with support for C/C++ (and variants thereof - like Objective C) and other languages (like Fortran).

You'll have to learn how to write makefiles etc but with time it becomes second nature (if you leave it for a long time, tho, you struggle to remember how to write one!).

There's also a tool with KDE called KDevelop which does all the makefile/configuration management for you (like MS Visual Studio) so all you need to do is develop and (if my memory serves me correctly) hit F5 to compile. Voila. Very nice too.

If you're a VB man, I'm not sure what's out there, but there's bound to be something - I don't have any knowledge of anything tho.

Personally, I love Linux programming and Win32 programming (and Solaris and VX and everything else) - it depends on the project you're working on and how quickly your stuff needs developing.

Give it a go, but make sure you don't trash your hard disk partition table in the process :)

Now I have to watch another 2 hours of Jerry Springer. Perfect Sunday night.

Byeee
J

[andshrew]

lol ;)

thanks alot m8y :-)
I might go and order me a copy of linux now from http://www.linuxemporium.co.uk. Only a couple of squid.

Cya around

andshrew

[aef]

Just a couple of things to add to that. First of all, you noticed that the Linux CDs you looked at were cheap. It is important to note that you are paying for the postage and for the CDs, not for Linux (which is free). If you read the GPL (the license under which Linux is distributed) you will see that you get the source code, are allowed to install Linux onto as many machines as you wish, make modifications to it, make copies and sell or give them to other people, etc. You are restricted in that any copies or modified copies you redistribute have to have the source code with them, and be under the same license. You get gcc (as mentioned in a previous post) and a load of other tools and libraries under the GPL too, and these normally come with your Linux ditrobution. The nice people at http://www.blackdown.org/ do Java on Linux, but you don't get J2EE yet.

Most people I know do not use an IDE when coding on Linux. A text editor (usually Emacs or Vi/Vim) and the command line tools (compilers, debuggers, etc). While this might seem a little harsh/backward, it is by far my favourite way of working. It tends to be harder to learn than a graphical environment, but is quicker (IMO) and avoids the RSI-hell of frequent mouse use.

Having said that, there are IDEs for Linux, some of which are commerical, some of which are free (as in beer) and some of which are free (as in speech). The only one which I can remember (off-hand) is called Wing, and is commercial - but I never use IDEs, and I'm sure there are plenty of free ones a google-search away.

Support for VB on Linux is sketchy at best. (Almost completely absent - though there is the odd project to do something about that). You'd be better advised to use Java, Perl, Python or any one of the other scripting languages that are available, depending on the task. In any case, all VB code should be incinerated, compacted, aimed away from any alien civilisations and shot into space. (That may be a slightly subjective viewpoint.)

HTH

AEF

[Ferg]

If you destroyed vb, then thousands of a-level computing students across the country trying to fake being good at programming will all suddenly find life very hard :)

[Skunk]

In any case, all VB code should be incinerated, compacted, aimed away from any alien civilisations and shot into space. (That may be a slightly subjective viewpoint.)It's not the code that bugs me so much as the syntax you have to use. I spent a miserable 4 hours writing my first and only ASP script in VBScript - after C style suntax with { } and a lack of fussiness about new lines etc writing in VBScript was like swimming in treacle ;(

[Mut]

mmmmm treacle

[Deathwish2000]

Originally posted by Ferg
If you destroyed vb, then thousands of a-level computing students across the country trying to fake being good at programming will all suddenly find life very hard :)

aye, sounds aboot right! errr.. :P

[Waldo]

The very first language that I tried to learn was Visual Basic... I wish I hadn't... it has taught me quite a lot of bad habits, etc... I'm tackling PHP/mySQL at the minute, and I'm seriously considering trying to learn Python (it scares me!) :)

[enekron]

Can I upgrade GCC to the version 300 when it comes out? Apparently Mandrake I'm downloading has a naff 296 beta that works badly with C++.

[aef]

Upgrading GCC shouldn't be a problem - no doubt there'll be an RPM.

AEF

[schmoely]

To the best of my knowledge, the release of gcc that came with Redhat 7 and Mandrake 8 is an in-progress compilation of the tree. I was designing some stuff for the Wireplay Subs system (!!!) that didn't work...

...But, for once, it was because the compiler screwed up with threads and streams working simultaneously and it went into deadlock.

Two solutions: patch the compiler (not recommended; might be other poo no-one has found out about yet), or, downgrade compiler :) Check the newsgroups to get the lowdown

J

[Godin]

yeah, gcc 2.95 all round :) none o this 2.96 beta pap.