Downloaded devx, now where to put it?

[Davdi]

I've downloaded woof_CE but I'm confused about devx, I've downloaded this one: devx_4.5.5_amd64.sfs into the woof_CE folder, but I'm not sure that's the right place for it.
Where should it be? (I want to build Devuan and Mageia puppies)
I'm used to developing software using IDEs like Eclipse or Visual Studio but woof-CE is completely different.

[mikewalsh]

@Davdi :- Hallo.....and to the "kennels".

Well, first it would help to tell us precisely which Puppy you're running. You MUST use the exact DevX package that was built alongside that Puppy at the time of construction; you can't just download & use Devx packages at random, because this will throw up a ton of errors.

The Devx package contains everything needed to build/compile packages/applications/binaries that will function correctly under that Puppy. For mainstream distros, you have to download and permanently install all this stuff the first time you need it, and then you're stuck with it, even if you never use it again. With the DevX being packaged in SFS format, you can simply 'load' or 'unload' this development stuff, on-the-fly, if, as & when it's required.

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If you're used to Visual Studio, the Linux equivalent of this would be the VSCodium AppImage. This is simply Visual Studio packaged for Linux. We can help with this in a different thread; "one thread, one subject" is preferred. Saves confusing everybody, y'see.

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The correct location for the DevX package is at either /mnt/home (older Pups) or /intitrd/mnt/dev_save (newer Pups). It's the same place, just labelled differently by the newer build-scripts at the time of construction. It will be alongside the main Puppy SFS file, the vmlinuz (kernel), the zdrv (modules), and possibly an adrv, ydrv and/or an optional fdrv (firmware). You'll need to 'load' it by left-clicking on it, then following the on-screen instructions.

Mike.

[Davdi]

Many thanks for the help so far. I'm not actually running Puppy, the host is Mint 21.1. If I understand you correctly, I need a devx specific to the puppy I want to build. If I need to build a puppy from a puppy host, I can easily install a frugal Fossapup on a spare EXT4 partition.

[rockedge]

@Davdi Are you attempting to use woof-CE to build a Puppy Linux distro? If so you will not need the Devx at all at this point.

Are you looking for the steps to make a Puppy Linux? The process to make a stock version is not hard to do and mostly requires some temp storage space for the scripts to run.

[mikewalsh]

@Davdi :-

Ah. You want to actually build a complete Puppy? Then rockedge is right; it's not the DevX you want at all.

As he says, it's basically temporary storage space that's required.....and the requisite 'build-scripts' from Woof-CE over at GitHub. @rockedge can point you in the right direction; I've only run this process once, a little while back.....I got curious, because we had a big discussion thread going about it, so I thought I'd try it out.

Erik is more 'au fait' with the process, however, 'cos he's run it many more times than I have. Which means he's got more expertise than me.....this isn't really my area of interest. Mine is mainly packaging, and a wee bit of development ('portables', and the odd utility mostly).

We'll get you sorted, one way or another.....time zones permitting!

Mike.

[peebee]

I've downloaded woof_CE but I'm confused about devx, I've downloaded this one: devx_4.5.5_amd64.sfs into the woof_CE folder, but I'm not sure that's the right place for it.
Where should it be? (I want to build Devuan and Mageia puppies)
I'm used to developing software using IDEs like Eclipse or Visual Studio but woof-CE is completely different.

Woof-CE doesn't have Mageia build recipes...
There are Devuan ones but they're not as well tested as Debian/Ubuntu

If you try to use a system other than Puppy + devx you may find some utilities are missing

You can also do builds on Github in a fork of Woof-CE rather than locally

[mikewalsh]

@Davdi :-

Mm-hm. Yah, I see that you say you're used to developing code using Eclipse or Visual Studio. See, when building a Puppy, for most folks there's no development required. That's all been taken care of by our Puppy dev team; all you need to do is follow the instructions and run the existing, provided scripts.....if you're doing this locally.

Or, as peebee says, you can fork/clone Woof-CE & actually run the build process on Github itself. The instructions for doing it this way can be found here:-

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... ub-actions

(Correct me if I'm wrong, guys. I don't want to be giving Davdi 'duff' instructions!)

Mike.

[Clarity]

Hi @Davdi

Seems several years ago, some students added Eclipse to a PUP for the class project developing Android apps

I dont know where my notes are, but If I find them I will post. As I remember it was NOT hard at all and they were creative in both development, testing their multiple apps, and demonstrating its operation on a Puppy desktop in a window synonymous with an Android cell-phone display. Further they also demo'd their apps by switching as if it was on a Tablet display; all on the PUP they were using.

I'm looking...

Eclipse is wonderful, well-respected in the open-source community, and addressing building-testing-demo'ing apps FOR all of today's platforms; no matter if x86 or ARMs or Mainframes or ...

P.S. @dimkr just might know the steps to add Eclipse to the WoofCE build recipe such that your ISO is created with either all of the dependencies or with Eclipse built within your distro outcome. If memory serves me, he IS a code developer, as well, possessing the base knowledge.

Edit: Cannot find those notes from that class's experience. Sorry. If the distro you have has Eclipse in its package manager it should install running properly. (fingers crossed). Just start your project once installed.
I seem to remember that it was done using Lighthouse64 so might be a decade ago because of something they found favorable and fully featured for they development and LAN test needs. I look again for notes.

[dimkr]

If you want to build a Puppy using woof-CE, I recommend these 3 links:

https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... /README.md
https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... ibutor-101
https://github.com/puppylinux-woof-CE/w ... -on-GitHub

(You can use any IDE to modify woof-CE or its configuration files, but most of woof-CE is shell scripts and not Java. I used Eclipse many many years ago and I remember it was Java-centric by default, but a clean installation of VS Code should work fine for shell scripts.)