[Magic-dev] Re: Debian compile and install

[R. Timothy Edwards]

Dear I-Lun Tseng,

> I have recently installed Debian 3.1 and tried to complie and install 
> Magic on it. I must say that it was very frustrating. I downloaded all 
> of the Magic versions that I can get on the web. However, none of them 
> can be compiled on Debian. I was even forced to use older version of gcc 
> (2.9.x) instead of 3.3.x. Fortunately, I installed Red Hat Linux 9 then 
> and the compliation passed finally.

Are you sure you've tried magic version 7.3 from the opencircuitdesign
website (http;//opencircuitdesign.com)?  This should have no difficulty
compiling under Debian if you follow the instructions on the website.

> Take a look at this mailing list. Quite a large portion of questions is 
> about compilation and installation. Some of them have not been answered 
> (and maybe resolved) yet. I really think that the Magic team should make 
> more efforts on this issue.

This is because the developers (mostly me, but it applies to others as
well) spend our time writing source code, inventing algorithms, not to
mention doing layout and submitting chip designs to foundries.
I try to leave it to others to generate, distribute, and maintain
packages, such as for Debian or RedHat.  Partly this is because I have
a limited number of systems myself (one Fedora Core 2 laptop and one
Fedora Core 3 desktop 64-bit Opteron system).  If I keep up a Debian
package, then 1) it will take time away from development, and 2) someone
will come along and complain that I don't have a Slackware package, or
Solaris binaries, etc.  Fortunately, there are people out there willing
to do this.

> For the long term development, I would suggest getting more people 
> involved in this project; even the people who do not have a PhD from Ivy 
> League or other famous universities. Build a better forum, such as using 
> phpBB, instead of this stone age mailing list. Organize people who 
> specialize in specific topics. Each group has developers and modulators 
> working on that topic. Just like any other successful open-source projects.

Sounds great to me!  I'll even set up an account on opencircuitdesign.com
for anybody who wants to help.  For now, though, I have a chip to tape
out on Monday, so I'm booked until Tuesday.  After that, I'll get back
on the mailing lists and see if I can start putting together some
support for a coherent project.

					Regards,
					Tim

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| Dr. R. Timothy Edwards (Tim)   | email: tim.edwards at multigig.com     |
| MultiGiG, Inc.                 | web:   http://www.multigig.com      |
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