Linux Format forums

Re: Hi I have a question?

guy — Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:51 pm

Author: guy

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 5:51 pm

Hi,

You can do some Linux and cross-platform programming on XP, but it's not good - especially if you eventually want to roll your own distro, you need to be at home on Linux itself: learn the shell commands, the filesystem, users and privileges, the philosophy (e.g. "everything is a file").

So you need to install Linux alongside Windows, called "dual-boot". You can virtualise, but since you have XP without any disk, dual-booting is much safer. If you do not have enough HD space, you will need to buy another HD - internal or external.

Do you want to modify an existing distro (fairly easy) or build a new one from scratch (more complicated)? Ubuntu modify Debian, Mint modify Ubuntu, others modify Mint. So I'd suggest you start by modifying any of these.

A good starting point might be http://www.tuxradar.com/content/build-your-own-linux-distribution-easy-way

Re: Hi I have a question?

lwhistler — Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:23 am

Author: lwhistler

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 4:23 am

andyprogramming wrote:

I don't really want to start my own Linux yet, I just like to see how things work, would Linux Mint be good to start with to learn from or what do you suggest.

Fedora and the Xfce desktop.
or
Ubuntu and the Xfce desktop.

Re: Hi I have a question?

johnhudson — Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:07 pm

Author: johnhudson

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 10:07 pm

If you have 20Gb spare on your XP machine, you could dual boot a Linux distro.

Later versions of Windows tend to create problems for Linux but XP doesn't.

Any distro will come with GCC for C programming and Python - the best places to start.

Re: Hi I have a question?

Paradigm Shifter — Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:14 pm

Author: Paradigm Shifter

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:14 pm

You could use Cygwin as a compiler environment, but from the sounds of it, getting more linux experience would be more helpful.

While I'm fairly new to spending a lot of my time in linux, and there are a lot of things which still trip me up, if you want to jump in I'd suggest a Virtual Machine. That way, you can play to your hearts content without actually hosing an install on the real hardware. The ability to export VMs is great when you want to try something, but aren't sure if it's going to screw up the system you've put a lot of time into.

From there, have a play with Arch Linux (their documentation is excellent, and will show you the inner workings of some areas with something of a safety net), and possibly installing something like Ubuntu Server and building your own 'remix' - that'll give you a taste of Debian based distros, too.

From there you can look at downloading the Linux From Scratch books (free) which will guide you through building a distro like it says on the tin - from scratch. LFS can be a bit unforgiving, though, hence the suggestion for getting a little more up to speed via softer routes first...

Re: Hi I have a question?

Ram — Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:01 am

Author: Ram

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 9:01 am

What programming language do you currently use ?

Re: Hi I have a question?

andyprogramming — Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:31 am

Author: andyprogramming

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 6:31 am

I don't really want to start my own Linux yet, I just like to see how things work, would Linux Mint be good to start with to learn from or what do you suggest.

Re: Hi I have a question?

Dutch_Master — Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:30 am

Author: Dutch_Master

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 3:30 am

If you're not good at it, and know it, don't start your own distro... Yet

Re: Hi I have a question?

andyprogramming — Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:35 am

Author: andyprogramming

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:35 am

Ok, so its ok to get any Linux to compile the source code, what software would i need to compile on Linux, I just use the command terminal, sorry about this but, I only used Linux for about a year so im not that good at it yet, it was Linux Mint, I know how to program I just don't know what software to use on Linux, and if i need to know a new programming language I can do it. thanks for your time.

Re: Hi I have a question?

lok1950 — Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:05 am

Author: lok1950

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 1:05 am

Sorry but using M$ products to compile that source code just will not work as they explicitly produce Windows compatible exes now that does not mean that you can not edit that source code on XP you just will not be able to run it,till you have a viable gnu based build environment.
ps use Notepad++ to edit

Enjoy the Choice

Hi I have a question?

andyprogramming — Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:44 am

Author: andyprogramming

Posted: Mon Oct 15, 2012 12:44 am

Hi, everyone Im new to this forums, and I just have a question. Can I edit linux codes through windows xp, like what software do I need and stuff like that. I want to make my own linux distro I have the source code but dont know how or what software should I use. Thanks everyone. I know how to program and stuff, I just dont know what I need to use. And Im sorry if this is in the wrong place on this forum.