New to Codeblocks and Linux

[jet]

I just found Code Blocks yesterday - Have not tried to get involved yet but I do intend to.  We are interested in Linux, but first step figure out how to do development.

Don't like KDE because of license issues, Net bean, Eclipse require Java.  We just want Native code C++ and an IDE similar to VC6.0

I'm sure I am similar to many potential users.  We are a small technology company who produce software relying on Windows.  We have been working with Windows since 95.  We have written all our code with VC6.0 - about 500,000 lines.  Includes several thousand lines device drivers.

We joined Microsoft developers network and paid microsoft $1000's for support for first 2 or 3 years.  Since then we have it figured out and now we could provide VC support.

I believe the biggest thing holding back Linux is lack of a standard tool chain

Questions:
Is support available?  Price/terms?
Assume we have new Computer with blank Hard drive.  Any special hardware do's or don'ts
Step by step what do we do.  What version of Linux, What Linux software is needed.
If there are any Linux install issues such as command line work required
Coming from windows, do you recommend we get the windows version going first
Underwindows we compile on one machine, download to the target machine, run the test code on the target.
Can you compile on a windows machine and target a Linux machine.
Is same source code used for windows and Linux?
Can device drivers be done this way? Any support for Linux device drivers?
Anyone done anything with Solid State PC under Linux?  Use Flash rather than spinning HD with standard motherboards.
How much time will be required to go from blank machine to hello world approximately

Thanks for any help

[mandrav]

Well, a lot of questions you got there

Is support available?  Price/terms?

This is an open source project. Meaning you get quite a bit of support by asking your problems here. I guess that if you 're in need of a feature that would normally not be included in C::B or that would require amounts of effort to create, then I 'm sure someone could do it for you for a reasonable compensation.

Assume we have new Computer with blank Hard drive.  Any special hardware do's or don'ts

None.

Step by step what do we do.  What version of Linux, What Linux software is needed.

Any Linux distro will do. The needed software exists in all Linux distros and is either preinstalled or you can easily install it from your distro's CDs.
Currently there is no binary version for Linux, meaning you have to build it yourself. This is a process that takes about 15-20 minutes in a reasonably modern PC.

Coming from windows, do you recommend we get the windows version going first

This will allow you to get the feel of C::B and see if it suits you. What you see in Windows, is exactly what you 'll see in Linux too.

Underwindows we compile on one machine, download to the target machine, run the test code on the target.
Can you compile on a windows machine and target a Linux machine.

Yes, this is called cross-compiling. After it is set up, you won't know the difference whether you 're compiling for the native OS or another.
Note that this is not a C::B feature, but rather the compiler's.

Is same source code used for windows and Linux?

If you 're asking about C::B's source code, then yes it's the same. For your project, you must make sure you 're programming in cross-platform ways (i.e. using cross-platform libraries, etc).

Can device drivers be done this way? Any support for Linux device drivers?

With C::B (or any other IDE for that matter), you can create any kind of program. Yes, Linux kernel drivers can be compiled with C::B.

Anyone done anything with Solid State PC under Linux?  Use Flash rather than spinning HD with standard motherboards.

I do it all the time, but I don't really understand what you need to know here...

How much time will be required to go from blank machine to hello world approximately

In Windows, ~1-2 minutes using the binary installer.
In Linux, ~15-20 mins to compile C::B.

Oh, and welcome

[David Perfors]

Anyone done anything with Solid State PC under Linux?  Use Flash rather than spinning HD with standard motherboards.

I do it all the time, but I don't really understand what you need to know here...

if you mean if it is possible to use linux on Flash drives? yes it is possible and I think it is even possible with a standard motherboard. As long as the BIOS could handle that flash drive...

[thomas]

It is even possible to run Linux on an USB stick

About KDE, what precisely is the problem with the license, it is free? I may boldly assume that the license to Windows XP is a lot more restrictive in every respect.
But still, if you don't like KDE (I don't like it because it is slow and fat), then use Gnome. I do that every day.

About what version of Linux, if you ask 20 people, you will probably get 21 opinions. It really depends on what you want. The good thing about Linux is there's one for everybody.

I prefer Fedora, because it has a 80% foolproof installer (just insert the DVD and click on the packages to install), it is free (download from the net) and despite all, it still looks and feels like a "real" Linux. Hardware is automatically detected and drivers installed (Fedora even handles my RAID controller out of the box which Windows XP fails to do). Everything is not perfectly tuned, but it installs in half an hour, and it works. So Fedora is (like Mandrake) a compromise between User-Linux and Linux for real men.

SuSE is 100% foolproof, but the DVD costs money and feels more like Windows than Linux really. SuSE takes most decisions out of your hands. If you don't care and just want to use Linux, that's fine.

On the other extreme, gentoo, is a "Linux for real men", but it takes all day to set it up, and bootstrapping a gentoo kernel and editing each and every config file by hand is not everybody's taste.

[David Perfors]

SuSE is available for download... http://www.opensuse.org/Welcome_to_openSUSE.org It looks a bit like Fedora which is the opensource version of RedHat.
In my opiniion gentoo is not usefull for enterprise use. They want to have the newest of the newest, so it is possible that it is not very secure.
I did use RedHat and Suse, and I was very pleased with it. (btw. you pay for the support ) and I think both are usefull in enterprise environments. (For myself I am working on Linux From Scratch which takes more than one day to install :lol: It gives you a lot of information )

[cyberkoa]

I used to use Fedora for few years , recently want to try GNU/Linux , install Debian but it don't really suit me。 And I found Ubuntu !  This is the Desktop Linux for all.

Now , for Server , I use Fedora , for Desktop , I use Ubuntu 5.10. It is not very good now , but it have big potential .
I personal feel that it is a good /free way for Windows user to come to Linux World.

[David Perfors]

For windows users the best way to go to linux, is to try some linux programs first and get familiiar with them. Like OpenOffice for word processing, spreadscheet and presentations, Code::Blocks for development and GAIM as msn replacement.
By doing that it is not hard to take the step to Linux (and I agree, Ubuntu or KUbuntu are very userfriendly. but mandriva/mandrake is talso userfriendly (at least the last time I saw that))