Adding an add-on - but clearly please?

[jnorris235]

So - I chose the Babylon 5 one.
First of all I cannot unzip it into the extras folder - so I go to Konsole and do sudo (?!). I use kubuntu 6.06 -new user.

Then i find there are two extras folders (usr/share/celestia/extras and usr/share/apps/celestia/extras). They look pretty similar.

But anyway, unzipping the add-on, the folder in extras is called Babylon 5 and Kubuntu doesn't seem to like the space. presumably I can't just change it or it'll never be found?

Another site tells you to put one site in one folder, another in another.

There's folders within folders within folders which will take hours on Konsole.

Why do Linux users make things so difficult to do and so unclear - surely some people actually want to use the programs rather than spend their lives fiddling!!

Thank you - hopefully - it'd be a shame to ditch the program after all the work the guy must have done!. (I have searched and read plenty, too!)

[t00fri]

jnorris235,

sorry, what is the point of your post? Obviously, you have little knowledge about Linux.

So - I chose the Babylon 5 one.
First of all I cannot unzip it into the extras folder - so I go to Konsole and do sudo (?!). I use kubuntu 6.06 -new user.

In Linux, normal users don't have permission to install anything in /usr and any subdirectory thereof, including /usr/share/celestia/extras. That's GOOD.

Only 'root' can do this. That's why there is the su command to become 'root'. Linux has a much stricter and hence safer and better security framework than Windows. Linux beginners may find this "unusual" but it's really far superior.

Then i find there are two extras folders (usr/share/celestia/extras and usr/share/apps/celestia/extras). They look pretty similar.

You apparently have never heard about symbolic links. Go to the directory

/usr/share/apps

and type at the prompt

ls -l celestia

Then you will learn about the connection of the two directories ...

But anyway, unzipping the add-on, the folder in extras is called Babylon 5 and Kubuntu doesn't seem to like the space. presumably I can't just change it or it'll never be found?

The unfortunate two-word directory name (Babylon 5) is the only serious point in your post.

But please note that add-ons are completely independent of Celestia core development. Add-ons are usually done by users, not by developers of Celestia. In other words, add-ons are often produced by people who have very little knowledge about computing. Notably if the add-on creator was a Windows user, one encounters this mistake of using disjunct multi-word directory names very often. This is awkward indeed and I have often complained about this. Unfortunately at the Motherlode site no one monitors the quality and consistency of the uploaded add-ons. In particular Newbies have no idea what is good and what is bad.

Another site tells you to put one site in one folder, another in another.

There's folders within folders within folders which will take hours on Konsole.

The latter remark I really can't understand. Why should this take a long time??? This is a perfectly normal directory tree structure.

Why do Linux users make things so difficult to do and so unclear - surely some people actually want to use the programs rather than spend their lives fiddling!!

Also this criticism of Linux users seems unnecessary. The Babylon 5 add-on creator was obviously a Windows user and had little knowledge about other operating systems. A common feature. When using Linux, it's good to learn how the system is structured. There is plenty of literature. Then you really can exploit the power of Linux. I am using Linux since DECADES! I never find it complicated or unelegant .


Bye Fridger

[Christophe]

Under Linux it's a good idea to leave the system wide data directory alone and install your addons in a user directory.

In your home directory create a directory for your addons:

Code: Select all

mkdir -p ~/Documents/Celestia/extras

Then, still in your home folder create a .celestia.cfg file:

Code: Select all

Configuration
{
  ExtrasDirectories  [ "extras" "~/Documents/Celestia/extras" ]
}

That way, among other benefits, you won't have to reinstall all your addons next time you reinstall your system (assuming /home lives in its own partition, as it should).

Spaces in directory or file names shouldn't be a problem, mixed case is usually the problem with addons developed and tested only on Windows. You have to check that the case of the filenames used in the data files matches the case of the actual texture/model files.