I think a lot of people new to Allegro might be turned off by the difficulty of compiling and setting up Allegro in Windows. In Windows you have to install DirectX, setup paths for librarys, include a .dll, in Linux all that goes away, the wiki page for installing Allegro on Linux shows just how easy:
http://wiki.allegro.cc/index.php?title=Build/Linux

I think the link for Linux Allegro install should be on the front page of the Wiki and noobs should be made aware of how easy it is. As of now its very hard to find hidden in the unix section of the "building Allegro" link which is within the "Getting Started" link.

Also compiling and running an Allegro app in the console can be automated in the Scite text editor. This is much easier and faster than using an IDE. To do that just install Scite and then go into Options>Edit Properties>Open cpp.properties and find where the path is to this file (its write protected, trying to save a changed file will bring up error message with path) then when you know the location open it with:
sudo gedit /usr/share/scite/cpp.properties
turn on line numbers and go to lines #262 and #263 and change them from this:
cc=g++ $(ccopts) -c $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName).o
ccc=gcc $(ccopts) -c $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName).o

to this:
cc=g++ $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName)
ccc=gcc $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName)

and then you will be able to do an automatic compile and run of a regular C program in Tools>compile and Tools>go.

And then to do an automated Allegro app compile/run you just add
cc=g++ $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName) `allegro-config --libs`
ccc=gcc $(FileNameExt) -o $(FileName) `allegro-config --libs`

Im asking permission to put this in the wiki or if someone else would like to volunteer to put this in, that would be better as Im a noob myself.

In Linux you have to install opengl, and alsa headers.

Not if you use the standard paths.

Unless you only want your binaries to run on a single distro, you have to compile EVERYTHING statically or include .sos (same as including dlls).

Not quite...

The only thing I had to install in Ubuntu were the Allegro libraries/dependencies. You dont have to install OpenGL in either Windows or Linux, its part of the system. In Windows there is plenty of difficulty (for a noob) in installing Allegro with either msvc or mingw. All that is automated with a package manager install in a distro like Ubuntu.

In Windows, you can download pre-built binaries.

You still have to set the library paths for each project and include the .dll with the prebuilt binarys. Yes it is a lot easier than a full Allegro compile/install and people should be made aware of that also. But still I think a Linux install in a distro like Ubuntu is by far the best option for a noob.

If you use the static version, no DLLs are needed. If you configure your MSVC environment properly, you only need to set the paths once when you install Allegro.

I agree that building Allegro from source is generally easier in Linux (assuming there is a good package manager) than in Windows, but I don't get your point... Ask people to switch their OS to install Allegro?

If somebody has Linux, then of course they will use it. If they have Windows, then they will use it Windows.

By the time Allegro 5 is out, there will be simple step-by-step instructions for all supported operating systems, so I'm sure the programmer's native OS will always seem the "easiest."

Feel free to add tutorials to the wiki, but please refrain from "fanboy" comparison-talk in it. (e.g., This is so much easier than it is in OS bar.)

I've compiled Linux literally hundreds of times, for a pile of different operating systems, and on the common ones (Windows, OS X, Linux) it's easy. Difficulty of compiling Allegro should not be a reason to use one OS over another... If you're going to be a programmer, then you darn well better be able to do something as simple as compiling a library.

You mean Allegro?

By static install do you mean putting the .dll in the Win32 folder? That is not very good for distributing your game, and we all know noobs love to distribute their games. But as to your question:

Im just saying I was about to bag Allegro after seeing the Windows msvc express install instructions and use something else like SDL. When I gave it one last shot on my Ubuntu partition I was really blown away by how everything was already set in my path and ready to roll. I think a big majority of people now a days have Ubuntu running on a partition or spare computer and so I think its something worth mentioning.

I think most people do not have Ubuntu installed anywhere, especially hardcore Windows users. Nor are they willing to give up an excellent developing environment (MSVC) for Linux notepad.

No. I mean using the static libraries, which means no DLLs are needed.

Derp, yeah.

That's funny because Ubuntu in my experience doesn't come with libasound-dev or any X11 development libs/headers and possibly some other things that a noob would have to install, albeit through their package manager.

nvm, dependancies are exactly what we were talking about.

Given that it takes aeons to write a good game, the issue of 10 minutes to get set up and a couple of extra paracetamol doesn't seem like a big deal.

I've haven't got any computer qualifications (bar an N in A level computer science),
and I can do it.

A good page on setting up for linux would be a good idea though but on the front page is maybe a bit extreme. If people really are deluded about how hard it is to set up on linux then perhaps it's a good idea. Do people lean towards windows because of this ? I don't know.

I prefer windows over linux due to a fear of brain haemorrhage.
No, seriously because when I want to get someone like my sister to play my game........

Isn't there already a page for setting up with linux ?

That's a MSVC problem, not a Windows problem. You don't have to use MSVC on Windows.

I think you are extremely delusional. Linux as a whole is still only making it to about 1% of the Desktop market share.

That's why you don't compile it yourself unless you're a masochist or something. You gain nothing by doing that instead of just downloading pre-built binaries.

Ubuntu is all set for Allegro 4.2 and it is very easy to use. However, setting up AllegroGL is not as straight-forward as I had hoped. See my post on this.

I've been testing out two IDEs. Eclipse and Geany. I'm sure many of you are familiar with Eclipse + CDT. It's nice though Geany is very lightweight. To have it build your Allegro source, it's very simply : Build->Set Includes and Arguments, and then just add `allegro-config --libs` and you're set.

Now if I could only establish all the dependencies required for Allegrogl.

I recently read somewhere that close to one third of netbooks sold were Linux based.

Check out google trends for Ubuntu versus Microsoft. You might be surprised.

I understand that MSVC is a great environment, but how about Eclipse CDT + GDB?

Google trends don't really mean anything...

Even if that's accurate, close to a third is not a big majority. And that figure was for all linux distros, not just for Ubuntu.

1/3 of netbooks? Netbooks are a small minority themselves, so that works out being tiny.

I've used Eclipse for Java on Windows, and it is a painfully slow IDE. Other than that, it seemed nice.

I wish there were pre-built binaries for Allegro 4.4 MSVC2008

CodeBlocks works very nicely as a gcc/mingw IDE in both Windows and Linux. When you start a project in CodeBlocks there is a default template for SDL. It would be nice if someone could make an Allegro template for CodeBlocks, or at least a custom template that could be downloaded here.

There is one, and it's available from the Wiki, on the Code::Blocks page.

I don't understand. Historical search volume and news reference volume from Google doesn't mean anything? I figured it would be better than my personal opinion.

You're right. I only wanted to point out an example where Linux is starting to gain support. Of course we're talking about low powered systems primarily with Intel integrated graphics.

I've read that 50 million netbooks are predicted to be sold in 2010. If that's true, more than 16 million additional Linux machines will be ready for your Allegro creations. Check out the trends for netbooks in the last two years.

I know what you mean. I wish it was snappier.

I'll have to give that a try.

Just because a netbook comes with Linux doesn't mean the owner doesn't put a (pirated) copy of Windows on it.

Why Microsoft vs Ubuntu? That's like Activision vs Rock Band. Try Canonical vs Microsoft or Windows vs Ubuntu for a more fair comparison.

Yes that's true but it works both ways. People dual boot or remove Windows from their sold-with-windows netbooks in preference for Linux as well.

I see your point about one company versus a product as a comparison. However, I didn't want to use just "Windows" because there are windows in nearly all operating systems and on many houses and building, etc. Very few folks are familiar with Canonical in comparison to their product; Ubuntu. I figured everything "Microsoft" (which can include their products such as Windows as well) versus the single Canonical product "Ubuntu" would be interesting no?

Just to clear up what I meant about the majority of people having Linux. I am aware that the vast majority of the population just use their computer for browsing the net, emailing, etc and can barely handle using Windows. But the people I socialize with generally are people who program. And Ive noticed the vast majority of people who program, especially program games in C, also happen to be Linux users, even if its only casual use.

Of course. Instead of guessing, just do a search for "Operating System Market Share." I doubt Linux (all versions combined) is much more than 1%.

Not to me. (Ubuntu has meaning outside of an OS as well, by the way.)

Windows 7 vs Ubuntu 9

I want to be clear that I am not against Windows. I have no interest in flame wars of this versus that. I am just trying to learn the truth for myself. I don't believe I know everything, not even close.

I sure won't argue that Linux is a significant minority in most market segments, especially the desktop. I demonstrated one market segment where Linux is doing very well : Netbooks. I think we all agree Linux does well in the realm of servers but we're not here to write games for servers are we? I have seen many sites claiming the 1% market share myth, but also others that suggest this isn't the case. Here are some recent examples I came across. It seems 1% is at best an inaccurate guess though again I admit it's a significant minority.

1% Linux Market Share = 100% Dishonesty

Lies, Damn Lies and Linux Market Share Statistics

. Now you're splitting hairs.

BTW, your comparison of "Windows 7, Ubuntu 9" shows different results when you remove the 9 from the Ubuntu in trends.

Of course it does. Now you are comparing one version of Windows against many (10+?) versions of Ubuntu.

But notice that while Ubuntu spikes on release months (4 and 10), there is no general upward trend since 2007. So based on search results, Ubuntu hasn't been making any progress lately.

Regardless, the search trends has little significance to me unless I wanted to know something specific about search results or the usage of a given word over time. A search for Windows or Ubuntu doesn't imply the person is using it or has any intention to. Nor is there any reason to believe that the two search terms have the same good:bad ratio.

www.ubuntu.com,www.microsoft.com

Windows doesn't come out every 6 months.