Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine) (SOLVED)

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Simone47
Posts: 8
Joined: Oct 29, 2020 20:25

Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine) (SOLVED)

Post by Simone47 »

I’d like to install FB on my old 64 bit machine (Dell GX620), under Linux Mint 20 w/ Cinnamom.
Could you please tell me if that would be possible?
From what I read in the forum, this seemed non impossible but, so far, I'm still confused and all my attempts went wrong.
I downloaded and installed FreeBASIC-1.07.1-linux-x86_64.tar.gz (“successfully installed in usr/local”); then I went on installing (by “Package Manager”) this set of additional libraries: gcc-multilib, g++-multilib, lib32ncurses5-dev, libxext-dev, libxrender-dev, libxrandr-dev, libxpm-dev, libffi-dev (according to a suggestion found on the web).
These were all found and installed but lib32ncurses5-dev, which seems not to exist.
As a result, when I tried to compile hello.bas, I got this: “fbc: error while loading shared libraries: libtinfo.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory”.
So, I went on with “sudo apt-get install libtinfo.so.5” but, at the next attempt to compile, I got: “E: Impossibile trovare il pacchetto libtinfo.so.5”.
Many thanks in advance for your attention and answer
Simone
Last edited by Simone47 on Oct 31, 2020 17:11, edited 1 time in total.
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine)

Post by MrSwiss »

Hi Simone47, welcome ...

Seems to be one of those typical Linux installation issues. See following resources:
https://forums.opensuse.org/showthread.php/446927-missing-library-libtinfo-so-5
https://zoomadmin.com/HowToInstall/UbuntuPackage/libtinfo-dev
Otherwise search here (forum) in Platforms/Linux for: "libtinfo5" or "libtinfo-dev".

@moderator/admin,
could this be moved to: Platforms/Linux, thanks.
robert
Posts: 169
Joined: Aug 06, 2019 18:45

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine)

Post by robert »

Simone47 wrote:I’d like to install FB on my old 64 bit machine (Dell GX620), under Linux Mint 20 w/ Cinnamom.
Could you please tell me if that would be possible?
From what I read in the forum, this seemed non impossible but, so far, I'm still confused and all my attempts went wrong.
I downloaded and installed FreeBASIC-1.07.1-linux-x86_64.tar.gz (“successfully installed in usr/local”); then I went on installing (by “Package Manager”) this set of additional libraries: gcc-multilib, g++-multilib, lib32ncurses5-dev, libxext-dev, libxrender-dev, libxrandr-dev, libxpm-dev, libffi-dev (according to a suggestion found on the web).
These were all found and installed but lib32ncurses5-dev, which seems not to exist.
As a result, when I tried to compile hello.bas, I got this: “fbc: error while loading shared libraries: libtinfo.so.5: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory”.
So, I went on with “sudo apt-get install libtinfo.so.5” but, at the next attempt to compile, I got: “E: Impossibile trovare il pacchetto libtinfo.so.5”.
Many thanks in advance for your attention and answer
Simone
Hi Simone:

sudo apt-get install libncurses5-dev

and

sudo apt-get install libtinfo5

Here's the complete list

Debian-based systems (including Ubuntu, Mint etc.):
gcc
make
libncurses5-dev
libtinfo5 (if not already installed as dependency of ncurses)
libgpm-dev
libx11-dev
libxext-dev
libxpm-dev
libxrandr-dev
libxrender-dev
libgl1-mesa-dev
libffi-dev

from Documentation at

https://www.freebasic.net/wiki/DevBuildLinux
Simone47
Posts: 8
Joined: Oct 29, 2020 20:25

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine)

Post by Simone47 »

MrSwiss, Robert: many thanks.
With your advice, I have understood and solved the problem.
So far, my FB & Geany environment seems to work and I will go on exploring FB and its features.
My goal is to teach my teenage grandson the basic principles of programming.
If I can take advantage, I have some other questions to ask (but maybe I should open other specific topics). i.e.:
- does FB allow you to manage more than one window at the same time?
- would it be possible to add an FB program to startup applications?
- would it be possible to find, on the web, some examples of educational programs?
Last but not least:
- I would like to declare my topic SOLVED; where do I find the instructions to do it?
Best regards
Simone
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine)

Post by MrSwiss »

Simone47 wrote:- does FB allow you to manage more than one window at the same time?
Generally speaking no, with additional external Libraries perhaps (too many out there).
- would it be possible to add an FB program to startup applications?
Do you mean something like a Menu (program) that calls other programs, which when finished return to the Menu? If yes, then this can certainly be done.
- would it be possible to find, on the web, some examples of educational programs?
Certainly, probably tons of them but very unlikely in FB (C/C++, Pyton e.t.c.).
You'll have to either translate the code or just take the ideas and code it from scratch in FB.
Last but not least:
- I would like to declare my topic SOLVED; where do I find the instructions to do it?
Thats simple: just go to the opening post of the thread, click 'edit' and change its title, submit it ... done.

And yes it is typically preferred, to open one thread per issue, if they're unrelated to each other.
However it is also expected, to stick to a thread until its solved, before moving on to the next issue.
(could be interpreted as 'spamming' otherwise)
Simone47
Posts: 8
Joined: Oct 29, 2020 20:25

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine) (SOLVED)

Post by Simone47 »

Thanks MrSwiss
I did edit topic's title to state SOLVED.
I also appreciate your new suggestions but now I'm mostly concerned with another issue.
I'm trying to identify a suitable IDE with debugging capabilities (for my FB on linux mint environment).
Frustrating research so far, but I'll go on browsing the forum.
At worst, I'll try to open a new topic.
Still many thanks and greetings
Simone
MrSwiss
Posts: 3910
Joined: Jun 02, 2013 9:27
Location: Switzerland

Re: Installing FB on Linux Mint 20 (64 bit machine) (SOLVED)

Post by MrSwiss »

Simone47 wrote:I'm trying to identify a suitable IDE with debugging capabilities (for my FB on linux mint environment).
Well, IIRC you've stated using GEANY ... (the only IDE on ARM-Linux for rPi, I've ever used).

Otherwise, the 'online' FB-Manual deals with such issues:
Debugging with FreeBASIC
FB-Manual (index)
The manual can also be downloaded for 'offline' use, as .chm file:
freebasic_manual.chm (german language FB-site)
On Linux you'll probably need an .chm reader program too.
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