Quick Linux Question

[Bob Warren]

Dear Mark,

I have asked the following simple Linux question on-List, but I have not 
received any kind of answer. It suddenly occurs to me that you might be 
the most qualified person to give me the answer I am seeking.

As you may have seen recently, I have produced a pair of standalone 
file/picture chooser widgets for Windows (see 
http://www.howsoft.com/runrev/stacks.htm). I am now working on the Linux 
version. The trouble is that I do not have extra computers available to 
install versions of Linux other than the one I am using (Ubuntu Hoary 
Hedgehog: the floppy doesn't work at all in Breezy Badger!), so I am not 
in a position where I can easily discover things for myself.

In Ubuntu (Debian based, Gnome), I am using routines such as the 
following to mount/read CDs and diskettes:

on mouseUp
   get shell("mount /media/floppy0") --or "/media/floppy"
   set the defaultFolder to "/media/floppy0" --or "/media/floppy"
   put the files into field "List1"
end mouseUp

on mouseUp
   get shell("mount /media/cdrom0") --or "/media/cdrom"
   set the defaultFolder to "/media/cdrom0" --or "/media/cdrom"
   put the files into field "List1"
end mouseUp

In Ubuntu, I am checking the existence of the CD and diskette drives 
using fstab in the folder "/etc", which of course also specifies the 
mount points:

# /etc/fstab: static file system information.
#
# <file system> <mount point>   <type>  <options>       <dump>  <pass>
proc            /proc           proc    defaults        0       0
/dev/hda1       /               ext3    defaults,errors=remount-ro 0       1
/dev/hda5       none            swap    sw              0       0
/dev/hdc        /media/cdrom0   udf,iso9660 ro,user,noauto  0       0
/dev/fd0        /media/floppy0  auto    rw,user,noauto  0       0


Can you give me some general advice as to how I should check/mount/read 
the diskette and CD in other versions of Linux? Are main differences 
between Gnome and KDE interfaces, or is it more profound than that? Will 
/etc/fstab always give me the info I need, or might I need to look 
elsewhere? (Sorry, part of the problem is my lack of experience with 
Linux anyway.) A nice feature for the future in RR would be the ability 
to quickly identify more specifically the exact Linux platform in use 
insofar as it significantly affects programming options such as the ones 
outlined here.

As for producing a Mac version of the widgets, that's where I am really 
stuck. I don't know anything about the Mac file system at all. Here in 
Brazil, Macs are impossibly expensive (even the Mac Mini which is almost 
3 times the price in the US). However, I imagine that when the Linux 
version is ready (hopefully within a week or so), it would be easier to 
convert this version to Mac than to convert it from the Windows version. 
How would you go about getting the widgets converted to Mac? Or would 
you just forget it?

This was meant to be a quick e-mail, but I cannot fail to mention an RR 
Linux bug that is bugging me, in the hope that it also does not appear 
in 2.7. If I am editing a script with the toolbar showing, and I use 
CTRL+S to save rather than closing the editing window and then saving, 
the IDE goes nuts. It seems to get stuck in a loop where first the 
toolbar is brought to the front, and then the editor is brought to the 
front. Fortunately, the problem can usually be solved by closing the 
editing window either before or after saving, but the constant use of 
CTRL+S without closing the editing window is so useful that I would 
indeed like to see this fixed in 2.7. (Could this possibly be a timing 
problem? I should add that I am using a very old and slow Pentium II 
with a small memory.)


Best regards,
Bob

P.S.
Please note that I have also posted this e-mail to the Use-Revolution 
List. Its content is of potential interest to other RR Linux users. But 
I would be grateful for any kind of answer, either on-List or off-List. 
Thanks. If you decide to give me an answer off-List, I can still pass on 
any useful info to other RR Linux users myself.

P.P.S.
All of this does, of course, point to the importance of extending the 
Help info with more Linux-specific information, especially in relation 
to "bread and butter" (or in Brazil "black beans and rice") issues such 
as the ones I have raised.