FreeCiv windows or linux

[Arbogast]

Now that IS a very good idea!
I'm all for it.

EDIT: Now when you think about it: Instead of a CD maybe it should be into a rewritable support -SD, USB etc.- for the simple reason that there are new versions of Freeciv every so often, and plus the patches for linux and such...

[ngunjaca]

As a linux beginner I tried linux mint, kubuntu, fedora, opensuse and ubuntu. Ubuntu seemed the smoothest and most natural distro. Just to be clear all distros were good and looked very nice but ubuntu had this small "kick" that prevailed for me. The only drawback i noticed in linux was that when you install apps the install process can be longer than it is in windows. Other than that i am very satisfied with ubuntu.

[cazfi]

The only drawback i noticed in linux was that when you install apps the install process can be longer than it is in windows.

Do you include software download time on both systems to the time? In windows you typically need to manually download what ever you are going to install, but in linux the download is part of the install.

Or maybe you are talking about downloading software as source code and building binaries yourself in linux - something you very rarely are ready to do in windows. For example instructions to build freeciv-2.4 in windows are here: http://svn.gna.org/viewcvs/*checkout*/f ... r/Makefile

[ngunjaca]

The installations of apps over the Ubuntu Software Center are usually long, even if I deduce the download time, the progress bar usually slows down nearing the end. I do not now why is it happening, but it does not matter much. However this longer installation period was not present when i installed some .rpm packages through the command line so it must be something with the Ubuntu Software Center.

[cazfi]

I don't use Ubuntu Software Center (even when using Ubuntu) but apt-get from commandline, so cannot really comment on what could be the delay (maybe its the step to configure/integrate new sw to the system what ever sw combination that is)

I just wanter to add to my previous comment that linux software installation also automatically installs dependencies (recursively). When installing Windows software you often need to install dependencies separately, alternative being that they are included separately in all the softwares that use them - so you download same dependency software multiple times when you install multiple softwares.

[ngunjaca]

Arbogast have you tried one of the linux distributions, what are the first impressions?

[Arbogast]

Well, I tried. big flop...
I wanted a double boot, since I need XP for other things.
Also tried a Linux into a USB, again, no luck.
(I'm talking about Ubuntu and Debian.)
I would LOVE to have Linux run my freeciv but I'm so un-technical it makes me weep...
So, I'm just hanging on with what I got, not great but I'm playing!!!

So I think that your idea about a CD -or USB- bootable is a great idea. Maybe just the Linux things. I could add my version of Freeciv into it. Maybe just a downloadble file would be just great.
I do highly appreciate your sugestions and tips.

[Dox4242]

Does anybody know what skills are required to create a Freeciv-linux shell? Like a boot-USB that simply boots straight into Freeciv running in Linux? Sounds like turning computers into video game consoles with USB sticks as game cartridges....maybe there's already a distro for that....

[cazfi]

Does anybody know what skills are required to create a Freeciv-linux shell? Like a boot-USB that simply boots straight into Freeciv running in Linux? Sounds like turning computers into video game consoles with USB sticks as game cartridges....maybe there's already a distro for that....

Creating customized Ubuntu (or Debian) CD is relatively easy, I just don't have the time to setup build system for that.

[ngunjaca]

Well, I tried. big flop...
I wanted a double boot, since I need XP for other things.

Sorry it did not work out, i have win7 on both PCs and on both i successfully installed ubuntu (one time i installed it from win7 and once from usb and both versions are working great).

So I think that your idea about a CD -or USB- bootable is a great idea. Maybe just the Linux things. I could add my version of Freeciv into it. Maybe just a downloadble file would be just great.
I do highly appreciate your sugestions and tips.

Did you try creating a bootable USB with this utility: Universal USB Installer (http://www.pendrivelinux.com/universal- ... -as-1-2-3/), this is how i started. Then choose Ubuntu 12.04 (32 or 64 bit if you have a 64 bit CPU) to download and let the utility create the bootable USB with Ubuntu. The 12.04 is the long term support version (LTS) and works better than 12.10 or 13.04 (at least to me). Then start the USB/Ubuntu (choose try Ubuntu) and try to install ubuntu from there. Be careful when choosing a partition to install ubuntu or when creating a new partition (just do NOT delete your winxp installation). I simply created a new ext4 partition and let ubuntu install there (i gave it 30GB size). Best choice would be to install ubuntu onto a separate hard disk if you have one.

Read this page before proceeding with the installation https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Windo ... P_and_NTFS
If you do not feel secure enough about this procedure then it is better you do not try to install ubuntu as sometimes people accidentally make some mistakes ...

As for the custom bootable usb ubuntu with freeciv pre-installed i have no experience here but i am sure there are a lot of Google search results which can help.