[Visualpython-users] installation success on Debian3.0-i386, and a hello

I started playing with vpython a week or two ago, and since I
noticed that many of the posts on this list concern
platform-specific problems I thought I'd report some details
of a straightforward success.

CPU is a Celeron 300A, video a Matrox G100.

With Debian 3.0, the following packages should be installed
in order to run visual python (if this ever becomes an
official Debian package, it should be called python2.2-visual)

python2.2
python2.2-numeric
python2.2-numeric-ext
python2.2-tk
xlibmesa3
libgtk1.2
libglib1.2
gtkglarea5

as well as glibc and the c++ standard libraries which are almost
certainly on the system already.

If you want to compile cvisualmodule.so you'll need the development
packages gtkglarea-dev, python2.2-dev, xlibmesa-dev, libgtk1.2-dev,
libglib1.2-dev --- but if anyone is interested I can supply the
compiled module and save you the trouble.  If I can find the time
to learn how to make a Debian package I'll roll one.

The only "issues" I've encountered concern cursor-hiding (apparently
not implemented in the GL library) and program killing (closing
one or more of the display windows doesn't always do the trick,
sometimes I have to ctrl-z in the shell and then kill -9 %1;
sys.exit() in the code doesn't work, though os._exit(0) will do the
trick).

On another note, I'm wondering how folks are using vpython-based
programs:  "virtual" demonstrations in classes? part of
laboratory work?  student assignments?  Is there a venue other than
this to discuss applications?

Finally, thanks to the authors/contributors for a nice piece of software!

--Marty

Martin Gelfand

Associate Professor.............Phone: 970 491 5263
Department of Physics.............Fax: 970 491 7947
Colorado State University.......Email: ge...@la...
Fort Collins CO 80523-1875