Actually it's megapov I'm using at the moment, which does provide a 64-bit 
linux version. But I'm reasonably comfortable doing my own compilation 
anyway. Not sure if I need the x-windows display, since that's the kind of 
thing I want advice on! I'm not sure what the best way is to use pov under 
linux.

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"Christoph Hormann" <chr### [at] gmxde> wrote in message 
news:dms1ja$l4g$1@chho.imagico.de...
> Jaime Vives Piqueres wrote:
>>
>>   About 2), I don't really know if the official binary is 32 or 64
>> bits, as I always compile the sources for my own platform.
>
> The only official binary currently available is a 32bit one.
>
>> The effort is
>> so minimal that any advantage is worth. I mean, compiling your own
>> version for you specific platform is very easy on Linux, and it should
>> take only a few minutes more than installing the official binary (just
>> make sure to install the development tools of your Linux distro).
>
> IIRC the only tools required are gcc and make.  Most distributions install 
> those by default.  For building with X Window display you need the 
> development packages for the X-Libs.
>
> Christoph
>
> -- 
> POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Landscape of the week:
> http://www.imagico.de/ (Last updated 31 Oct. 2005)
> MegaPOV with mechanics simulation: http://megapov.inetart.net/

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"Warp" <war### [at] tagpovrayorg> wrote in message 
news:43917e17@news.povray.org...
>  Reminds me of http://ars.userfriendly.org/cartoons/?id=19990303

True enough :)

>  Some distros are bigger than others and may be oriented at different
> types of users. Some distros are more bare-bones while others come
> with tons of stuff (some people could call it bloat).

Yeah I think I'm definitely in the category that would call it bloat. I want 
everything I need to run pov and be able to download & install other stuff 
as needed, but that's all. And I'm even happy to use windows for the 
downloading.

>  It's like different cars: They all work with the same type of internal
> combustion motor, and they all have (compatible) wheels. However, some
> cars look&feel different than others.

Okay now that just terrifies me because I have a very strong opinion about 
what cars are best! For point of reference: lotus elise, caterham 7, noble, 
all very good. Lamborghini, Enzo, Zonda, beautiful and fast at but somehow 
not as technically impressive as the first group. Porsche Cayenne (that's 
the SUV), oh my god no. So basically I'd appreciate it if you can point me 
in the direction of a lightweight, good handling build of linux, with a 
decent power to weight ratio but lacking the luxury of most cars, and most 
definitely a manual gearbox :)

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

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Oh thanks for the link, it's all a matter of choosing the right words to 
google for :) That's a big help.

I guess my biggest problem is I don't know how I'm going to use it. I 
suspect what I want is to switch to linux for rendering and text editing pov 
files, and use windows for everything else. But of course if I get a distro 
of linux which gives me a nice way to do regular computing then I might use 
it exclusively and leave windows alone. I don't know what I want to use it 
for and I don't know how to figure that out except by talking to people who 
already use linux for pov.

Anyway, that link should help me understand /how/ to choose a distro. Even 
if I still don't know what I want! :)

-- 
Tek
http://evilsuperbrain.com

"Christoph Hormann" <chr### [at] gmxde> wrote in message 
news:dms198$l1b$1@chho.imagico.de...
> Tek wrote:
>>
>> Now I realise there's no straight answer to question 1 but I'm getting SO 
>> annoyed with linux users! Whenever I ask one of the guys at work they 
>> always name about a dozen versions of linux I should try. It's an OS! I 
>> don't want to try it, I just want to install one and use it!
>
> Then i'd seriously recommend you not to use Linux.  You should only use 
> Linux if:
>
> a) you want to and
> b) you are willing to accept the differences in design philosophy.  The 
> most important is the freedom of choice for nearly all elements and 
> aspects of the system.  This starts with the hardware (Linux runs on 
> nearly everything), continues with the large variety of distributions and 
> ends with for example the literally hundreds of mail clients you can use.
>
> I don't know anyone who started using Linux with these conditions not met 
> and who stayed with Linux on the long term.  OTOH i also don't know anyone 
> who started with these requirements and who did not stay with Linux.
>
> And Linux is not an OS, Linux is just a kernel.  When you are talking 
> about the whole OS you have the choice (and have to choose) between a lot 
> of alternatives for every single aspect (for example the GUI: KDE, GNOME 
> or various others).
>
> I'm not scared of having
>> to use a command prompt (I use linux remotely from a windows PC at work 
>> sometimes so I know my way around), I just want someone to tell me what 
>> the difference is between them.
>
> http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Linux+distributions+comparison
>
> BTW if you happen to decide for using Linux i would be interested in 
> benchmark results for a Turion system.
>
> Christoph
>
> -- 
> POV-Ray tutorials, include files, Landscape of the week:
> http://www.imagico.de/ (Last updated 31 Oct. 2005)
> MegaPOV with mechanics simulation: http://megapov.inetart.net/

Post a reply to this message

Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
> Not sure if I need the x-windows display, since that's the kind of 
> thing I want advice on! I'm not sure what the best way is to use pov under 
> linux.

  Well, if you don't have X support in POV-Ray, you won't see the image
while it's rendering it.
  (Well, technically speaking that's not completely true because when
there's no graphical window POV-Ray will instead show an ascii version
of the image instead... However, that is in no way enough. :P )

  With properly compiled povray and properly configured emacs you can
make it look like this:
http://tag.povray.org/povQandT/EmacsPovFrontend.png

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Tek <tek### [at] evilsuperbraincom> wrote:
> So basically I'd appreciate it if you can point me 
> in the direction of a lightweight, good handling build of linux, with a 
> decent power to weight ratio but lacking the luxury of most cars, and most 
> definitely a manual gearbox :)

  Well, even though many distros (such as suse) come with a large amount
of software, installing most of that software is optional (you can always
install a piece of software later quite easily with yast2 from either the
installation disc or online).

  Debian (latest unstable version) is usually what many linux gurus use,
but I have heard mixed opinions about it. I can't really say what it is
that makes debian so popular.
  If I'm not mistaken, ubuntu is a "debian for regular users". However
my personal experience is that its installer has poorer hardware support
than suse.

  I think suse should be more than enough for you. Try it, and if you
don't like it, you can always try something else. :)

  Just remember one thing with suse: Whenever you want to configure
something, check first if you can do it with yast2. It's not only
easier that way, but also recommended (harded to screw up things).
Most things can be done with it. This includes program installation
(for most programs, although not all). Even if someone (or some page)
tells you to "open such and such file and edit such and such line",
just check first if you could configure that thing with yast2. (Most
of those advices are for debian anyways :P )

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Tim Cook <z99### [at] bellsouthnet> wrote:
> (XP is pretty good and stable, but...well-tested?)

  No matter how much I hate MS, I can't deny that XP has been working
quite well for me. No crashes, no odd behaviour, things work ok.

  (Ok, it has crashed once, but it was because of a hardware issue.
Linux is reported to crash with that same hardware issue too.)

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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Warp wrote:
>
>   Well, if you don't have X support in POV-Ray, you won't see the image
> while it's rendering it.
>   (Well, technically speaking that's not completely true because when
> there's no graphical window POV-Ray will instead show an ascii version
> of the image instead... However, that is in no way enough. :P )
>

And you can view the file with eg. gqview or Gimp while rendering. Since
POV won't scale the image, I'm currently running one render with -D and
checking status once in a while with gqview.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Warp wrote:
>
>   Just remember one thing with suse: Whenever you want to configure
> something, check first if you can do it with yast2. It's not only
> easier that way, but also recommended (harded to screw up things).
> Most things can be done with it. This includes program installation
> (for most programs, although not all). Even if someone (or some page)
> tells you to "open such and such file and edit such and such line",
> just check first if you could configure that thing with yast2. (Most
> of those advices are for debian anyways :P )
> 

One addition for this. If you'll anyway for some reason edit some
configs directly, backup them before you'll run yast2 next time. In my
experience, when you configure something (eg. Samba) under yast2, it'll
write the whole config again and you're little changes might get lost.

As with everything, backups are the key of surviving ;). Backups,
backups, backups...

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Warp wrote:
>
>   No matter how much I hate MS, I can't deny that XP has been working
> quite well for me. No crashes, no odd behaviour, things work ok.
>

I've had one major problem with WinXP. Whenever, whereever I'm using it,
it's just not compatible with the user. Ok, there are some more issues
as always, but that's the most buggering one I think I'll ever see.

-- 
Eero "Aero" Ahonen
   http://www.zbxt.net
      aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid

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Eero Ahonen <aer### [at] removethiszbxtnetinvalid> wrote:
> One addition for this. If you'll anyway for some reason edit some
> configs directly, backup them before you'll run yast2 next time. In my
> experience, when you configure something (eg. Samba) under yast2, it'll
> write the whole config again and you're little changes might get lost.

  AFAIK yast2 will try to read and parse the configuration file so that
any manually-made changes have a high probability of showing up in the
yast2 window and not be lost, but it never hurts to backup, of course.

-- 
                                                          - Warp

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