(slicers and linux ports) was: Re: running FreeBSD on Notebook

On 5/6/22 12:31 PM, Tomek CEDRO wrote:
> On Fri, May 6, 2022 at 7:56 PM Steve O'Hara-Smith wrote:
>> On Fri, 6 May 2022 11:38:29 -0600
>> Gary Aitken wrote:
>>> I don't currently run fbsd on a laptop; I run ubuntu only because some
>>> apps I need like prusa-slicer aren't available on fbsd.
>>          I run slicer, Flashprint and Simplify3d[1] in a Linux VM under
>> Bhyve.
> 
> I did port CURA (both GUI and CLI part) some time ago around 2014..
> but I have switched to Zortrax UV LCD printer and that one uses closed
> source Z-Suite.. so I need to have one (and only) windoze machine for
> 3D printer and CNC machine control with windoze only soft for them.
> 
> It is possible to use most Linux ELF binaries directly on FreeBSD, but
> the tools are Open-Source so it is a good thing to port them to
> FreeBSD so you can have a native port/package :-)
> 
>>From what I can see, Prusa software [1] is Open-Source and based on
> Slic3r [2]. I was using Slic3r too before I ported Cura. I cannot see
> the Slic3r anymore (maybe I was running it from the sources directly),
> but all Cura ports [3][4] and PrusaSlicer [5] seems to be still
> maintained natively on FreeBSD :-) Here is a forum thread on how to
> run Slic3r from the sources [6] :-)
> 
> [1] https://github.com/prusa3d/PrusaSlicer
> [2] https://github.com/slic3r/Slic3r
> [3] https://www.freshports.org/cad/cura/
> [4] https://www.freshports.org/cad/cura-engine/
> [5] https://www.freshports.org/cad/PrusaSlicer/
> [6] https://forums.freebsd.org/threads/laser-cutter-3d-printer.62273/

I started working on porting prusa-slicer; the main problem I found was
there were conditional compiles based on "ifdef linux", most of which
were actually *nix dependencies.  I sent a note to the developers about
changing them but never heard back.  I got busy and haven't had time to
look at it.

Unfortunately, I've had nothing but incredibly bad experiences trying to
adapt linux-based ports; I've never gotten anywhere, starting with the
configure stuff.  I'm sure it's my mushy brain, but it would be nice if
there was some reasonable "walk-me-through-it" somewhere.

Gary