If You Already Have a Linux Computer, You Can Skip This Lecture

This lecture explains how to set up Linux programming environment on a computer that already has Windows.

If you already have a Linux computer, you can skip this lecture.

There are many options to get a Linux computer. One option is called dual boot. When your computer starts, you need to choose either Linux or Windows. This is a good option if your computer is a few years old and does not have much memory.

Min G W is another option. It tries to create a Linux-like environment inside Windows.

Cig Win is another option. It is closer to real Linux but it is still not real Linux.

If your computer has eight Giga Bytes of memory or more, I would suggest the next option. You can install real Linux inside Windows by using a virtual machine. To make this work, you need to enable virtualization when your computer starts.

Using a virtual machine has a great advantage: you can use both Windows and Linux at the same time. There is, however, disadvantage: your computer may become slower since it has to run two operating systems simultaneously. You should consider this option only if your computer is no more than five years old, with at least two cores and eight Giga bytes of memory. If your computer does not have enough computing power, you will notice the slow down.

These are some of the software we are going to install in this lecture. You will need to download and install Virtual Box. U Bun Too Linux. G C C. Eclipse, and D D D.

You need to install Virtual Box first. After you download Virtual Box, run the set up program.

It will ask you a few questions. In most cases, you can accept the suggestions. This asks you what to install. You can simply click "Next".

Then, it starts the installation.

After installing Virtual Box, start the program.

Choose Linux. In this example, I choose U Bun Too 32 bits.

My computer has eight Giga Bytes of memory. I give half of it to Linux.

You can simply accept the suggested option for the hard disk and the type. About the size of the disk, I suggest giving at least 20 Giga Bytes.

Now, you have successfully created a virtual machine. This machine does not have an operating system yet.

There are many options for Linux. U Bun Too is an example. You can download a desktop image.

Start the virtual machine you have created and choose the image. The image should be a file with dot "I" "S" "O" as the file's extension.

After some seconds, you have an option to install U Bun Too Linux. Choose that.

The installation program will ask you a few questions. For most questions, you can accept the suggestions.

The questions include your time zone and the keyboard layout.

You also need to an account and a password.

When installation is completed, you will see this message.

Now, you have a working Linux inside Windows.

After you restart Linux, this is the window. You may have noticed that the Linux desktop does not occupy the entire window.

To fix this problem, we need to install the Virtual Box's guest addition.

In devices, select "Insert Guest Additions CD Image"

Run the program. It will ask you for the administrator's password.

This is a screenshot showing the guest additions are being installed.

After the Guest Additions are installed, restart the computer.

After installing the Guest Additions, you can resize the window and Linux will use the window. As you can see, now we have a computer that runs Windows and Linux side by side.

You can set the Linux desktop in the way you like. For example, I have changed the background to black.

You will need to upgrade the software after installing Linux. If you upgrade Linux, you may need to reinstall the Guest Additions again. After upgrading Linux, you can install additional programs. Here I show you how to install D D D. It is the data display debugger. You can follow this procedure and install other software, such as eclipse.

To install D D D, use the Ubuntu Software Center and enter D D D.

Select D D D and click install.

After install D D D, you can start the program and see the welcome page.

Please use the same method and install Eclipse. After installing Eclipse, select Help on the menubar and click Install New Software. Under Programming Languages, select C and C plus plus development tools.

You can find some documentations about how to get started.

The next lecture explains how to write our first C program in the newly installed Linux using Eclipse.