[SDL] Can I use the SDL lib without the Kde?

[David Olofson]

On Sunday 28 September 2003 15.58, juavizga wrote:
> I'd like make a application that when linux is loaded start, but
> without the visual environmnet as kde loaded?

That's a Linux/XFree86 question, and doesn't have much to do with SDL, 
really. Anyway, I assume you're working on some kind of turnkey 
system, that should just boot up and start your SDL application.

What you do is hack your startup scripts to start X, and then your 
application. (You may have to tell SDL where X is by setting the 
DISPLAY env. var.)

If this machine isn't going to function as a workstation or anything 
like that, but rather more like an embedded system, console, arcade 
machine or whatever, you could, in  order of increasing brutality;

	1. Prepare a runlevel to start X and your app, and
	   have /etc/inittab auto-login at that runlevel.

	2. Throw away all the normal init scripts and just
	   hack an /etc/inittab that does what you want.

	3. Rip out init (the first process Linux starts)
	   and replace it with your app, which takes over
	   the system, spawns XFree86 and then gets on
	   with it's work.

I think 1 or 2 would make sense normally, and it shouldn't be too hard 
to do after reading up a bit (google for "linux init scripts" or 
something, without the quotes) and looking at the standard scripts 
that come with any normal distro.

3 is only for extreme cases, where you want to keep the system as lean 
and mean as possible, for low powered systems and/or very small 
disks. You can drop the shell and various other tools and libs, and 
just use the Linux kernel and a minimal set of libraries, pretty much 
like a sophisticated boot loader, driver infrastructure and 
scheduler.

1, 2 and 3 should give about the same (very short) boot time, but if 
you want to cut it really low, you have to fine tune your kernel 
configuration. Standard builds that come with distros usually spend 
quite a few seconds checking for hardware that you don't have or 
don't need.


//David Olofson - Programmer, Composer, Open Source Advocate

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