Brand new to Linux.

[Xishem]

Alright, well I'm brand new Linux user, and was hoping to delve into the wonderful world of Linux!

I'm using Ubuntu 8.04, and I'm finding it pretty difficult to make the switch from Windows to Linux. One of the problems being the fact that many of the applications I used on Windows are no longer usable on this platform, and I'm still looking for their Linux counterparts.

One specific problem is getting Code::Blocks IDE to work. I downloaded the Linux build that included the g++ compiler, but whenever I try to run compile some code, it throws an error:

/bin/sh: g++: not found

I'm assuming this means that the g++ compiler isn't on my system, but I installed the Code::Blocks version that included the compiler. I'm not sure what's going on with that, but I can't seem to find a place where I can just download the g++ compiler. Could anyone help me with this?

Another thing I've had trouble with is trying to play various media -- specifically MIDI files. When I tried opening a MIDI file in Totem, it said I needed to download and install the correct codecs, and it gave me an option to have it automatically search for them. So I clicked "Search" and it found the codecs, it downloaded them, and it installed them; however, Totem still doesn't play the MIDI files. Is there anything additional you must do to ensure that they will play?

My last issue is not really an issue at all. It's really just me looking for some applications.

Could anyone point me towards some apps that do any of the following?:

• MIDI composing software
• VSTi sequencers (Not sure if I'm using the right terminology. Some Windows equivalents would be Sibelius, Ableton, or Cubase)
• Some good games that run natively on Linux (Indie and commercial alike)
• Pixeling programs (I know GIMP supports pixeling, but it's really not built for it)

Some help on any of these issues would be great. Thanks!

Edit: Oh, and one more additional thing. I've seen the cube desktop thing in various places, and I was wondering how you activate this, as I thought it looked pretty amusing.

[GNU-Fan]

Hello,

if you want an oversight over music applications for GNU/Linux, I recommend to try out Musix first. This is a live CD so you wont clutter your hard drive while you test them out. Home Musix GNU+Linux

The rotating cube is part of the Compiz project.
Compiz - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[i92guboj]

Hello and welcome,

One specific problem is getting Code::Blocks IDE to work. I downloaded the Linux build that included the g++ compiler, but whenever I try to run compile some code, it throws an error:

I am not an ubuntu user, but I think this should install everything you need:

sudo apt-get install build-essential

Another thing I've had trouble with is trying to play various media -- specifically MIDI files. When I tried opening a MIDI file in Totem, it said I needed to download and install the correct codecs, and it gave me an option to have it automatically search for them. So I clicked "Search" and it found the codecs, it downloaded them, and it installed them; however, Totem still doesn't play the MIDI files. Is there anything additional you must do to ensure that they will play?

I am not familiar with totem either. You could look into timidity or fluidsynth, they are software synthetizers. Note that, most likely, you need one of these even if you use totem as your player unless your card can do midi throught hardware (though I can't be sure, as I said, I know very little about totem, maybe that plugin is a synth itself, I don't know).

In any case, timidity can be used as a player as well.

My last issue is not really an issue at all. It's really just me looking for some applications.

Could anyone point me towards some apps that do any of the following?:[*]MIDI composing software

Once you have timidity or fluidsynth set up correctly and you have some sound fonts most programs will be able to connect to the virtual midi ports. So, that's a prerequisite (again, unless you have midi via hardware).

There are some quality sequencers. I like rosegarden, but there are many more.

[*]VSTi sequencers (Not sure if I'm using the right terminology. Some Windows equivalents would be Sibelius, Ableton, or Cubase)

It's very difficult to match cubase, but you can try ardour. Some people have also had some success running cubase sx2 under wine, for example:

YouTube - linux runs cubase sx2

My guess is that you will have problems with latency, though. But if you just want to sequence stuff, then that might not be a big issue, at least, not as much as with live recording. If you use something native like ardour, you can connect using jack instead of plain alsa, that should fix all the issues with latency.

[*]Some good games that run natively on Linux (Indie and commercial alike)

I suggest you to look around these sites:

The Linux Game Tome
linuX-gamers.net - ENJOY Linux Games

There are lots of clones of unreal tournament and quake alikes, they all seem like the same boring thing to me, but if you enjoy fps games, then you will find a lot of fun in linux. Neverwinter nights also runs natively, I like it very much.

In any case, you can use wine to run lots of windows games. Some very modern titles work ok with wine, for example: call of duty 2, neverwinter nights 2 or morrowind. You can check the wine database here:

Wine AppDB - Wine Application Database

[*]Pixeling programs (I know GIMP supports pixeling, but it's really not built for it)
Some help on any of these issues would be great. Thanks!

Gimp is very good, though it takes a bit to get used to. You can try krita as well. On vector drawing (in case you need something for that) Inkscape is great. If you like photoshop, you can use it under wine, I think.

Edit: Oh, and one more additional thing. I've seen the cube desktop thing in various places, and I was wondering how you activate this, as I thought it looked pretty amusing.

Look into compiz-fusion.

Cheers.

[megerdin]

install gcc-c++

apt-get install gcc*

[Manchunian]

Mdi is a big problem on Linux - especially since the 2.6 series of kernels. I managed to get this up and running on Debian after installing some soundfonts and recompiling the kernel - but no amount of effort has enabled me to get Midi in Arch Linux. I really hope this situation changes soon, because it's just about the only thing left now which is much more complitcated than it should be.
It'll try following i92guboj's suggestions in Archlinux - let you know how it goes.

[i92guboj]

Mdi is a big problem on Linux - especially since the 2.6 series of kernels. I managed to get this up and running on Debian after installing some soundfonts and recompiling the kernel - but no amount of effort has enabled me to get Midi in Arch Linux. I really hope this situation changes soon, because it's just about the only thing left now which is much more complitcated than it should be.
It'll try following i92guboj's suggestions in Archlinux - let you know how it goes.

The theory is simple, it's just a matter of installing timidity, downloading some soundfonts, and launching the server with something like:

$ timidity -iA
Requested buffer size 32768, fragment size 8192
ALSA pcm 'default' set buffer size 33868, period size 3760 bytes
TiMidity starting in ALSA server mode
Opening sequencer port: 128:0 128:1 128:2 128:3

Then you should be able to connect to any of these virtual midi ports, and use them to play anything:

$ aplaymidi --port 128:1 bluegrass.mid

Of course, in practice lots of things can go wrong. In the kernel side you should only need to add support for generic midi devices, nothing else (I can't remember the name of the option right now).

An advise: it's not a good idea to launch timidity on bootup, unless you are using that box only to sequence midi scores. Note that it's a bit intensive in cpu usage, so I just launch it in a terminal by hand when I need it. I use it mainly as a backend for guitar pro, which works without a problem under wine.

Note also that you need to configure timidity to use the soundfonts you got. Gentoo makes this a breeze, you don't have to configure anything by hand, and to change a soundfont by another you can just use eselect which is a generic tool to configure many things. I can't comment about Arch.

[Manchunian]

Actually, my problem is Band in a Box. I absolutely, positively, must have this software working or my wife will threaten me with making this a dual-boot Windows/Linux machine! The very idea makes me want to throw In Debian it took me two weeks' solid work to get this sorted out - and I'm now having the same problem with Arch - only it's worse because I'm finding that recompiling kernels in Arch is a different, more delicate process than it is in Debian. If you have any ideas about Band-in-a-Box, I'd love to hear them!

[i92guboj]

Unfortunately, I don't own a copy of band in a box to try. But if you describe the problem I can try to help. This program seems like some kind of sequencer, so it should just need a working alsa system and a midi sequencer (provided that wine can run it without problems, which I don't know). The only things you need in the kernel are your alsa driver, and this for midi:

<*>   Sequencer support
<*>     Sequencer dummy client
[*]   OSS Sequencer API

This will allow timidity or fluidsynth to create the virtual midi ports. Nothing else should be needed.

About compiling kernels, I am used to the old way. I build them in my home so the distro is not a point. I build the same kernel no matter what distro I use, in fact, I use the same kernel no matter what distro I boot. I just pass a different root= to my kernel. This would save you lots of pain if you like to install and test many distros (it has it'd downsides as well, being the first one that then you are the responsible for updating and managing your kernels).

[Manchunian]

Actually, I build my kernels just like you do. Right now, as I'm new to Arch, I'm sticking to the Arch way until I find my feet. It's been such a long time since I've used anything other than Debian, and Arch is so different...
Anyway, as to the midi problem, I've following this excellent guide (a good linky for you Xishem). Before I did this, I had error messages from Band-in-a-Box telling me that there was no midi device. After following the instructions, this message goes...but there is no sound at all. I have the same problem with Rosegarden too. God! I'm reliving one of the biggest and most frustrating challenges I've ever encountered with Linux. It's a terrible, terrible shame that sound apps like this require so much effort to get them going. Anyone involved in the Kernel listening?