FreeBASIC for BionicPup

[puppy-2020]

I can not find FreeBASIC package in BionicPup32 repositories. is there any .sfs for it? or any help for installing FreeBASIC in a directory ( standalone. with all dependencies libraries (like windows one) ).

[rockedge]

you know I've been meaning to make a package for FreeBasic...guess today is the day......sometime later after a few other concoctions.....

[mikeslr]

I don't know if this helps, especially as I haven't explored compiling in 30 years.

You can download a package from FreeBasic's publisher from here, https://sourceforge.net/projects/fbc/fi ... ntu-18.04/ The listings are for Ubuntu Bionic Beaver. BionicPups are 'binary compatible' with them. Which means their applications should --no guarantees-- run if your Bionicpup has all it's compatible's dependencies/libraries.

I'm currently on Bionicpup64 with a 32-bit compatibility SFS loaded. So I downloaded the FreeBASIC-1.07.1-ubuntu-18.04-x86.tar.gz --don't know how it differs from the other, smaller x86 offering. It's a tar.gz file. You can open it by right-clicking the file and selecting UExtract. This will create an Extracted folder, within which you'll find another just named FreeBASIC-1.07.1-ubuntu-18.04-x86. Within that is a bin folder and in that folder is a binary named fbc. Right-Clicked that and selected ListDD. ListDD examines your operating system for "Dynamic Dependencies" --the dependencies/libraries I mentioned above. There were none. There probably won't be on your actual 32-bit system. But if there are, your Puppy's Package Manager may be able to supply them. Or you may be able to download them from https://pkgs.org/.

Next, I again Right-Clicked the fbc file again and selected "Run in terminal". My terminal displayed the following:

usage: fbc [options] <input files>
input files:
*.a = static library, *.o = object file, *.bas = source
*.rc = resource script, *.res = compiled resource (win32)
*.xpm = icon resource (*nix/*bsd)
options:
@<file> Read more command line arguments from a file
-a <file> Treat file as .o/.a input file
-arch <type> Set target architecture (default: 486)
-asm att|intel Set asm format (-gen gcc|llvm, x86 or x86_64 only)
-b <file> Treat file as .bas input file
-c Compile only, do not link
-C Preserve temporary .o files
-d <name>[=<val>] Add a global #define
-dll Same as -dylib
-dylib Create a DLL (win32) or shared library (*nix/*BSD)
-e Enable runtime error checking
-ex -e plus RESUME support
-exx -ex plus array bounds/null-pointer checking
-export Export symbols for dynamic linkage
-forcelang <name> Override #lang statements in source code
-fpmode fast|precise Select floating-point math accuracy/speed
-fpu x87|sse Set target FPU
-g Add debug info, enable __FB_DEBUG__, and enable assert()
-gen gas|gcc|llvm Select code generation backend
[-]-help Show this help output
-i <path> Add an include file search path
-include <file> Pre-#include a file for each input .bas
-l <name> Link in a library
-lang <name> Select FB dialect: fb, deprecated, fblite, qb
-lib Create a static library
-m <name> Specify main module (default if not -c: first input .bas)
-map <file> Save linking map to file
-maxerr <n> Only show <n> errors
-mt Use thread-safe FB runtime
-nodeflibs Do not include the default libraries
-noerrline Do not show source context in error messages
-noobjinfo Do not read/write compile-time info from/to .o and .a files
-nostrip Do not strip symbol information from the output file
-o <file> Set .o (or -pp .bas) file name for prev/next input file
-O <value> Optimization level (default: 0)
-p <path> Add a library search path
-pic Generate position-independent code (non-x86 Unix shared libs)
-pp Write out preprocessed input file (.pp.bas) only
-prefix <path> Set the compiler prefix path
-print host|target Display host/target system name
-print fblibdir Display the compiler's lib/ path
-print x Display output binary/library file name (if known)
-profile Enable function profiling
-r Write out .asm/.c/.ll (-gen gas/gcc/llvm) only
-rr Write out the final .asm only
-R Preserve temporary .asm/.c/.ll/.def files
-RR Preserve the final .asm file
-s console|gui Select win32 subsystem
-showincludes Display a tree of file names of #included files
-static Prefer static libraries over dynamic ones when linking
-strip Omit all symbol information from the output file
-t <value> Set .exe stack size in kbytes, default: 1024 (win32/dos)
-target <name> Set cross-compilation target
-title <name> Set XBE display title (xbox)
-v Be verbose
-vec <n> Automatic vectorization level (default: 0)
[-]-version Show compiler version
-w all|pedantic|<n> Set min warning level: all, pedantic or a value
-Wa <a,b,c> Pass options to 'as'
-Wc <a,b,c> Pass options to 'gcc' (-gen gcc) or 'llc' (-gen llvm)
-Wl <a,b,c> Pass options to 'ld'
-x <file> Set output executable/library file name
Script completed hit RETURN to close window.

Importantly, no errors were revealed. Importantly, for me, there doesn't appear to be a GUI. That means even if I was interested, I'd have to memorize commands [or constantly refer to a 'cheat-sheet'] and IIRC, my flaky memory was why I gave up trying to learn compiling.

About a dozen year ago IIRC daveS and jrb discussed the technique I illustrated above. You'll find mentions of "External Applications" and "Program Folders". More recently, fredx181 and Mike Walsh have used it and published applications with the designation "portable". If I had a reason to keep it, I could rename the FreeBASIC-1.07.1-ubuntu-18.04-x86 folder to just "FreeBASIC" --probably anything else-- and move it to /mnt/home or /opt and run the application from there. [Files on /mnt/home do not use any RAM unless you load them; those in /opt always require some RAM, albeit, compressed in cache when not in use]. You'll also find posts on how to create menu entries and mention that the easiest way to access an 'external application' is to drag its binary to your desktop, creating a symbolic link.

The above technique won't work with every application. But it works often enough that using it may be preferable to waiting for someone to publish an application they don't personally need.

Edit: While I was writing rockedge posted his kind offer. Still, I subscribe to the philosophy that "if you give someone a fish, you may feed them for a day; teach someone to fish and you may feed them for a life-time."