I'll take ownership of mine:
Vic20-Ian wrote:2. Try a different distribution of Linux - implies that the first thing to do if you have a problem is uninstall your OS and install a new one - not at all time consuming.
If you reflect on your responses you will see why the uninitiated who try and learn about Linux struggle and feel that the community is somewhat obtuse to newcomers.
Huh? Actually, it's not time consuming at all. I re-installed Windows XP in advance of 4/8 and I had the SP CD-ROMs. It chugged happily away with several re-boots required. Unless you are recompiling a custom Linux kernel
on the target machine, a distro takes
minutes to install, but I gathered you were not doing anything so complicated. Hey, a solution that
works for one person does not mean it's the solution for you. And that can be said in reciprocal.
Vic20-Ian wrote:Q1. Do I need console mouse support to run from Command Line Interface?
A CLI question on the Linux
console is a different thing than when referenced with running an app off a shell (local or remote) or off an X terminal (local or remote). I was not being obtuse to the question posed. I did not probe or refine my answer any, because you were working with a Raspberry Pi, the most modest of hardware platforms, and it is typical to
not run any graphical environment on such. If your platform was like this thread's XP era workstation, I would have challenged you upfront to use a lightweight X desktop (as was done previously).
Vic20-Ian wrote:I will update if I decide to try adding mouse support in console and get it working there as well.
Please do. Crusty old
GPM is your best bet, and since you revealed that you can compile code, DIY.
Vic20-Ian wrote:Why is this not mentioned in the run the demo code web page? It assumes everyone starting the Raspberry Pi in X Windows which is not the default at install, though it is an option. As all the programs are run from commands rather than an icon on the desktop Linux causes this problem
Now here is where we get into trouble. You need to take some accountability here, yourself. I don't know anything about this "demo code web page" referenced, but I do know most OSS projects of this sort (DIY download & compile) have little to do with
Linux or
Linux documentation.
It's the distro and its end user who chooses what installation options the distro offers. The distro offers software (aka desktop(s), apps, toolchains, etc.) in the form of packaging. Those packages are maintained with their own set of documentation (README, HOWTO, man, etc.) and usually with a link back to the project page. It's not as complicated as you're making it, but with ownership comes accountability.
And you did exactly this!! For example,
"Running a terminal from CLI prompt vs. running in an LX Terminal should not cause a program to run differently in my opinion or there should be a warning or clearer instructions on the webpage."
ANSWER:
"The rather obscure answer about console terminal not being needed much anymore led me to work this out but I could have given up."
You could have easily dispensed with the whining here, and instead grow from the experience we all have undergone, aka the frustration-awe, enlightenment, doh!
The same accountability applies to such fundamentals as to how to use cd, cat, more, vi, ls, mv, rm, top, mkdir, rmdir, etc. My "Linux" has 3360 commands I can launch from a CLI (not all console capable, mind you, I cannot launch firefox without an X interface), and that's only counting /usr/bin and /usr/sbin executables.
Yeah, you got a lot to explore and learn first yourself. Does that really bother you learning something new? Fortunately, you can draw upon your computer experiences, so those hurdles should not be an issue as if you were starting anew, right? Go for it!
Vic20-Ian wrote:In my view if Linux users offered others more straight and sensible answers than e.g. change to another OS, then Linux uptake would improve.
You are entitled to your opinion, but last I checked,
Linux is doing just fine; sorry, that cannot be said for all the disparate distros out there. Many have come and gone; it's the circle of life in this world. That's why you might stumble across a term called
OSS, and it is about free as in choice, not beer.
Vic20-Ian wrote:Posting here on the friendly computer forum I thought would yield slightly better answers. Put your Vic hat on top of your Linux ones guys
I can appreciate that, too, but can you appreciate where you were at, what you have learned, and now look at the question posed? I doubt you could have asked it any better, then, but can you see any of the points thrown back at you now as being
not as unfriendly as you are suggesting? Food for thought, my friend.