“The time has come…to talk of many [technologies].” –Lewis Carroll(‘The Walrus and the Carpenter’)
Ubuntu
Installing C++ Boost on Gentoo and Debian/Ubuntu
11Note: Updated the post to note the availability of C++ Boost 1.34.1 libraries for Gentoo and (especially) for Ubuntu 7.10(Gutsy Gibbon).
1. C++ Boost on Gentoo:
On the shell prompt, type:
sh# emerge boost
This should install the latest version of boost available for Gentoo. Currently 1.33.1 version of Boost Libraries is available for Gentoo. Synchronise(‘emerge –sync’) with the Gentoo portage if your ‘emerge -p boost’ shows an earlier version. You can install the latest version Boost 1.34.1 by adding the line “dev-libs/boost ~x86″ to “/etc/portage/package.keywords” file.
2. C++ Boost on Debian/Ubuntu:
- Update2:
Boost 1.34.1 version is now available. To install the latest version, run the following command(or select these packages from Synaptic Package Manager):sh# apt-get install libboost-date-time-dev libboost-date-time1.34.1 libboost-dev libboost-doc libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-filesystem1.34.1 libboost-graph-dev libboost-graph1.34.1 libboost-iostreams-dev libboost-iostreams1.34.1 libboost-program-options-dev libboost-program-options1.34.1 libboost-python-dev libboost-python1.34.1 libboost-regex-dev libboost-regex1.34.1 libboost-signals-dev libboost-signals1.34.1 libboost-test-dev libboost-test1.34.1 libboost-thread-dev libboost-thread1.34.1Or,
sh# apt-get install libboost.*-dev libboost-doc libboost.*1.34.1 Update1:See the new update above
Boost 1.33.1 version is now available. To install this version, run the following command(or select these packages from Synaptic Package Manager):sh# apt-get install libboost-date-time-dev libboost-date-time1.33.1 libboost-dev libboost-doc libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-filesystem1.33.1 libboost-graph-dev libboost-graph1.33.1 libboost-iostreams-dev libboost-iostreams1.33.1 libboost-program-options-dev libboost-program-options1.33.1 libboost-python-dev libboost-python1.33.1 libboost-regex-dev libboost-regex1.33.1 libboost-signals-dev libboost-signals1.33.1 libboost-test-dev libboost-test1.33.1 libboost-thread-dev libboost-thread1.33.1Or,
sh# apt-get install libboost.*-dev libboost-doc libboost.*1.33.1Run the following command(or select these packages from Synaptic Package Manager):See the update abovesh# apt-get install libboost-date-time-dev libboost-date-time1.33.0 libboost-dev libboost-doc libboost-filesystem-dev libboost-filesystem1.33.0 libboost-graph-dev libboost-graph1.33.0 libboost-iostreams-dev libboost-iostreams1.33.0 libboost-program-options-dev libboost-program-options1.33.0 libboost-python-dev libboost-python1.33.0 libboost-regex-dev libboost-regex1.33.0 libboost-signals-dev libboost-signals1.33.0 libboost-test-dev libboost-test1.33.0 libboost-thread-dev libboost-thread1.33.0You can use the following simple command to install every library present in Boost that matches the pattern, if you don’t want to be selective about which libraries to install:
sh# apt-get install libboost.*-dev libboost-doc libboost.*1.33.0
All this mess could be avoided if only Debian/Ubuntu packages could build a meta-package to include all the C++ Boost libraries. One could use the pattern libboost.* but it includes the Boost debug files(libboost-dbg) too.
3. Build C++ Programs Using Boost Libraries
Once the boost package is installed, the C++ programs that make use of boost libraries can be built simply like this:
sh# g++ -o first first.cpp
If the program needs to be linked to a library(for eg: filesystem library), then specify the name of the library using the -l switch:
sh# g++ -o second second.cpp -lboost-filesystem
I will follow this up with the installation procedure for Slackware and RPM based distributions(Done).
Update:Thanks to Jun Zhang for pointing out the missing packages in the Boost installation command for Ubuntu; the command is now updated.
C# & MonoDevelop (.NET) on Gentoo and Ubuntu
10.NET developers looking for a similar development framework on the GNU/Linux operating system should check out the Mono project. It’s fairly simple to install Mono on most of the GNU/Linux platforms and to start developing applications using the C# language. But beginner programmers would love to have an easy to use IDE which could integrate all the tools required for C# based development in one place. One such tool is MonoDevelop which is fast developing into a useful product. Installing it on rpm based distribution was not a satisfactory experience for me however. But I knew it should be easy to install it on Ubuntu and Gentoo operating systems. if you have included Mutliverse and Universe repositories in the apt source list, then MonoDevelop is just one 'apt-get install' away on Ubuntu.
sh# sudo apt-get install monodevelop
It required only a bit more effort on a Gentoo system, so I am documenting it here. Most of the packages required to get MonoDevelop working on a Gentoo system are in the masked state. Put the following lines in the /etc/portage/package.keywords file(create it if it already doesn't exist):
>=dev-dotnet/gtkhtml-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/glade-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/gconf-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/art-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/gnome-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/vte-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
>=dev-dotnet/gnomevfs-sharp-2.4.0 ~x86
dev-dotnet/gtksourceview-sharp ~x86
dev-dotnet/gecko-sharp ~x86
dev-dotnet/libgdiplus ~x86
dev-util/monodevelop ~x86
dev-lang/mono ~x86
you can drop ">=" in front of some of the lines above by dropping the version numbers in the same lines.
eg: dev-dotnet/gtkhtml-sharp ~x86
Now run the following command to get everything installed:
sh# emerge monodevelop
Similarly 'emerge mono' will get only the mono environment, and all the development can be carried out using your favourite editor and the command shell.
If you get any problems, first try 'emerge sync' to get everything synchronised, and then re-run 'emerge monodevelop'. If you still get any errors, see if still there are any dependency problems left that are in the masked state. if so, add them too to the '/etc/portage/package.keywords' file and repeat the process.
Let me know how this works out for you as I haven't found much information regarding this on the internet.
Another system rescue story, using Ubuntu LiveCD
0Adding to what I had written in one of my earlier posts about the rescue act using a GNU/Linux Live CD , here is a related story posted on the ubuntu-users mailing list:
(this is a trimmed version, full story here)
A horror story with a potentially happy ending.
So, I use PartitionMagic 8.0 to move a few things around for the
ever-expanding Ubuntu portion of my hard disk. Then the god-awful happens: in the middle of applying my changes, Partition magic gives one of its ever-helpful error messages (”Error #705 applying changes.”) and stops.
[…]
Now since I am primarily a Windows user (and all my software and work sits under Windows as a result), my natural reflex was to pull out my Windows recovery disk to see what I could do. What a damned joke. Apparently, to Sony, “recovery” means “erase everything on the whole disk and put back in the vanilla install”. There was no option of any kind to try and restore the MBR or any such thing. Just a snide “it is advised to back up your critical data before proceeding”-style message. Bastards!Luckily I have Ubuntu. And, more specifically, I have my Ubuntu LiveCD. Which I booted and fired up GParted in. To see that I have…. nopartitions. Time to go hunting.
Having a fully-functional system despite not having a functional hard drive has its advantages. Sure it may be slow as all Hell on a CD, but it works. And it lets me surf the net to find possible solutions before giving up and losing literally years of data. Ordinarily I’d have to go to another computer (say in my classroom) to research solutions and download things and even mess with the hard drive (after removing it), but the Ubuntu LiveCD rendered that unnecessary. On the same crippled machine I could do whatever I needed to do.
[…]
So here’s where things stand now. GRUB is saved. Ubuntu works (with a few annoying glitches — I may just reinstall the system and restore my /home, taking the opportunity afforded to modify my partitioning scheme […]
‘ll do Sony’s version of “recovery”, restore my vital data (which is sitting on that handy external disk — the partition can’t be booted, but it reads just fine!), and then uninstall everything under Windows but for the few applications left which don’t have a suitable Linux alternative. (That list shrinks regularly and consists now of mostly games.) I’ll wind up with 5-10GB devoted to Windows and 30GB devoted to Linux. And Linux — Ubuntu — will be the OS I use most of the time now.
[…]
Ubuntu Live CD can be downloaded here.
You can also get it shipped to anywhere around the world, free of cost, from here.
Which is my favourite OS?
4Suddenly people have started to publish their favourite operating systems in their blogs and I thought I too should have some fun by doing the same. Currently I have these operating systems installed on my computer:
- Ubuntu (Debian based)
- Zenwalk (Slackware based)
- Fedora
- Microsoft Windows XP
My favourite, as must be evident from the above list, is Debian. Because I use Debian OS as the main server for my network, I thought I should install a different flavour of it on my pc. I may try Mepis os the next time, but currently I have Ubuntu.
The best thing I like about Debian based distros is its package manager called ‘apt’. also there is a huge repository of packages ready to be downloaded and installed for debian. Two dvd full of software can be kept handy by those who need to install them on multiple systems or have a slow internet connection. Two step installation process of debian, where you can install only the base system in the first tier and then continue with the additional packages once the first part is successfully installed, gives a lot of flexibility to the user. Debian is also very secure and stable, more than any other gnu/linux distribution. This is also the reason why latest versions of many softwares are not included in debian, but the tradeoff has been utilised by ubuntu and you get the latest, cutting-edge versions of all the software by sacrificing a bit on security and stability in it. Because ubuntu is generally meant to be used on desktop only(all kinds of server applications can be installed on it, but I can’t convince myself to use it as a public server machine), the security issue is not critical. But ubuntu comes with a single dvd worth of software and any additional packages have to be installed from the Internet. For KDE users, there is Kubuntu.
Slackware is another interesting distribution that is best known for its simpilicity and efficiency. The operating system, as well as its packages, get installed in real quick time. Its package manager is also extremely simple to use but the repository of packages for slackware is not as big as that of debian. Because I use it for development purposes it suits me perfectly well and I have found it as the fastest of all the popular gnu/linux distros. Zenwalk is a flavour of Slackware and installs only one software per every category – i.e. one browser, one word processor, one email client only – saving a lot of disk space. Its default desktop XFCE is also sleek and stylish. Though the first thing that I had installed on Zenwalk was the KDE package, which took less than one minute, I still spend most of my time in XFCE.
I had installed Fedora to check out the Core 4 version of it, but i am already thinking about installing PCLinuxOS or some thing else over it.
I use Windows XP primarily for development on .NET platform and for heavy printing jobs. I also keep most of my partitions meant for storing data under windows file system and manage them from windows xp because its easy to access windows partitions from gnu/linux than the other way round. My testbed machine contains 6-8 operating systems on it and the list keeps changing every 3-4 days. My brother is very fond of Gentoo OS.
Final word? Debian as a server, Ubuntu for most of the desktop jobs(multimedia, internet etc), Zenwalk for development work and Windows XP for .NET and data storage.
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