"Easy" way to remove MFC-dependence AND port to Linux?!

[AmigaDave]

Is there a person, or hopefully group that is already actively working on porting DC to Linux? If so I wish to contact them and join in helping with the code to make it happen. From the Linux port of DC I should be able to create another port of DC to my operating system of choice, which is MorphOS (which is based on and mostly compatible with the AmigaOS).

I am new here, so if this has already been discussed and the group can be found elsewhere on this site, forgive me for not finding it myself first.

Edit: I just purchased a new development environment suite of programs for my MorphOS computer and would be pleased to get started in using it to work on porting DC to MorphOS. MorphOS has many similarities to Linux, but it is tiny by comparison and lightning fast on very little power. I am currently running it on a 400MHz PPC SOC computer that uses only 1 watt for the CPU and about 10 watts or less for the entire computer with Radeon graphics card.

P.S. I think it would have been Ernix, which is not as bad as Erix.

[manikus]

I'm glad to see you found your way to the forums.

LurchBrick has mentioned an attempt, but he may have given up on it as I think he was finding it easier to write a new engine that take out MFCs. Other folks pop in from time to time with the desire to make DC platform independent, but I'm guessing that after they discover how hard it is, or more precisely how hard they think it will be (whether or not it's true) they move on to another program.

Officially, there is no current support for this kind of move. Our focus is getting version 1.0 out the door. And I'll be the first to admit that we're having a heck of a time getting that done and I realize that we might have more of a chance if MFCs weren't involved, but the task is so large, it seems completely unreasonable to put my meager resouces into that. Like I said, taht is the official stance.
Personally, I think it would be great to port this thing to Linux (I don't know enough about MorphOS to comment on it). I'll help where I can, but most of the coding is why beyond my ability, so I'm mostly a playtester.

And as for wondering if this topic has already come up, it has. But, I think it is definitely worth talking about again. In fact the more we talk about it, the more likely it is to happen. And, if it does happen, I'm ready to manage the new DC project (start up a new project on SourceForge, or fork our current project).

In fact I would go so far as to say if we can get enough interest, i.e. I think we might be able to port DC to linux (or hopefully platform-independent), I can start advertising for coders to help out.

[Uatu]

But, if one would attempt a move to Linux (or just platform independence) on their own and succeed - that would be just peachy Anyone know more about the "easy" way to port to Linux (that I mentioned at the beginning of this thread)?

Actually, anyone know how to just compile the code on Linux anyway? I have been away from compiling code for sooo long that I just don't remember anything...

Like, how would I try to compile DC code with the extra wxWindows libraries needed to do the "easy" port to Linux?

And just how many pages of code are there for DC, anyway?

(Having Linux would allow me to compile C finally! I don't have a compiler for Windows, which is why I have forgotten all about compilers...)

[manikus]

I compile packages from code all the time in Ubuntu, and it's super easy. I don't know if DC would be as easy, but how hard could it be?

How many pages of code? I would estimate it in the 4000 to 6000 page range. That's why it's such a big deal to replace the MFCs I should mention that Richard et al included a lot of notes (as they should have) so as to take up maybe a third of the above number.

I will say that someone has ported the GPDL engine to GNU/Linux. I believe he thinks he can port the whole thing...but I don't believe he has realized that GPDL does not rely on MFCs the way that the rest of the code does. Still, I will not try to dissuade him.

Edited to add: I've just contacted the individual mentioned above and informed him about these forums and the interested parties here - maybe he can find some help. I also offered him my continued help, whatever form this takes.

If interested, I can make available the source for GNU/linux and instructions on how to compile and install.

[Uatu]

Wow, someone already did the GPDL engine part? That's great! Maybe tell him about the wxWindows thing to help with the rest of it, if it is useful and makes things easier...

Hmm... 4000 to 6000 pages? Eeeeep!...

(As for the source for GNU/Linux - this isn't available at SourceForge? I would like to know how to compile/install in general, that kind of thing, though.)

[manikus]

The source will be available at SourceForge, but he couldn't put it up b/c he's not a project member, and I can't put it up right now b/c I lost all of that stuff in the crash (source, program to access source, public and private keys for encryption and authentication).
But, I do have a copy of the source that he sent me as well as his instructions on how to compile, which are very basic and easy to follow.

As for the library he used, it's the gnulib. I know nothing about this library, so I don't know if it's capable of replacing MFCs, and I don't know if he's committed to continue using that library whether it is or isn't capable of the replacement. I do believe he used it to provide maximum portability. We're not just talking the obvious GNU and linux, the BSD family, Solaris, Macintosh and cygwin. Do you know how awesome it would be to make Dungeon Craft available for all of those platforms?

[Uatu]

Very basic and easy sounds great to me! (Program to access source, public and private keys, encruption and authentication sound very bad... )

But yeah, DC for all those platforms would be great! It would also be a good big step towards finding lots more DC enthusiasts who would love to help with the coding, the graphics, and the games!

[manikus]

I agree.

As for all of the bad sounding stuff...it will be a bit of work to get all of that back, involving someone at SourceForge to assist in resetting the keys. (I can reset my keys on my own, but they need to have a copy of my public key.) The same problem goes for updating the official web page. These are not impossible to overcome, just time consuming and a bit on the boring side.

This is how easy it is to compile ~

The software can be built using the standard `./configure && make && make install' incantation...

[Uatu]

That's all? And then we can run DC?

Keys and such sound messy and bad... It's quite easy to update my own web page (never anything to do with keys), so...

[manikus]

SF uses keys instead of a login and password because they are impossible to crack and extremely (almost impossible) hard to spoof.

The reason compiling is so easy in linux compared to Windows is b/c linux has a compiler built into the command line interface. While easier to compile, more code would actually need to be written to compile the program to take care of dependencies and compile the modules in the right order, etc.