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Documentation/Maemo Eclipse Tutorial/Installing PluThon

PluThon is an Eclipse-based IDE that provides Python development support, source editing, project building, on-device run/debug/profiling as well as on-device Debian installation package creation and deployment. It is based on Eclipse Ganymede (3.4.2) and PyDev (Python IDE for Eclipse). PluThon communicates with your Maemo device using the various network clients and servers that Maemo PC Connectivity project provides.

With PluThon and Maemo PC Connectivity installed, you can flash your Maemo device, run, debug, and profile Python applications on Maemo devices. You can also create Debian installation packages for your application and install the application on the Maemo device.

Maemo PC Connectivity must be installed to the Maemo device and host PC before all features provided by Maemo Eclipse IDE are usable. See more information from Maemo PC Connectivity Tutorial.

[edit] PluThon IDE

You can install PluThon completely from an archive or add it to an existing Eclipse 3.4.2 installation through Maemo update sites.

You can install PluThon on a variety of hosts. The Supported Environments section describes the supported hosts. The Installing PluThon IDE section describes how to install PluThon.

[edit] Supported Maemo Releases

The supported Maemo releases are:

• Maemo 4.1.2 Diablo (OS2008) with N800, N810, and N810 WiMAX Edition
• Maemo 5.0 Fremantle (OS2009) with N900

Older releases may work but Maemo PC Connectivity is not supported on them. If you use older releases, you must manually set up networking, SSH, and SBRSH.

[edit] PluThon Development Environment

The PluThon development environment consists of Eclipse IDE and a Maemo device. These are essential and you cannot use PluThon without them.

Even though PluThon deploys applications that run entirely on a device, you need a Python interpreter installed locally to support the editor and the run/debug mechanism in PyDev.

It is recommended that you use the same version of Python that is on the Maemo device, currently Python 2.5. For more information, see the instructions at Python 2.5.4 official release. PluThon configures PyDev to read the library sources of the host for code completion. If you are not concerned about differences, you can also install Python 2.4 or 2.6 on the host.

Python runtime and bindings libraries must be installed on the Maemo device. To install these, select Project > Validate Installed Packages. This validation operation is also done automatically when you create a new Python project.

[edit] Supported Environments

[edit] Host Operating Systems Supported

Supported operating systems for host PC are listed in table 4.1. Only 32-bit operating systems are supported and tested, for example Maemo does not provide official support for any 64-bit operating system.

Table 4.1: Host Operating Systems Supported for Pluthon

Host Operating System	Officially Supported	Tested	Note
Ubuntu 8.04 Hardy	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 8.10 Intrepid	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 9.04 Jaunty	Yes	Yes
Ubuntu 9.10 Karmic	Yes	Yes	3
Fedora 11/12	No	Yes	1,3
Other Linux distros	No	No	1,2
Windows XP SP3	Yes	Yes
Windows Vista SP2	No	Yes	2
Windows 7	No	Yes	2
Mac OS X x86 Leopard	Yes	Yes
Mac OS X x86 Snow Leopard	Yes	Yes
Mac OS X PPC Leopard	No	No	1,2

Note 1

PluThon should work if Eclipse IDE and Host PC Connectivity runs properly.

Note 2

The Host PC Connectivity has not been fully ported to this OS causing restrictions to the supported functionality.

Note 3

On newer Linux distributions, some components like GTK+ and xulrunner have changed in ways that make Eclipse difficult to launch. You need to use provided pluthon.sh script to launch ESbox and work around the issues.

Cygwin 1.5 is part of Host PC Connectivity for Windows and works fine in Maemo environment but supports only Windows XP. Cygwin 1.7 which supports also Windows 7 and Windows Vista has problems with X11 server preventing Maemo to fully supporting Windows 7 and Windows Vista operatring systems.

[edit] Installing PluThon IDE

[edit] Java Runtime

Eclipse 3.4.2 requires Java 1.5 or newer:

• Sun Java 5.0 or Sun Java 6
• IBM JRE 5.0+
• OpenJDK 6+

GNU gcj is not supported.

These JREs are available as packages in your distribution or you can download them directly from the above websites.

[edit] Method 1: Full Product Archive (Recommended)

• PluThon is distributed as a full Eclipse product archive that contains Eclipse, the Mica framework, and PluThon. This is the easiest way to ensure you have the right versions of the plugins and features.
• Download the product archive, extract it, and get started. Follow the instructions for installation via the Maemo Update site

[edit] Method 2: Eclipse Update Site

• If you already have a custom Eclipse 3.4.2 installation or want to build one, you can use the Eclipse Software Updates mechanism to download, install and upgrade PluThon and Mica from the Internet.
• Newer versions of Eclipse than 3.4.x are not supported because of the hard dependencies on the Eclipse packages used.
• Follow the instructions for installation via the Maemo Update site

You can upgrade the installation (done either using Full Product Archive or the Eclipse Update Site) through Eclipse Software Updates.