New distribution-neutral package format

[Getafix]

Since Oolite for Linux 1.75.2-beta release, a new distribution-neutral self-extractable package format has been introduced.


Main Features:

• Stand-alone. It is a self-extractable tarball(i.e. tar & gzip) with no need of supportive runtime libraries for the installation setup operation.
• Short installation time.
• Simple intuitive interface.
• Supports system-wide (visible to all users) or home directory (visible to single user) installation.
  1. System-wide installation
     Path: /opt/Oolite
     Startup: Execute "oolite" from a terminal (assuming /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH) or click the "Oolite (oolite.org)" icon in the Games menu
     Update: Execute "oolite-update" from a terminal (assuming /usr/local/bin is in your $PATH)
  2. Home-directory installation
     Path: $HOME/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite
     Startup: Execute "/home/<user>/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite/oolite" or click the "Oolite (oolite.org)" icon in the Games menu
     Update: Execute "/home/<user>/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite/oolite-update"
• Installs a Games menu icon, to any distro which uses the freedesktop.org standard for its menus.
• Uninstall operation keeps post-installation user files for the following folders
  Oolite/.
  Oolite/AddOns
  Oolite/doc
  Oolite/oolite.app (Note: Oolite/oolite.app/Resources is unconditionaly removed!)
  All other folders are unconditionally removed.
• Installation does not affect other Oolite installations coming from a repository or from an autopackage package.
• Uses the existing Oolite user-folder structure:
  $HOME/.Oolite (for user AddOns/ and Logs/)
  $HOME/oolite-saves (for session saves and snapshots/)
  $HOME/GNUstep/Defaults
  $HOME/GNUstep/Library
• Delivers the Debug OXP (Basic-debug.oxp). Read here for some more info on that.

How To Update An Oolite Installation To The Latest Release:
Note: Valid only for oolite installations >= 1.75.2 (by this installer)!
System-wide installation:
To update a system wide installation to the latest release, open a terminal and execute

Code: Select all

$ sudo oolite-update

Home-directory installation:
To update a home directory installation to the latest release, open a terminal and execute

Code: Select all

$ ~/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite/oolite-update

How To Install:
System-wide installation (strongly recommended): Delivers oolite to all users.
OXPs visible to all users should be put under "/opt/Oolite/AddOns".
Any OXPs used only by a specific user should be put under "/home/<user>/.Oolite/AddOns".
If such kind of installation is needed you should extract the installation executable from the .tgz file (example given for 64bit architectures)

Code: Select all

$ tar xzvf oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run.tgz

and execute the installation executable as root (example given for 64bit architectures)

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$ sudo ./oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run

At the installation mode prompt you should select 's' or 'S' to install system-wide.
After the installation is completed, to run oolite execute

Code: Select all

$ oolite

or select "Oolite (oolite.org)" at the Games menu.

Home-directory installation: Delivers oolite only to the user performing the installation.
This type of installation could be selected if for some reason you want to give the users the option
to have different versions of oolite executable or if you don't have root privileges to perform a system-wide installation.
If such kind of installation is needed you should extract the installation executable from the .tgz file (example given for 64bit architectures)

Code: Select all

$ tar xzvf oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run.tgz

and execute the installation executable (example given for 64bit architectures)

Code: Select all

$ ./oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run

At the installation mode prompt you should select 'h' or 'H' to install in your home folder (i.e. $HOME/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite).
After the installation is completed, to run oolite execute

Code: Select all

$ cd ~/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite
$ ./oolite

or select "Oolite (oolite.org)" at the Games menu.


How To Uninstall:
To uninstall Oolite, execute
System-wide installations

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$ sudo /opt/Oolite/uninstall

Home-directory installations

Code: Select all

$ ~/GNUstep/Applications/Oolite/uninstall

[Malcul]

Getafix, As a Linux newbie, I may well be trying your patience here.

I thought I'd hit gold finding your detailed how to install, but I am so new, I need to ask some very stoopid questions.

1. I have extracted the "oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86.run", so where do I put it to be in the correct directory for the system command to pick it up?

2. How do I 'become' Root to execute the sudo command?

FWIW: I'm used to windows 7 x64, but having found Linux Mint 11 Katya, want to try out Oolite with my usual addons.

Malcul

[DaddyHoggy]

Before Getafix gets here:

The executable contains the directory structure of where to put Oolite, so if you run it, it will do this bit itself.

"Sudo" is a method of temporarily becoming "root" - Mint is based on Ubuntu (I think) and therefore it is deliberately very difficult to become root as a user.

By typing:

Code: Select all

$ sudo oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run

you will be prompted for YOUR user password - this is basically the operating system asking you to confirm that you (and not some sneaky program) wants to run the program with root privileges - when you enter your password - Oolite will be installed as though it has root permission to do so...

Hope this helps?

[Malcul]

Thanx DaddyHoggy, it confirms my understanding of what I should be doing. However, after the password request has been fulfilled, I keep getting a message 'command not found'.
My windows experience says that the downloaded oolit prog is not in the right place, or that I am not in the right directory to get the command recognised. ( ... and yes, I did check the spelling!)
I have just made sure that both I and the prog were in the same place (ie home/malcul) and still got the same error message at the terminal.
I am at a bit of a loss. Does linux system look for the command in various places in a particular order like windows does?

(It won't help that this is my third day with linux after some years with microsilly windows, and I've a load of bad windows habits to lose as well as the new stuff to take in.)

Malcul

[DaddyHoggy]

Hmmm....

OK, if you type this in the directory where the file currently resides:

Code: Select all

$ sudo ./oolite-1.75.2-beta.linux-x86_64.run

The ./ at the front of the file name basically says "look here first" - try that...

It's been a while since I installed Oolite on a linux box, so I'm a little rusty.

[Malcul]

YAAaaaay! Thank-you DaddyHoggy, rusty or not you have fired up my boiler. I go now to find my addons folder to fill.

*Aside: "What a fine man he is!"

[DaddyHoggy]

Good luck!

or indeed

"Right On, Commander!"

[drew]

Of course, you can change the root password easily enough.

Open a terminal.
Type "sudo passwd" (remove quotes)
Type your password
You'll then be prompted for a new root password
You'll then be prompted to retype it

Sorted. You can then become 'root' as your leisure. First thing I ever do on a linux box.

Cheers,

Drew.

[DaddyHoggy]

As I said this is actively discouraged in Ubuntu - and I'm happy not to run as root. However, if I need to do a few things as root - I'll sudo a gnome-terminal so that everything typed at the command line in that terminal automatically has root permissions. This is nice because such power only lasts for the duration of the terminal window existing.

[Getafix]

First post has been updated to show correct "sudo" installation syntax.

@DaddyHoggy:
Thanx for assisting MalCul on that one.

@MalCul:
I would also definitely discourage you, being a Linux newcomer, to activate the root account.
Whenever I need to perform multiple tasks as root I usually do a "sudo bash" and then
execute "exit" to return to "simple user" mode.

[DaddyHoggy]

No worries Getafix - it's nice my limited knowledge spotted the oversight - I hadn't thought of "sudo bash" - although running a "sudo gnome-terminal" does a similar job.

[Mauiby de Fug]

Useful tips! I just prefix every command with sudo, which can get a little tiresome... I'll remember these next time!

[Malcul]

Thanks guys, I learned how to get Oolite going with linux, and for a newbie the 'sudo' is the right piece of advice. I don't understand 'sudo bash' but perhaps it is better not to at my level of linux involvement.

My trying to find a use for an old 486 machine has fallen flat as:
a) Oolite (plus addons) is a struggle on it, with only 1536Mb memory,
and b) the mobile broadband option in the linux network window simply disappeared!

I was actually surprised to find it worked in the first place as dongles are usually documented only to work with windows. (aside: How can availability of an option vary?)

But thanks for the help, guys, the forum comes up trumps again!

Malcul

EDITed: I have realised that a dongle should be 'mounted' each time it is inserted. Using two computers with one dongle takes some thinking about!

[DaddyHoggy]

1.5GB of memory is OK for Oolite, but I doubt a 486 can process Oolite fast enough or indeed will be sitting in a mobo with enough throughput to power a decent graphics card.

"sudo bash" - well "bash" is a low(ish) level scripting level language that allows you to interact with the OS at the command line (a bit like falling back to ipconfig or xcopy in a DOS Command Window in XP). In the old Unix days there would be a variety of these scripting languages available and while they were similar there were enough differences for people to come unstuck.

Linux isn't actually too far from this actually - you'll often find that most of your GUI windows for doing stuff (even copying files) are actually running all these command line level scripts in the background - invisible to you. That's why applications such as VLC (videoLAN) has a huge amount of stuff that can be added to it at the command line - because the GUI is just auto-generating this command line stuff invisibly based on which options you tick or select on the GUI...

[Malcul]

OK, DH, you got me, ... I have to ask.

How is 'sudo' different from 'sudo bash'? Is 'sudo' a temporary condition for one command, whilest 'sudo bash' is a condition until informed otherwise? ... as in while ... and ... endwhile?