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[mordrax]

Started to write this in dwarf mode sub forum but thought it belonged here better.

This is an opinion/review piece on running DF on windows vs linux and the gist of it is in the title.
My most recent foray into DF was with 0.34.11 mid last year, Windows 7. Not knowing the latest graphics sets, utils, (back then DT didn't exist or was under a diff name) etc etc, I did some basic search on the wiki, dled the LazyNewbPack and got into DF with phoebus within 5 minutes. I toyed with stonesense, DT, dfhack and soundsense, loved them all.

Just this month, I've been transitioning to ubuntu and one of the first things I wanted to try was DF. It's taken me 2-3 solid hours figuring out how to get DT (compiled from latest source as there isn't a binary of DT 20.4), dfhack 0.34.11 r3, DF itself working on ubuntu.
I still haven't gotten stonesense working (my alegro lib is seg faulting, more googling required) and haven't tried soundsense yet.
Given that alot of it was also just getting familiar with terminal commands again, it still felt like a massive battle to get it working together. the wiki's linux install instructions conflicted with DT's (i should mention this is splintermind's DT) detecting DF's version. Found out it was the editing of libs\Dwarf_Fortress for the mouse that caused the address pointer to get out of whack. also, quite a bit of old instructions so I had to dig through other's experiences which are in bits and pieces everywhere, so it just gave an impression of being fiddly to get working when compared to the windows counterpart.

With the rising popularity of ubuntu, and the increasing number of linux newbs like myself exploring the OS, I'd have thought there was a BuntuNewbPack equivalent package, ppa or deb package etc etc for DF. Or at least a script that came with the install that did all the sound linking and manual tweaks required to run DF on linux variants. I guess I'm looking for sudo apt-get DF_0.34.11_NewbPack
I'm tempted to create one myself to learn about the apt-get tool and to make installing DF a easier experience. Does one already exist? Or does it not because of the lack of need?

[Boltgun]

I ran DF on Ubuntu but not the thrid party tools, mainly because you can't run it from an ntfs partition and I am too lasy to sync the save folders. I'll give a try asap since steam is making me migrate my games to linux now and using git on windows (for mods) is uncomfortable.

The ideal way is to have someone create a PPA repo and maintain DF, dfhack other tools up to date. The important part is that, once installed, DF must save your game in your home folder, using a symlink might do the job.

Anyway all these tools are getting properly ported and supported on linux, did you try searching the dfhack's thread for your issue with stonesense? The LNP is open sourced now so at least an archive should not be hard to build.

[Sigulbard]

I once installed Ubuntu on my computer to see if it's as good as people say. The first thing I tried to do was put DF on it, but over the years I have grown used to the logical set-up (according to me) of Windows too much, so I gave up after some time. I also uninstalled Ubuntu, since it was useless for me and didn't satisfy my gaming needs. But now there's Steam for Linux, and maybe when the OS becomes 'mainstream' I'll give it another chance.

Hah, that wasn't helpful at all.

*edit* I actually like legendary woodworkers. I guess I'm one of those weirdos who still utilizes woodworker dwarfs. Hey, at least I'm not an elf.

[Boltgun]

Ubuntu is still alot of work to get working, but Steam brought progress. Give or take one year and it will be ready. It's an os that keep itself up to date and clean, and I like that.

PS : I wanted to change my siggy but this morning a kid had a fey mood and made me a palm bracelet.

[Genitruc]

Hi,

   I use Ubuntu 12.04LTS (32 bits) and I'm trying to use WINE (windows emulator) to run the LazyNewbPack and I think it's possible to make it works.

   Here the problem. When I try to run LazyNewbPack I get and error message that says something like "failed to run CodeMeter.exe". I looked in WINE's "Program Files" folder and I found a folder named "CodeMeter" but the executable "CodeMeter.exe" is not there. I didn't find a way yet to install CodeMeter correctly in WINE but it might solve the problem. Since I'm not an expert a little help would be welcome.

Any idea?

Genitruc

[Sigulbard]

Hi,

   I use Ubuntu 12.04LTS (32 bits) and I'm trying to use WINE (windows emulator) to run the LazyNewbPack and I think it's possible to make it works.

   Here the problem. When I try to run LazyNewbPack I get and error message that says something like "failed to run CodeMeter.exe". I looked in WINE's "Program Files" folder and I found a folder named "CodeMeter" but the executable "CodeMeter.exe" is not there. I didn't find a way yet to install CodeMeter correctly in WINE but it might solve the problem. Since I'm not an expert a little help would be welcome.

Any idea?

Genitruc

Your comment looks structured kind of like code.

[Genitruc]

Hi,

   I use Ubuntu 12.04LTS (32 bits) and I'm trying to use WINE (windows emulator) to run the LazyNewbPack and I think it's possible to make it works.

   Here the problem. When I try to run LazyNewbPack I get and error message that says something like "failed to run CodeMeter.exe". I looked in WINE's "Program Files" folder and I found a folder named "CodeMeter" but the executable "CodeMeter.exe" is not there. I didn't find a way yet to install CodeMeter correctly in WINE but it might solve the problem. Since I'm not an expert a little help would be welcome.

Any idea?

Genitruc

Your comment looks structured kind of like code.

Are you saying that what I said is not clear or the way I say it is not clear. As you probably noticed, english is not my first language, the syntax is probably incorrect. If you'd like to have more details about the problem I mentioned, just ask. I'll be happy to clarify things. and hopefully get some help. I think many people would like to use LazyNewbPack on Ubuntu and WINE could be the easiest way.

Genitruc

[Sigulbard]

Hi,

   I use Ubuntu 12.04LTS (32 bits) and I'm trying to use WINE (windows emulator) to run the LazyNewbPack and I think it's possible to make it works.

   Here the problem. When I try to run LazyNewbPack I get and error message that says something like "failed to run CodeMeter.exe". I looked in WINE's "Program Files" folder and I found a folder named "CodeMeter" but the executable "CodeMeter.exe" is not there. I didn't find a way yet to install CodeMeter correctly in WINE but it might solve the problem. Since I'm not an expert a little help would be welcome.

Any idea?

Genitruc

Your comment looks structured kind of like code.

Are you saying that what I said is not clear or the way I say it is not clear. As you probably noticed, english is not my first language, the syntax is probably incorrect. If you'd like to have more details about the problem I mentioned, just ask. I'll be happy to clarify things. and hopefully get some help. I think many people would like to use LazyNewbPack on Ubuntu and WINE could be the easiest way.

Genitruc

No, no.
   Just for some reason
   the way you structured your sentence
   reminded me of the way programming code is set up.

However (since I an a complete failure when it comes to Ubuntu)
   I cannot help you out with you problem

Sorry

[mordrax]

That is going to be slow to run when your fort gets bigger, i installed it natively. Got the Phoebus for Linux package, then put dfhack r3 on it, then built the latest DT 20.4 as per instructions on their wiki. It runs well except for sound, soundsense and stonesense. I did have a browse around the dfhack forum and tried a few suggestions with no luck, since i don't use it much anyway, not a big deal.

[Boltgun]

Well I gave it a try, DF ran fine but dfhack keep crashing at startup. The error log mentions something about a missing image.
DT pre compiled does not connect and the compiled version crash at startup. Not a good start for native linux.

[Alastar]

If you want to have it easy, there's always Arch Linux - several options in the AUR.
Personally, I've been equally happy running the Windows versions of DF and its utilities under WINE.

[Genitruc]

The linux version of Dwarf Fortress runs fine under Ubuntu, but it's a pain to have the utilities  working. I used this guide http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=123116.0 to install dwarftherapist and it was working. Then I installed the tiles set called mayday, it works, but dwarftherapist stopped working. So, I thought it would give a easier and more complete solution to run the LazyNewbPack with WINE.

Still looking for solutions.

Genitruc

[Genitruc]

If you want to have it easy, there's always Arch Linux - several options in the AUR.
Personally, I've been equally happy running the Windows versions of DF and its utilities under WINE.

Could you check if CodeMeter.exe is installed correctly in WINE. On Ubuntu it should be at ~/.wine/drive_c/Program\ Files/CodeMeter/Runtime/ but it's not.

Thanks
Genitruc

[mordrax]

Can anyone comment on the performance of DF on WINE vs native linux or WINE vs Win? I confess complete ignorance of the inner workings of it and have assumed thus far WINE is a partial virtual environment which would mean more layers of abstractions to churn through, that's CPU better spent working on a masterwork steel short sword.

I agree the utils have been hit and miss and just been playing for a couple of hours yesterday and worked out the thing I had been missing, quickfort... AHK doesn't support linux *facepalms*... now i'm going to have to build all the bedrooms and helix staircases by hand.

I dual boot win7 on a separate HDD and have been tempted to go back... soooo many times. linux if not a second thought for the main game, is definitely a second thought for many of the must have utils.

[King Mir]

A LazyNewbPack for linux would be great. I, and I'm sure many others would benifit from a tool that installs all the popular utilities and their dependencies.

For running DF on linux directly or via WINE, both work, and I think the biggest difference is in utility support. I don't know what utilities work on WINE only, which work native only. DT works differently on WINE and native, though it's a small difference regarding editing strings. Personally I've only played on WINE long enough to figure out DT works.