Hello everyone,
I'm a fan of old the old Basic language. Now I found BBC Basic and would like to use it under Linux. I saw that it is possible and brandy as an interpreter is available. Now a have a few questions:
- Does anybody use BBC with Linux?
- Which IDE do you use with Linux?
- Do you have any recommendations for the use of BBC with Linux?
- Which experiences did you make with BBC under Linux?
Regards, Dragomrak
BBC on linux
-
DDRM
Re: BBC on linux
Hi Dragomrak.
Bar a very quick play on a Firestick, I personally haven't used BBC Basic on a linux system, but you might want to have a look at this:
http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcsdl/
There is a (free!) version of the SDL version of BBC BASIC which will run on x86-based Unix systems, which might be a good alternative to running BBC Basic for Windows in a Windows emulator, or Brandy Basic.
Anyone with direct experience want to contribute more useful guidance?
D
Bar a very quick play on a Firestick, I personally haven't used BBC Basic on a linux system, but you might want to have a look at this:
http://www.bbcbasic.co.uk/bbcsdl/
There is a (free!) version of the SDL version of BBC BASIC which will run on x86-based Unix systems, which might be a good alternative to running BBC Basic for Windows in a Windows emulator, or Brandy Basic.
Anyone with direct experience want to contribute more useful guidance?
D
-
dragomrak
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri 22 Jun 2018, 07:27
-
p_m21987
- Posts: 177
- Joined: Mon 02 Apr 2018, 21:51
Re: BBC on linux
Hello,
I use Linux almost all the time, in fact it's the only OS installed on my main work PC.
I did a lot of programming with Brandy before I started using BBCSDL. I still use Brandy half of the time as I find it convenient for some things.
I also bought BB4W and it runs well in Wine, I've mainly used it to be sure my bbcsdl programs will also work in bb4w.
As far as I know there isn't an IDE for brandy. So I write my program in my favorite text editor (mousepad) and then save the program text and open it in brandy.
With BBCSDL I use Richard Russell's excellent SDLIDE.
My recommendation is, although I like brandy a lot, the linux version has some very serious bugs and limitations, so you would be better off using bbcsdl.
For example, in some screen modes, plotting a point outside the screen will cause brandy to crash with a segmentation fault. This crashes brandy: "MODE19:PLOT69,-100,-100". I've had to add bounds checking to one of my programs because of this, which isn't very convenient.
It also doesn't support mouse input.
And for some reason when you change MODE, you have to perform a graphics operation to get the MODE to change properly. So I put "MOVE0,0" after every mode change in my brandy programs.
The Windows version of brandy, 'Napoleon brandy' seems more developed and doesn't have those problems, and has mouse input, and you can run it in wine. But if you run windows brandy via wine OSCLI won't behave the same. That's a problem for me because I often use OSCLI to run various external utilities.
PM
I use Linux almost all the time, in fact it's the only OS installed on my main work PC.
I did a lot of programming with Brandy before I started using BBCSDL. I still use Brandy half of the time as I find it convenient for some things.
I also bought BB4W and it runs well in Wine, I've mainly used it to be sure my bbcsdl programs will also work in bb4w.
As far as I know there isn't an IDE for brandy. So I write my program in my favorite text editor (mousepad) and then save the program text and open it in brandy.
With BBCSDL I use Richard Russell's excellent SDLIDE.
My recommendation is, although I like brandy a lot, the linux version has some very serious bugs and limitations, so you would be better off using bbcsdl.
For example, in some screen modes, plotting a point outside the screen will cause brandy to crash with a segmentation fault. This crashes brandy: "MODE19:PLOT69,-100,-100". I've had to add bounds checking to one of my programs because of this, which isn't very convenient.
It also doesn't support mouse input.
And for some reason when you change MODE, you have to perform a graphics operation to get the MODE to change properly. So I put "MOVE0,0" after every mode change in my brandy programs.
The Windows version of brandy, 'Napoleon brandy' seems more developed and doesn't have those problems, and has mouse input, and you can run it in wine. But if you run windows brandy via wine OSCLI won't behave the same. That's a problem for me because I often use OSCLI to run various external utilities.
I'm not sure I understand the question, but, I've used brandy (and recently BBCSDL) to make various simple games, but also utilities for my personal use, like a simple graph of my money and expenses, a level editor program for a game, and stuff like that.Which experiences did you make with BBC under Linux?
PM
-
dragomrak
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri 22 Jun 2018, 07:27
Re: BBC on linux
Hello Patrick M.,
many thanks for your answer. I'm just planning to do a bit hobby programming, some little tools to make my daily work a bit easier. And I am nostalgic and love the old basics, I learned programming with many years ago. Will I come to the point, where the bugs of brandy matter? I do not need graphic or sound. What are the bugs of brandy? I do not want to install Wine, because I'm a bit afraid of all the problems of Windows ( viruses, worms, and so on ... ). I really do not want to install an risk on my Linux system, which runs perfectly.
I do not have enough mathematical knowledge to try game programming. Would BBCSDL then be a good choice?
many thanks for your answer. I'm just planning to do a bit hobby programming, some little tools to make my daily work a bit easier. And I am nostalgic and love the old basics, I learned programming with many years ago. Will I come to the point, where the bugs of brandy matter? I do not need graphic or sound. What are the bugs of brandy? I do not want to install Wine, because I'm a bit afraid of all the problems of Windows ( viruses, worms, and so on ... ). I really do not want to install an risk on my Linux system, which runs perfectly.
I do not have enough mathematical knowledge to try game programming. Would BBCSDL then be a good choice?
Regards, Dragomrak
-
p_m21987
- Posts: 177
- Joined: Mon 02 Apr 2018, 21:51
Re: BBC on linux
Hello,
If you don't need/won't use the graphics features of BASIC, then Brandy will work pretty well for you. Though you'll still need to put MOVE0,0: after any mode changes to get it to change mode properly, just so that the text will display correctly.
The only bug I know about is related to drawing graphics, it occasionally crashes if you draw outside of the screen area. This seems more likely in screen MODEs 19 and 32.
I think BBCSDL would work well for you. And it might also be more convenient because it includes an IDE.
I would recommend that you try both BBCSDL and Brandy and see which you prefer. As BBCSDL is a lot more powerful and more polished, I think it would be the best choice.
PM
If you don't need/won't use the graphics features of BASIC, then Brandy will work pretty well for you. Though you'll still need to put MOVE0,0: after any mode changes to get it to change mode properly, just so that the text will display correctly.
The only bug I know about is related to drawing graphics, it occasionally crashes if you draw outside of the screen area. This seems more likely in screen MODEs 19 and 32.
I think BBCSDL would work well for you. And it might also be more convenient because it includes an IDE.
I would recommend that you try both BBCSDL and Brandy and see which you prefer. As BBCSDL is a lot more powerful and more polished, I think it would be the best choice.
PM
-
dragomrak
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri 22 Jun 2018, 07:27
-
Soruk
- Posts: 23
- Joined: Mon 30 Jul 2018, 20:24
Re: BBC on linux
Another option is a relatively new fork of Brandy - MODE changes work properly, mouse input is supported, even some networking, along with a nearly fully functional Mode 7. It's over at http://brandy.matrixnetwork.co.uk/ with full source and link to GitHub.
And I'll make a note to test that PLOT command on it
Edit: That PLOT doesn't crash the Matrix Brandy fork!
And I'll make a note to test that PLOT command on it
Edit: That PLOT doesn't crash the Matrix Brandy fork!
Maintainer, Matrix Brandy BASIC VI and The Distillery
-
scruss
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri 11 May 2018, 21:17
Re: BBC on linux
Note, though, that BBCSDL under x86 Linux is only 32-bit. It no longer runs on my x86_64 Ubuntu machine, even after installing all of the compatibility libraries. The Raspberry Pi version, however, works a treat under Raspbian.
Matrix Brandy is easy to build on almost any (graphical) Linux system. It does not quite fit the typical Linux desktop conventions, however, so be prepared for some slightly unusual behaviour
-
p_m21987
- Posts: 177
- Joined: Mon 02 Apr 2018, 21:51
Re: BBC on linux
Yes, Matrix Brandy is very good, I've been playing with it quite a bit lately.scruss wrote: ↑Fri 17 Aug 2018, 20:30Note, though, that BBCSDL under x86 Linux is only 32-bit. It no longer runs on my x86_64 Ubuntu machine, even after installing all of the compatibility libraries. The Raspberry Pi version, however, works a treat under Raspbian.
Matrix Brandy is easy to build on almost any (graphical) Linux system. It does not quite fit the typical Linux desktop conventions, however, so be prepared for some slightly unusual behaviour
I wouldn't give up on BBCSDL yet, I'm sure it could be made to work on your system. What happens when you try to run it? I mean, what error messages do you get?