I have a spare old laptop I would like to use to learn C/C++ in Linux.

Unfortunately I only have mobile broadband (works on Ubuntu) but am looking to see if Puppy already has a compiler to learn C/C++ (i.e. is there any need to download anything?).

If not I will put Ubuntu on it and download whatever is needed as I know it works with my mobile broadband but is a little heavy.

Puppy is unconventional in that it defaults to a root user and makes it very difficult to work with a normal user. This is absolutely not the type of environment you want to develop programs in, so I think you want to pick almost any other distro. I love Puppy, but it just was not designed for what you suggest.

Are you aware of any other distro that has a C/C++ compiler installed without needing an internet connection for additional downloads?

I have an old version Xubuntu (8.04) but have had many problems getting it to work.

Hi
Liberalchrist. I am a game and applications developer and I use puppy for C++, Java and Python because of the issues of permissions of users. Running in root has great advantages when it comes to developement work.

Really simple question but how do you default to root?

Do you need any further installs for a C and C++ compiler in Puppy?

Hi
Puppy runs as root by default, You have to do nothing. Your home folder in puppy is called root.
There is another user called spot which is used for runnung the webserver (Hiawatha) in puppy.

[QUOTE Do you need any further installs for a C and C++ compiler in Puppy?[/QUOTE]

Yes you only require the devx.sfs file that provides the compilers and Python.
In puppy its easy to install either using the boot manager or the sfs loader depending on which version of puppy you are using. Just ask a friend to download the devx for the version of puppy you are using from http://distro.ibiblio.org/puppylinux/.

If you decide to go down this route just ask for links and instructions on how to install .sfs files if you get stuck.

Yours Topaz

1 members found this post helpful.

Thanks for all this info. which I will keep in mind.

I actually installed the latest version of Xubuntu yesterday and ran some updates to get the C++ compiler working on it, but if I use Puppy again for that purpose I will try your suggestions.

Put the devfx***.sfs (has to match particular puppy version) file on the same location as the lupu528.sfs file
goto menu > system > bootmanager configure bootup > choose which extra sfs files to load at bootup
select the devfx file
restart
gcc should be available in the command line
I think you can set it up to be used through geany as well, but I personally like codeblocks better as IDE

Thanks. If I ever use Puppy for this purpose then will do...