Windows Defector

[tansis]

At nearly £200 a time for a boxed version Win XP as I write this, that and Microsoft is preparing to end the happy period of home builders banging in the same product and key on multiple machines. Horrified, yet not entirely surprised I feel the time has come to embrace Linux. This is going to be a leap of faith for I know nothing about it!

So many versions, what's right for me?
Can I write my own programs ?
What can't it do ?
Is there a PIC programer available ?

The list goes on , any insights , tips , rants even! all will help

 

[Nigel Goodwin]

Is there a PIC programer available ?

There's are a few PIC programmers available, and also there is an assembler as well - but MicroChip don't support Linux at all!. If you check on the PICList there's some information and links.

 

[spirosd]

I would take a look at Knoppix http://knoppix.org/ as a starting point. CD that will let you play around with linux, without having to install it on your computer. Mandrake **broken link removed** is a good point to move on next. Graphical installer, automating updates yada yada ... linuxquestions.org is your friend when it comes to questions about installation or anything else you might be having a hard time with.

No problems on programming pics on Linux. Check out the GNUpic web site http://www.gnupic.org/ for a comprehensive list of tools :wink: . I am using PiKdev and Hi-Tech PICCLite, parallel port programmer and bootloader. Eagle is also available on Linux

Yes you can write your own programs. The question about what you can not do is tough ... I am not sure about CAD, and PhotoShop type applications (people sometimes have dual boot for that purpose ... personally the Gimp has been sufficient for my 'amateur' requirements).

I would warn you that if you have never experience a *nix environment, it can be a stepp learning curve. But like everything else, once you get there, you would be wandering why you did not do this earlier.

Hope that my 0.02$ has been of use

 

[zevon8]

I would recommend getting the O'Reilly book " Linux in a Nutshell ." It's a dictionary style listing of commands and their use, with syntax examples. If you have ever used the DOS command line help, this is the format.