Linux: The low cost route for a stable visualization workstation with AVS5

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Linux The low cost route for a stable
visualization workstation with AVS5

• Matt Cooper
• Manchester Visualization Centre

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Linux A brief review

• Linux is a free Unx OS kernel
• Most of what people call Linux is actually the
  GNU tools.
• Initial development began in 1991
• I started using it in 1992/3. Kernel release 0.87
• Current stable release is 2.0.35

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Linux Platforms

• Intel X86 (and AMD/Cyrix/IBM)
• PowerPC
• 68000 (Mac, Amiga, Palm Pilot)
• HP-PA
• MIPS Silicon Graphics
• UltraSPARC
• Alpha

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Linux Cost and availability

• Nothing except media costs
• 2.50 in modem charges (56K)
• 3-15 for a CD
• Supported distribution 50
• Cf.
• Windows95 70
• WindowsNT (workstation) 250
• WindowsNT (server) 633-1100

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Linux Distributions

• Free
• Debian
• Slackware
• Officially supported
• Red Hat
• S.u.S.e.
• All include XFree86, a free X11
• SuSe develop their own X servers

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Linux Limitations

• Lack of applications
• Lack of interest from users
• Lack of interest from vendors
• Limited performance from new peripherals
  (particularly true of graphics cards)

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AVS 5.4 on Linux Installation

• If youre a Red Hat user
• Install two Red Hat rpm packages
• If youre a Debian user
• Use alien to convert the rpms
• Install the Debian packages produced.
• If youre a home brewer
• Use install.avs
• Type /usr/avs/bin/avs

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Ten biggest problems

• Had to add a link to make some of the demos work
• Um
• Thats it

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Stability

• Two weeks of use on
• Debian/GNU stable release
• Debian/GNU unstable (beta) release.
• Ported a few modules
• Broke quite a few of them
• No crashes. No misbehaviour.

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Performance

• Implementation is based on MESA
• Free implementation of OpenGL?
• Supported by Brian Paul
• Drivers and other code from others
• Hardware support for 3D only for
• 3Dfx Voodoo1, Voodoo2, Voodoo rush
• Some GLINT based cards
• nVidia RIVA 128 coming soon

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Module compilation

• System set up to use egcc
• Works fine with plain gcc(version 2.7.2.3 with
  libc6)
• Of the examples Ive tried
• if gcc will compile it theres no problem
• Clean code ports easily
• unclean code is dreadful but its gcc which makes
  it so.

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Demos

• Demos on a 2 year-old laptop
• Processor P166MMX
• Memory 80Mb RAM
• Graphics CT 65554 PCI
• No hardware graphics support!
• Also tried on
• Processor P200MMX
• Memory 48Mb RAM
• Graphics Matrox Mystique

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Demos

• Notes
• 800x600 really isnt big enough
• Noticeably faster at 256 colours
• Works happily at higher 16/24/32bit

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