My introduction and a quick question

[MerlinGamer]

Hi everyone!


Just pre ordered my pandora. I'm extremely excited about this device and ever since seeing the Dr Ashen's review I knew I wanted one!


I do understand that there is a large back log of orders, so I'm not expecting to receive the device any time soon, but while I'm waiting I was wondering if I could have any advice about its operating system.


Gnu/Linux has always fascinated me, and I've not really had much of a chance to really use it yet. I have played about a little with Ubuntu though and I'm quite interested in the whole freedom and open source side of it. Trouble with Ubuntu though, is that it has a huge community of developers, and it's very difficult to get your voice heard or find a project to help out with that doesn't already have many far more talented coders already working on it.


Is this also the case for the pandora's OS or is there a bit more of a calling for beginning programmers such as myself?


Well, in any case, it's great to be here and I look forward to meeting all of you!

 

[scoobydoo]

I agree that it is difficult at times for one's voice to be herd.


These chaps are very busy and very technical and speak another lingo once they get rolling


There is a pecking order and rightfully so I suppose. However if the question is of some merit, it will get answered one way or another


Welcome and congrats on your order!!

 

[Blue Protoman]

You don't need too much prior knowledge to start using it, you'll learn as you go. You'll definitely have your place here, given the lack of manpower we'll take anybody.

 

[Mr Rob]

Hello MerlinGamer, welcome!


There's always room for everyone to help here, and it just depends on what level you want to get involved.


If you're looking in terms of the core operating system itself (wireless drivers, kernel modules, etc.) that tends to be a pretty advanced skill, and the Pandora team has a good bunch of people working on that. Of course they always ask for feedback, so you can provide ideas about where they should go with it in the future.


But in terms of general development, anyone who wants to get involved, can. One of the big areas is 'porting' more applications to the Pandora. That still takes some skill, of course can be learned, and'll boost your GNU/Linux abilities. There'll always be a long list of games and other applications that need to be ported, so feel free to jump on in. Or if you want to create a completely new game from scratch, I'm sure we'd love it. Or collaborate with someone else from the community, etc.


And another big part of being in the community is helping here on the boards. These are used for questions, obviously, and if you know the answer, don't be afraid to jump in. A lot of the discussions used to shape later updates to the system, and beta versions of games and the core operating system occur here, so you can get involved by testing them out and reporting bugs if you find any. Plus there's always fun discussions about the Pandora and other devices/games here, so there's always something to talk about.


Oh my, this is getting long. But in general, there's always something you can contribute to the community, whether it's lines of code or discussions right here. So get involved, it's quite fun.

 

[MerlinGamer]

Hi guys thanks for such a warm welcome!


One of the things my local Linux circle encourage new developers is code clean up. You know...spell checking comments, putting the right indents and white space in, making sure the pointer/reference notation is in the right place. It's a great way to get some exposure to other peoples code and get an idea how the operating system is structured. If there is call for that then that is an area I would like to start in.


I have....basic C++ knowledge. I know how to use classes, polymorphism and the SDL API, but I still have a lot to learn. Later on today I'm going to look into Angstrom and see if I can find a live CD or just whack it on an old laptop to have a play with it.

 

[diligentcircle]

I have....basic C++ knowledge. I know how to use classes, polymorphism and the SDL API, but I still have a lot to learn.

Develop in C++ on Linux and only on Linux. That's my advice for the day. Why? Because C and C++ were practically made for UNIX (Linux is a UNIX-like OS). I personally never develop in Windows; it's much more of a hassle than doing it in Linux.


Oh, and much love for gedit. It's simple, but probably my favorite text editor right now. All it lacks is Indent/Dedent functions (AFAIK). I do want to try Vim, though, since I've heard it's great, at least for C++.

 

[Mr Rob]

Hi guys thanks for such a warm welcome!


One of the things my local Linux circle encourage new developers is code clean up. You know...spell checking comments, putting the right indents and white space in, making sure the pointer/reference notation is in the right place. It's a great way to get some exposure to other peoples code and get an idea how the operating system is structured. If there is call for that then that is an area I would like to start in.


I have....basic C++ knowledge. I know how to use classes, polymorphism and the SDL API, but I still have a lot to learn. Later on today I'm going to look into Angstrom and see if I can find a live CD or just whack it on an old laptop to have a play with it.

Yeah, often a good way to start is just to look at a full project, and just explore. I'm not sure of any particular projects that need help with stuff like that at the moment, but I'd say find a game or application that you like, and find out how it works. That's always a good way to learn.


As for C++ and SDL, it sounds like you know more than I do, ha ha.

I have....basic C++ knowledge. I know how to use classes, polymorphism and the SDL API, but I still have a lot to learn. Later on today I'm going to look into Angstrom and see if I can find a live CD or just whack it on an old laptop to have a play with it.

Develop in C++ on Linux and only on Linux. That's my advice for the day. Why? Because C and C++ were practically made for UNIX (Linux is a UNIX-like OS). I personally never develop in Windows; it's much more of a hassle than doing it in Linux.


Oh, and much love for gedit. It's simple, but probably my favorite text editor right now. All it lacks is Indent/Dedent functions (AFAIK). I do want to try Vim, though, since I've heard it's great, at least for C++.

Indend/Dedent functions? I don't quite know what you're talking about, but I know I can highlight n lines and tab them all in at once, or dedent them by hitting shift-tab. Is that what you're looking for? Also, this is using 2.30.4 (go Debian!). And Vim is of course the best command line text editor of them all, even when I have a full desktop environment I'll often fire up a console to use vim. I'm odd.

 

[diligentcircle]

Indend/Dedent functions? I don't quite know what you're talking about, but I know I can highlight n lines and tab them all in at once, or dedent them by hitting shift-tab. Is that what you're looking for?

That is exactly what I'm looking for. Thanks for the info! Problem is I got used to IDLE, Game Maker's code editor, and Dreamweaver, which use keyboard combinations instead of (or in addition to) just the TAB key. I never even considered trying just the TAB key.


Now I'm a little less dumb. Yay!

 

[Mr Rob]

Now I'm a little less dumb. Yay!

My contribution to the community.


But yes, I know the pain of slightly different keyboard shortcuts. I've used Maya a bit in the past, and now whenever I sit down with Blender, I cringe because it's just slightly different enough to completely mess me up. Same with emacs, really.