Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Spring Semester, 2008
6.01: Introduction to EECS I

Installing the 6.01 software on GNU/Linux

The laptops in the lab use Ubuntu, so we know things work on that. We also expect the software to work on other distributions. Details of the installation depend on which GNU/Linux distribution you are running, so talk to the staff for help.

A. Get Python, tk, and numpy

Make sure that your machine is running Python 2.5. You can use either your distribution's package manager (apt, synaptic, yum, etc.) to download and install the python package (make sure it's version 2.5), or you can compile Python from source.

You should also install tkinter, a Python package that is necessary for running Soar. Installation will be dependent on your distribution. For recent Debian-based distros, there is a package (python-tk) that you can install with apt. On other distributions, you should be able to find an appropriate package to install as well.

You will also need to install numpy, a Python package, for some of the assignments. Again, installation will be dependent on your distribution. For recent Debian-based distros, there is a package (python-numpy) that you can install with apt. For other distributions, you can either compile from source or find the appropriate package for your distribution.

B. Get IDLE or Emacs

You'll also need IDLE or Emacs (and it won't hurt to have both). If your Python distribution did not come with IDLE (type "idle" at a command line to see if it's defined), there's a package (idle) that you can install with apt. Since you'll be starting IDLE a lot, you'll find it convenient to create a launcher for and place it in a menu or on the menu bar.

There's also an emacs22 package that you can install. Emacs 22 comes with built-in support for Python. If for some reason you want to stick with Emacs21 or earlier, you'll need to install support for Python explicitly. See installing Python support for Emacs 21.

B. Get soar

Debian/Ubuntu

If you have a Debian or Ubuntu machine, and have previously installed (or attempted to install) soar and form from source, you first need to uninstall. Download and extract the following file: soar-latest.tar.gz. In there, you should find two packages, called form and soar. Open a terminal window, navigate to the parent directory, and type 
cd form
sudo make uninstall
cd ../soar
sudo make uninstall
You can now delete the soar and form directories and the tar file you downloaded. Now download the latest soar Debian releases for form and soar. Then type dpkg -i python-form.deb python-soar.deb to install them (or your browser may offer to install them for you).

You should now be able to run SoaR by typing soar at a terminal command prompt. If you have trouble, email 6.01-help@mit.edu.

From Source Code

If your machine is not Debian or Ubuntu, or you are having trouble with the above installers, you can try installing manually from source. Download and extract the latest SoaR release: soar-latest.tar.gz. In there, you should find two packages, called form and soar. Open a terminal window, navigate to the parent directory, and type 
cd form
sudo make install
cd ../soar
sudo make install
To run SoaR, you should be able type soar in a terminal window. You might want to create a launcher for this and place it on your menubar.

Note: You must have sudo privileges on the machine in order to do this installation. One symptom of not having sudo privileges is that the install will seem to go OK, but the soar command will not be recognized. Please send questions and bug reports to 6.01-help@mit.edu