Arch Linux or Fedora 21 (Gnome 3)

KovahGG · January 9, 2015, 10:39pm

I’m about to build a new rig focused mainly on Linux development and of course UE4. I know we got some time before the engine is used for production on the Linux side of things. I’m a fan of Debian based systems but ready to try something new and more hardcore.

Basically I want to run a clean install of either Fedora 21 or Arch Linux to start expanding my knowledge in the Linux world plus a development suite of tools. Problem I’m having is if anyone has used the latest 4.6.1 or even 4.7 on any of these distros? I know Epic focuses on Ubuntu which I like and KDE UI which I absolutely hate! Believe it or not I like Gnome 3 and XFCE.

Can someone give me some insight on these distros plus UE4 running on them? I can’t find any info or videos about either of them. Thanks everyone!

amigo · January 11, 2015, 12:15am

Epic really needs to decide on the primary Linux distro they will support because they will not be able to support all of them when they release the Linux binary UE4 Editor. That’s just a prediction…

My 2c…stick with Debian based distros.

KDE vs Gnome3 is not an issue, use Gnome 3 if you prefer it.

Lastly, make sure your rig can run Windows if you plan to do any production development in UE4, until Linux UE4 Editor has matured enough to a productive and efficient status.

KovahGG · January 11, 2015, 1:49am

Now that’s the response I was looking for. I guess I could go for Ubuntu Gnome. I just hate Unity and KDE. What do you recommend downloading the regular Ubuntu and installing the WM Gnome or actually downloading Ubuntu Gnome distro? Is there any difference? I prefer clean installs with no clutter and junk apps. Thanks for the response amigo!

amigo · January 11, 2015, 2:36am

I’ve been running Ubuntu 14.04 LTS with default Unity and that’s what I used to code and get UE4Editor running on Linux last year. I did install Gnome 3 as well to test things out, but I stick with Unity since it’s easy for me and to be honest I kinda got used to it now.

I’m long past the point of worrying about how fast or small some WM is, or what Desktop Environment I use. I focus on what seems stable and usable to me for my daily work. These other things (WM, DE, X server, etc) should be transparent and out of the way.

Also, just so you know, some WMs do not implement all of X11 (I guess WM developers were cutting corners), which will cause problems with UE4 GUI (Slate) not being able to work properly when SDL calls for those X attributes in the WM. We are still fighting with that issue to some extent, so pick a WM that’s most commonly used and properly implemented.

KovahGG · January 11, 2015, 5:59pm

amigo;203950:

I’ve been running Ubuntu 14.04 TLS with default Unity and that’s what I used to code and get UE4Editor running on Linux last year. I did install Gnome 3 as well to test things out, but I stick with Unity since it’s easy for me and to be honest I kinda got used to it now.

I’m long past the point of worrying about how fast or small some WM is, or what Desktop Environment I use. I focus on what seems stable and usable to me for my daily work. These other things (WM, DE, X server, etc) should be transparent and out of the way.

Also, just so you know, some WMs do not implement all of X11 (I guess WM developers were cutting corners), which will cause problems with UE4 GUI (Slate) not being able to work properly when SDL calls for those X attributes in the WM. We are still fighting with that issue to some extent, so pick a WM that’s most commonly used and properly implemented.

Wow amigo you are the man! Thank you once again for the response. You know we should talk with RCL and maybe see about getting a poll or something up and running on more popular distros being used for development to help with choice on binary development. Personally I love Ubuntu based distros or Debian rather, but I really love the rolling release of Arch. I know as far as development goes Fedora 21 right out the box has almost everything you need installed right away. I tried Ubuntu Gnome but it had so many games and other apps that I would never use. I think a distro that is well put together and has the basics ready for development with UE4 (when stable of course), is the route Epic should take but please if you support any DE please don’t focus on KDE in my opinion.

amigo · January 11, 2015, 6:51pm

The rolling releases of Arch was what caused an issue at one point because they were using the latest clang (3.4 at the time). This version of clang caused a threading issue when compiling UE4Editor with, causing in an Editor crash. Arch users could then only run single-threaded for awhile, or later had to use docker to build out of Arch first, if they wanted a working Editor. So, lesson to learn, bleeding edge is not always the best solution.

The whole thing about Linux and its users is that they are pretty temperamental. Everyone has their preference of distro, WM and DE, and they expect everything else to just work on it without a glitch. Many would most likely not switch their distro to be able to run UE4 Editor, even though I kind of foresee that Epic will have to pick one and stick with it. Won’t make some people happy, that’s for sure, but after all it’s impossible to please everyone.

KovahGG · January 11, 2015, 7:23pm

amigo;204143:

The rolling releases of Arch was what caused an issue at one point because they were using the latest clang (3.4 at the time). This version of clang caused a threading issue when compiling UE4Editor with, causing in an Editor crash. Arch users could then only run single-threaded for awhile, or later had to use docker to build out of Arch first, if they wanted a working Editor. So, lesson to learn, bleeding edge is not always the best solution.

The whole thing about Linux and its users is that they are pretty temperamental. Everyone has their preference of distro, WM and DE, and they expect everything else to just work on it without a glitch. Many would most likely not switch their distro to be able to run UE4 Editor, even though I kind of foresee that Epic will have to pick one and stick with it. Won’t make some people happy, that’s for sure, but after all it’s impossible to please everyone.

Understood and agreed after thinking about that. It really does make sense.