Re: Choosing a Linux development platform

[Brad Johnson <foxtrot@autobahn.mb.ca>]

> 1) How similar are the various Linux's (Linuxii?) right now? I plan to
> support Intel Linux under Red Hat as well as LinuxPPC. If I do development
> under LinuxPPC, how portable will my efforts be to Red Hat Intel (machine
> architecture differences aside)?

	Though I've never tried Linux on anything except x86, I can't see it
being a bigger problem than logging into one and typing 'make'. All I had to
do to port my game to Solaris was change the link and include lines in a
makefile, so I can't see Linux being all that different on different arch's

> 2) The last time I looked at Linux (about a year ago), there was a
> Win95-like window manager that worked reasonably well. Is there a
> Finder-like window manager available for Linux?

	There IS a window manager that is like MacOS. However, I can't
remember the name of it right now, and I've never used it, so I can't attest
to how well it works. As for Win95 like wm's, qvwm and fvwm95 are both very
ugly :)

> 3) Are there GUI IDEs available for Linux (other than Codewarrior, which I
> am aware of)? Commercial, shareware and freeware leads are all welcome.

	I can't work with an IDE myself... especially ones that try to make
build scripts and junk for you... however, there are quite a few available.
gIDE (Gnome based) and Code Medic come to mind. Browse around Freshmeat, and
you'll find lots of them

> 4) What is the current state of gcc with respect to: a) C++ language
> support, b) optimization proficiency, and c) stability? Note that fast
> compiles are NOT of interest to me as much as correct compiles and compiled
> binaries that run fast.

	Well, I usually skulk around using normal C instead, though every C++
program I've written worked fine with gcc and egcs (Keep in mind, the only C++
I've written were stupid little assignments from computer science classes).
I've no complaints about the speed of the compiler itself, or it's code...
though I'm running a 400 MHz K6 ;) The only time gcc has ever crashed on me
was when I had my (other) machine overclocked, and it would die with a signal
6. Other than that, I've never had a problem with stability (Any stability
problems with compiled code have all been my fault so far, heh). The only
other C/C++ compilers I've used were Turbo C++ and a really weird GCC on a
Solaris machine though, so I'm not the most experienced here

> 5) Though as a developer who takes pride in his work I find a certain
> attractiveness to producing software under GPL/LGPL, I don't see how I can
> make any money at it, and money is *a* motivation for me (obviously not the
> only motivation, nor even the strongest motivation). Is there a way to
> reconcile the shareware model with producing GPL software?

	I believe there's a way you can charge money for GPL'd programs, but I
haven't read all the in's and out's of all the liscenses out there. You could
always use one of the other liscences (BSD, MIT, Mozilla, etc) too if you
prefer them... or just create your own terms.
								--Brad