 Notice. New forum software under development. It's going to miss a few functions and look a bit ugly for a while, but I'm working on it full time now as the old forum was too unstable. Couple days, all good. If you notice any issues, please contact me. |
Forum Index : Microcontroller and PC projects : Linux and 'mites - my journey
| Author | Message | ||||
panky Guru  Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1101 |
I thought I would jot down a few notes on my experiences with moving my 'mite empire across to the Linux world. It has been an interesting and rewarding journey. Let me say up front, I am by no means a Linux expert. In fact, I am just a novice and only venture to the command line occasionally as needs be. One of the principle initial reasons was cost - I am retired and would rather spend the spare dollars I have on each new 'mite as it comes out rather than feathering Bill's retirement income. My system: An Acer laptop with 8GB RAM and 512GB SSD internal HDD and a couple of 4TB external backup HDDs. I am running the latest Linux Mint Cinnimon 21.1 and I keep it updated daily (in over three years, I have not had an update that has broken anything!). I use minicom, PuTTY and GFXTerm (thanks Rob, fantastic program) for console work to the 'mites as well as Jim's fantastic MMEdit for code bashing. All of these are running natively under Linux. I also have Tom's MMB4L running natively and Peter's MMB4W under wine. I also managed (with some help from lisby on TheBackshed) to successfully compile the recent Pico source using gcc. Libre Office provides all the office functionality I need (Writer, Calc, Draw etc.) with Gimp (sort of Photoshop), Inkscape (sort of Illustrator), Shotwell/Darktable for raw photo manipulation, FreeCAD for 3D file creation/editing and Audacity for audio manipulation, all native Linux programs (all are free but I have donated to most). PIC32prog works fine from a terminal but I have a PICKIT3 for backup. For use with an 8 channel logic analyser module, I use PulseView. I have played around with cciocb's Annex RDS BASIC for use on the ESP8266/ESP32 modules, again running the native Annex Toolkit v1.44. For all schematic/PCB creation projects, I use Diptrace (free version) under wine - works great with the only limitation being internal links to the autorouter are not working - not an issue for me as I prefer doing the routing myself. Have successfully designed PCBs for 170s, 470s, MZ2048s as well as backpacks for most of the modular 'mites. It has been a fantastic learning experience and I can not thank Geoff, Peter, Jim and all at TheBackshed enough for their support and contributions  If anyone is thinking of making the switch, I am more than happy to offer any assistance (it may be limited by my lack of knowledge  but willing to try). I have yet to find anything that I need to go back to Windows for (I have a W11 laptop - purely as a fallback but un-needed so far).Regards, Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
||||
hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
Good on You ! I have used nothing beyond Raspberry Pi for years now . ( Not that I have done all that much with mmBasic amd ' mites ' ( but some ) ) It never ceases to amaze me how ubiquitous Windows is , even here in such a technical minded group ! my site |
||||
| matherp Guru Joined: 11/12/2012 Location: United KingdomPosts: 9139 |
That's because it works, all day, every day. Complete compatibility with all IDE, every CAD program, PCB design, etc. AND no need to ever use a command line window with obscure mnemonics AND no need to ask questions about how to get something trivial like a terminal to work |
||||
| hitsware2 Guru Joined: 03/08/2019 Location: United StatesPosts: 713 |
|
||||
thwill Guru Joined: 16/09/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 4047 |
They both have their place and most days I use them both. Best wishes, Tom Game*Mite, CMM2 Welcome Tape, Creaky old text adventures |
||||
| panky Guru Joined: 02/10/2012 Location: AustraliaPosts: 1101 |
@all, This was not intended nor should become a 'Windows v Linux' flame wars thread. I have used various incantations of windows for the last 30+ years and think it's a good program now (albeit with a couple of stumbles along the way ).My shift to Linux was one of interest and a desire to keep learning ( as well as 'playing' which my wife regularly reminds me) so my brain doesn't turn to jelly. The intent of the thread was to share my experience and offer anyone interested, ideas that they may pursue and assistance I may be able to give. Regards all, Doug. ... almost all of the Maximites, the MicromMites, the MM Extremes, the ArmMites, the PicoMite and loving it! |
||||
Grogster Admin Group  Joined: 31/12/2012 Location: New ZealandPosts: 9308 |
It's OK, Doug, I don't think the thread has gone in the flame-war direction.  People who use Linux have very valid reasons for using it, and those who stick with Windoze also have equally valid reasons for using that. I tend to agree with the points that matherp made personally though. One of the things I hated intensely about Linux when I was a beginner, was that so much stuff was done in the terminal and NOT via GUI type installers etc like Windoze does with pretty much all of it's programs. That is just one of the many differences between how Linux does things vs how Windoze does things. Many modern distros now have GUI installers for things, but an awful lot of stuff is still done in the terminal. For Linux, C'est La Vie..... Linux Mint is a really excellent distro, and keeps getting better and better as they continue to develop it. For someone who only uses their computer for email and internet, perhaps printing a few things, some office documents etc and nothing TECHNICAL(for those users), Mint is an excellent substitute for Windoze, and I have seen it starting to pop up on a few people's machines in the last year or two. 99% of the people I help with computers, only ever use their machines for the above, and so Mint is a perfectly reasonable alternative in those situations. Smoke makes things work. When the smoke gets out, it stops! |
||||
Mixtel90 Guru Joined: 05/10/2019 Location: United KingdomPosts: 6814 |
Linux/Mint was my OS of choice for years. The main reason that I'm on Win 10 now is that I wanted a tiny, fanless computer. I got one (I have two now as I was given a second) that came pre-installed with Win 10. Unfortunately I couldn't find a way to get rid of it and put Mint on! No matter what I did the installation failed. In the end I gave up. It may well be something to do with unconventional hardware that linux doesn't recognise at installation. I don't do well with OS installations. I have another (more conventional) PC with a M2 drive as C: and I can't get Win 10 to install on that! That's boxed up and out of the way until I have more time to play with it. Mick Zilog Inside! nascom.info for Nascom & Gemini Preliminary MMBasic docs & my PCB designs |
||||
 Print this page |
