[CPLUG] Wondering if anyone could explain some Linux stuff to me

[Mark Gius]

To offer some more general advice: If you're using a Linux Distribution with
a package manager (Ubuntu, Fedora, pretty much anything really), you should
install software through that package manager whenever possible.

Software installed through the package manager almost always "just works"
(YMMV).  There are GUI and text package manager interfaces.  Googling for
"Package manager <yourdistrohere>" should get you started.  If you're using
Ubuntu, Debian, or Fedora, you can ask questions on this list and somebody
should be able to help you.

If you run your package manager, it is attempting to download software from
the net.  You can connect to wireless networks using the "network-manager"
applet that some other people have mentioned.  This application is installed
by default on pretty much every linux machine I've ever used.  It usually
sits in the notification area (for me this i the right side of my top
panel), and depending on connection state looks something like this (
http://www.gnome-look.org/CONTENT/content-m2/m88102-2.png).  click that
applet and be amazed at how easy it is to use :D  so long as your Wireless
drivers are A-OK (Ubuntu tends to ship lots of wireless firmware to make
stuff "just work") you should be able to jump on wireless.

So, if you install the GLUT development libraries using your package
manager, you can trust that the package maintainers have placed those
libraries in the correct location to be included gracefully.  In the case of
OpenGL on the CSC lab machines, you would #include <GL/glut.h> and add -lGL
(dash ell gee ell) to your g++ compile command to tell g++ to link against
openg as welll.  You shouldn't need to set environment variables or any of
that garbage unless you start installing software by hand (which I do not
recommend at all).

In short:

sudo apt-get install build-essential g++

g++ -lGL myProg.cpp

If you're still having trouble, we have an event every quarter called "free
your machine" where we help with Linux installs and troubleshooting.  I'd
recommend coming by and asking for help there, as it's often the best way to
get a ton of help very quickly.

Mark


On Fri, Mar 5, 2010 at 12:20 PM, Aaron Burke <aaburke at calpoly.edu> wrote:

> I'm trying to compile and run some .cpp files that use glut calls on my
> laptop, but it doesn't recognize g++ so it tells me try installing the
> package g++, which it fails to find when I do that. I don't know if its
> trying to get this off the net, and currently I don't know how to connect to
> a wireless network. Even if I get all that working I don't know if I have to
> let Linux know how to find the glut libraries and how I would do that (I
> think I have to set my environment variables but I'd prefer to have someone
> who knows what they're doing to run me through all these steps before I do
> things on my own) So if anyone has the time to quickly sit down with me
> sometime and show me how to do all of this I would really appreciate it.
>
> _______________________________________________
> Cplug mailing list
> Cplug at lists.cplug.org
> http://lists.cplug.org/mailman/listinfo/cplug
>
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