[RESOLVED] Multi OS support

Hi everyone,

Now, sorry if I am a bit frank, but I'll get straight to the point, I don't like Windows so much and I am starting to move to linux, so I have to find a way to develop programs for linux. Since I know VB quite well now, it would be quite a mess to start learning something new, so I was wondering if any other of you VB6 programmers were in a similar situation and if you could give me any suggestion or links to tutorials, etc. I heard about programs such as Wine (Win-e = Windows Emulator) which are meant for running .exe files on linux but also for converting exes to linux modules at compile time, but I didn't figure out yet how to do that. My preferred ultimate goal would be if I could continue coding my programs in vb6 (running on linux under wine) and convert them to linux programs when I compile them (then in that way I could compile them also as exes and make multi-platform programs), however ANY suggestion is welcome. Sorry, I know here there are people working in Windows world so I don't think many people will be able to help, but it's still regarding vb, so I just gave it a try. One thing which is important is that I do not want to use commercial software but only OPEN SOURCE programs (except of course vb which I will stand).

@Administrators: Okay, I understand this forum discusses Microsoft software and I might not be pleasing you a lot by saying that I don't like Windows, am moving to Linux, etc. I apologize for this, and if you think it's really too much, just inform me and I'll remove it and ask my question elsewhere (perhaps on Linux forums).

I hope you can help me.
Thanks in advance for any response. :D

There were plans for an open-source Linux version of VB6 in the past, but I've no idea at what stage it is now. Any multi-OS language has to have control over the specific OS or computer, and this means that the code has to be written to control the lower level functions that the OS usually handles. Java's an obvious example. VB6 in Linux would require Linux versions of all the windows functions/DLLs/etc. and this would be a hell of a lot of work, so don't expect it to work perfectly if they ever DO manage it. You'd be better off using WINE both for the programming and for running the code you program, but it's obviously not a permanent solution.

Another option is to use Windows for programming and Linux for recreation...simple enough to reboot into another OS.

VB6 is very heavily Windows based, and you will be basically shooting yourself in the foot trying to use it on Linux (even if you can get it working)... it would be far better to use something designed for the purpose instead, which may be something like Java or C++ or Delphi. These should allow you target both Linux and Windows.

You could even use VB.Net, but non-Windows support is limited (gradually getting better from what I head), so while it is far better suited than VB6, it isn't ideal.

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Originally Posted by Lknt

@Administrators: Okay, I understand this forum discusses Microsoft software and I might not be pleasing you a lot by saying that I don't like Windows, am moving to Linux, etc. I apologize for this, and if you think it's really too much, just inform me and I'll remove it and ask my question elsewhere (perhaps on Linux forums).

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There is absolutely no problem with discussing non-MS software (which is why we have forums for PHP and so on), or having different opinions about OS's etc... but as this is likely to move away from VB6 very quickly, I have moved this thread from our "VB6" forum to the "General Developer" forum.

RealBasic works on Linux, Windows and MacOS (Both PowerPC and Intel Macs)

The Linux "Standard" version of realbasic is zero cost so no excuse for anyone not to at least give it a go to see what it's all about.

The "Standard" versions of RealBasic can only compile for their own OS (meaning the Linux version can only compile a Linux application)

The "Pro" version can compile for any other OS so the Pro version running on Linux can compile a MacOS and a Windows application as well as Linux so one project source can be compiled to 3 separate target operating systems.

Although - to be honest - it's not as good as it sounds because you really ought to debug on the target OS so I bought the standard MacOS and Windows versions (The linux version is free) so can develop and compile on any OS for any OS.

Another advantage with RealBasic is that the compiled application is a single file which contains all dependencies - it doesn't need to be installed - no conflicts with libraries etc on the target computer - no DLL Hell.

www.realbasic.com

Although I still prefer VB6

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There were plans for an open-source Linux version of VB6 in the past, but I've no idea at what stage it is now.

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There is a program called Gambas which has code very similar to vb (in fact in the software list here in linux it is described like this: "Gambas almost means basic") and maybe that's what you are talking about. I am trying to use it and I can manage to make simple applications till now but I am lacking the productivity I had in vb. That's why I thought of using VB6 under Wine and convert the exes to linux modules while compiling if that was possible. However when I think better of it, some of the items that I miss in Gambas are the components which I had in VB (so the functions in the DLLs you were talking about, OCXs, etc. which certainly should be there when running VB6 in Wine since it's still a Windows program but shouldn't be in a true linux program like Gambas), so I guess I'll just have to make simpler programs at least till I get to learn more.

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There is absolutely no problem with discussing non-MS software (which is why we have forums for PHP and so on), or having different opinions about OS's etc... but as this is likely to move away from VB6 very quickly, I have moved this thread from our "VB6" forum to the "General Developer" forum.

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I hadn't remembered about the PHP and so on. Since the main name of the forum is VBForums I was expecting it to be more Microsoft related and run by people who promote MS software, etc. and that so you might not be happy that I did the exact opposite. And, yeah this should fit in better in General Developer.

@IanS:
I'll try out RealBasic even though I think it must be more different from VB.

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Although I still prefer VB6

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It's not that I don't like VB6 (especially since I got used to that and also I just do this as a hobby, so I don't really want to start learning new languages, etc.), but VB6 is only for Windows and I am moving away from Microsoft software (to tell the truth it's not really WINDOWS that I don't like, but you should get the idea if I say I am not really a MICROSOFT fan). Anyway linux is also better (especially in performance and security).

Anyhow thanks a lot for the answers, I wasn't expecting such answers.
I'll let you know what happens!

I don't think Gambas was the project I was talking about, it was supposed to be VB6 *IN* Linux, not a cut-down version of it lacking in some of the important features.

I looked around and found http://sourceforge.net/projects/vb4linux/ but it doesn't look like it's active. However, I also found http://www.linux.org/news/2007/02/21/0002.html which is about a program called Mono which could compile VB6 EXEs to run in Linux...no idea if it works :-)

Try www.realbasic.com

Very close to VB and supports other OS's

Try .NET — you can run framework apps under Linux using Mono.

I'm not sure if they support VB.NET yet but their C# support is fairly robust.

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Originally Posted by si_the_geek

VB6 is very heavily Windows based, and you will be basically shooting yourself in the foot trying to use it on Linux (even if you can get it working)... it would be far better to use something designed for the purpose instead, which may be something like Java or C++ or Delphi. These should allow you target both Linux and Windows.

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What about the .NET languages (vb, c#, etc) are they Windows only?

The line after what you quoted:

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You could even use VB.Net, but non-Windows support is limited (gradually getting better from what I head), so while it is far better suited than VB6, it isn't ideal.

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I have no need for anything non-Windows, so I don't know the situation in detail.

From what others have said the framework is not too far behind the Windows version, so at least some .Net languages (mainly C#) will work to some degree.

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Originally Posted by si_the_geek

From what others have said the framework is not too far behind the Windows version, so at least some .Net languages (mainly C#) will work to some degree.

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Ah ok! My dad has been trying to get me to switch to Linux from Windows but I had doubts about whether the programs I use such as Visual C#, etc would work properly if I switched operating systems.

They probably wont, or at least not be the best option (because there are .Net IDE's written for Linux)

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The Linux "Standard" version of realbasic is zero cost so no excuse for anyone not to at least give it a go to see what it's all about.

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Well, I've selected the option for the standard version but here's what I get:

http://www.vbforums.com/
http://www.vbforums.com/

(Please note that the above images might not always be available, that's why I also attached them)Attachment 76892

Attachment 76893

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Originally Posted by Nightwalker83

Ah ok! My dad has been trying to get me to switch to Linux from Windows but I had doubts about whether the programs I use such as Visual C#, etc would work properly if I switched operating systems.

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If you switched, and wanted to continue developing .Net Applications, you could try using MonoDevelop:

http://monodevelop.com/

If you wanted to get your feet wet before making the switch, you could try the Windows Version of MonoDevelop first.

Gary

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Originally Posted by penagate

Try .NET — you can run framework apps under Linux using Mono.

I'm not sure if they support VB.NET yet but their C# support is fairly robust.

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Hey,

It certainly isn't as mature as C#, but VB.Net support is there:

http://www.mono-project.com/VisualBasic.NET_support

Gary

It's okay, I learned a bit more about Gambas and now it seems to be good enough, thanks for all your help though. :D

Just to let everyone know, I guess I won't be visiting the forum very often anymore, but you never know.

Thanks again.