www.theoldcomputer.com

The Following is Meant for HT and Guest mainly but I would definitely appreciate input from others (just say im right. lol,)

Okay, So you know how we have an emulator section, right? well we have a linux section too. but come on its source code. Not all of us know or LIKE to compile from the source code. If HT and Guest would allow me to I would like to be able to add hopefully both .DEB and .RPM packages for as many emulators I can find. they are hard to find though. lol. i would like a reply ASAP so I can know whether or not to start downloading these packages.

OR HT you could create your own Repository for Linux Users. lol we could call it the TOC Emulator Repository

Please Reply Even if its no.

I think the idea for the site is to get as many emulators as possible regardless of platform or age. I lso think if you get the packages or download them, that they should be sent to Guest as he is looking after the emulator section.

Thanks for the reply crusty, Im not gonna start downloading them until I get the greenlight. Since I have slow 1.3 Mbps Internet. Lol. Also thanks for the link crusty.

No problem, Jose, AKA JAHgoVEg, (until you let me know which you prefer). I think you are still faster than me on the downloads, . Maybe suggest helping Guest, he may accept

Jose is fine lol. Or if you MUST you can call me JAHGoVeg. I just think it's wierd. Lol.

Well as you may already know, Guesthas stood in to help with the emulators section ever since Jesse went AWOL.

If Guest is ok with it and between you two guys you keep organised and dont replicate any content then I think it would be ok.

Guest, what say you ?

Hello.. This is my general understanding and this is directed at Jose, so if you could clarify for me that would be FANTASTIC.

The linux packages in the emulators are the source code, yes? I am not yet familiar with linux as i would like to be so i dont really know what the .deb and .rpm packages are.

Are .deb and .rpm more useful than the source? Are they just the compiled form? Or will we still need to host both the source and the .deb/.rpm because the latter are only useful for 'most' (but not all) people?

If these .deb/.rpm can completely replace the source files as in, if these formats take out a step for people such as compiling, then I dont see a problem really with switching over. BUT, if these formats are only useful to certain distros, and are not completely compatible with ALL, then I dont think it would make much sense to just add more formats to the site..

Please, fill me in on what im missing, ill do a little research myself.

okay, source code is somewhat universal, you usually have to build it, and avaliable for many distributions. but trust me Guest. not everyone knows how to compile from source. and absolutely NO New user of linux will know how. NOT A SINGLE ONE. Me? I've been with linux since i was 8 years old. i still cant compile source code. Source Code is uncompiled. a .deb is compiled for your architecture and has scripts for installation or removal. .deb files are available in less distributions but are %90,000,000,000 times easier to install. Let me put it this way if it was ME personally and i came to our site looking for a linux emulator. I would turn around and find a site with a .deb cuz it is not freakin worth it to compile. plus they come in most Linux Repositories already. the only reason i would come to TOC for an emulator is cuz my repository is down. if it was source code i found i would sure as hell turn around and wait. lol. so I Strongly recommend that we get .deb files or else our TOC Linux Section is pretty much useless. I know it is to me and my friends.

EDIT:
Sorry just realized I didn't make a single mention of .RPM, Selfish me. . RPM packages are almost exactly the same as .deb except for rpm based system. like fedora. (wink at Kherr)

I feel this needs it's own post. so deal with the double post. ;P

Just to explain. Every Linux System has a Package Manager, which downloads either .DEB or .RPM packages depending on your system. It downloads these from whats called a repository. The Package Manager has the System Default Repository and has the ability to add other 3rd party repositories. Now see me and most of the Linux World have .DEB and .RPM files ready at our fingertips. so why in the hell would i want to navigate my web browser to http://www.theoldcomputer.com/emulators/ so i can download source code to spent my Night Compiling? see look at this this is a screenshot of my software manager. see the Emulator section. when i choose an emulator it downloads the deb and installs it.

you see my point? to compete with or just to be useful as backup when repositories go down, we have to do a couple of things.

A. Have easy to install packages. (.DEB and .RPM)

B. Have Emulators the repositories dont have.

I think we need both points A and B. Is there anything stopping us from uploading DEB and RPM files in ZIP format?

If not then simply download these packages then upload them to the corresponding directory under the LINUX directory.

Is this ok to do ?