Skip to content

Linux Mint Developer Setup Guide

Complete setup guide for MBASIC development on Linux Mint (or Ubuntu/Debian-based systems). This covers all system-level packages and tools needed for full development including interpreter, compiler, testing, and documentation.

Note for Users: If you only want to RUN MBASIC programs (not develop/compile), see docs/user/INSTALL.md for simpler user installation.

Prerequisites

This guide assumes: - Linux Mint (or Ubuntu/Debian-based distribution) - Non-root user account with sudo privileges - Internet connection for downloads

System Packages (Requires sudo/root)

Essential Python Development Tools

# Python virtual environment support (REQUIRED)
sudo apt install python3.12-venv

# Tkinter GUI support (OPTIONAL - for Tk UI backend)
sudo apt install python3-tk

Git Version Control (for development)

# Install Git
sudo apt install git

# Configure Git credentials
git config --global user.name "Your Name"
git config --global user.email "your.email@example.com"

# Set up SSH keys for GitHub/GitLab (optional but recommended)
# If you already have keys, copy them to ~/.ssh/
# id_rsa (private key)
# id_rsa.pub (public key)
# chmod 600 ~/.ssh/id_rsa
# chmod 644 ~/.ssh/id_rsa.pub

Optional: Text Editor

# Emacs with GTK support (or use your preferred editor)
sudo apt install emacs-gtk

# Alternatives: vim, nano, code (VS Code), etc.

Compiler Tools (z88dk)

To compile BASIC programs to CP/M executables:

Install z88dk via Snap

# Enable snap if disabled on Linux Mint
sudo rm /etc/apt/preferences.d/nosnap.pref

# Install snapd
sudo apt install snapd

# Install z88dk (Z80 C cross-compiler)
sudo snap install z88dk --beta

Verify installation: 

z88dk-zcc --version

See COMPILER_SETUP.md for detailed compiler documentation.

CP/M Emulator (tnylpo)

For testing compiled programs and running real MBASIC.com:

Install Dependencies

# NCurses libraries required by tnylpo
sudo apt install 'ncurses*' 'lib64ncurses*'

Build and Install tnylpo

# Clone tnylpo repository
cd /tmp
git clone https://gitlab.com/gbrein/tnylpo.git
cd tnylpo

# Build
make

# Install to user bin (or system bin with sudo)
# Option 1: Install to ~/bin (user-local)
mkdir -p ~/bin
cp tnylpo ~/bin/
# Add ~/bin to PATH in ~/.bashrc if not already there
echo 'export PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

# Option 2: Install to /usr/local/bin (system-wide, requires sudo)
sudo cp tnylpo /usr/local/bin/

# Verify installation
tnylpo --version

See TNYLPO_SETUP.md for detailed usage instructions.

Web UI Dependencies (Optional)

Single-User Localhost (Basic)

For development and single-user testing:

# Activate virtual environment first
source venv/bin/activate

# Install web UI dependencies
pip install -r requirements-local.txt

Multi-User Production Server (Advanced)

For production deployment with multiple concurrent users:

Install Redis (Session Storage)

# Redis for session storage (load-balanced deployments)
sudo apt-get install redis-server

# Start and enable Redis
sudo systemctl start redis
sudo systemctl enable redis

# Test connection
redis-cli ping  # Should return: PONG

See REDIS_SESSION_STORAGE_SETUP.md for Redis configuration.

Install MariaDB (Error Logging)

# MariaDB for error logging
sudo apt-get install mariadb-server mariadb-client

# Start and enable MariaDB
sudo systemctl start mariadb
sudo systemctl enable mariadb

Setup database and user:

# Connect to MariaDB as root
sudo mysql

# In MySQL prompt, run these commands:
# Replace 'wohl' with the user that will run the web UI
# Replace '[fill in password]' with a secure password (or leave empty for Unix socket only)

-- Create user with password authentication (for remote connections)
CREATE USER 'wohl'@'%' IDENTIFIED BY '[fill in password]';

-- Create databases
CREATE DATABASE wohl;
CREATE DATABASE mbasic_logs;

-- Grant privileges for Unix socket authentication (local, no password needed)
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mbasic_logs.* TO 'wohl'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA unix_socket;

-- Grant privileges for password authentication (remote or local with password)
GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mbasic_logs.* TO 'wohl'@'%';

-- Apply changes
FLUSH PRIVILEGES;

-- Exit MySQL
EXIT;

Create error logging tables:

# From MBASIC project directory
mysql < config/setup_mysql_logging.sql

Verify setup:

# Test Unix socket connection (no password)
mysql mbasic_logs -e "SHOW TABLES;"

# Should show: web_errors, error_summary, recent_errors

See WEB_ERROR_LOGGING.md for error logging configuration.

Install Apache (Documentation Server - Optional)

# Apache web server (for serving documentation)
sudo apt-get install apache2

# Start and enable Apache
sudo systemctl start apache2
sudo systemctl enable apache2

Configure web server permissions: 

# Allow Apache to read your project directory
# Replace $USER with your username
chmod o+x /home/$USER /home/$USER/cl
chmod -R o+rx /home/$USER/cl/mbasic

Install Python Dependencies

# Activate virtual environment
source venv/bin/activate

# Install web UI and multi-user dependencies
pip install nicegui>=3.2.0
pip install redis>=5.0.0
pip install mysql-connector-python>=8.0

# Or install all at once
pip install -r requirements.txt

Kubernetes & Cloud Deployment (Optional)

For deploying MBASIC web UI to Kubernetes clusters (e.g., DigitalOcean):

Install Docker

# Install Docker
sudo apt-get install -y docker.io

# Add user to docker group (replace 'wohl' with your username)
sudo usermod -aG docker wohl

# Start and enable Docker
sudo systemctl start docker
sudo systemctl enable docker

# Note: Existing logins need to relog to gain the docker group
# Or use newgrp to activate group in current shell:
newgrp docker

Verify Docker installation: 

docker --version
docker ps  # Should work without sudo

Install DigitalOcean CLI (doctl)

# Install doctl via snap
sudo snap install doctl

# Connect snap permissions
sudo snap connect doctl:kube-config
sudo snap connect doctl:dot-docker

# Initialize doctl with your DigitalOcean API token
# (Create token at: https://cloud.digitalocean.com/account/api/tokens)
doctl auth init
# Follow prompts to enter your API token

Verify doctl installation: 

doctl account get  # Should show your DigitalOcean account info

Install kubectl (Kubernetes CLI)

# Install kubectl via snap
sudo snap install kubectl --classic

# Verify installation
kubectl version --client

Configure Kubernetes Cluster Access

# Download your cluster's kubeconfig (replace CLUSTER_ID with your cluster ID)
doctl kubernetes cluster kubeconfig save CLUSTER_ID

# Verify cluster access
kubectl get nodes
kubectl get namespaces

Setup hCaptcha (Bot Protection)

For web deployments with bot protection:

  1. Sign up at https://www.hcaptcha.com
  2. Create a new site and obtain:
  3. Site Key (public)
  4. Secret Key (private)
  5. Store keys as Kubernetes secrets or environment variables

Additional Resources

Claude AI Integration (Optional)

For AI-assisted development and documentation:

Set Claude Credentials

# Add to ~/.bashrc
echo 'export ANTHROPIC_API_KEY="your-api-key-here"' >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Install Claude CLI

# Install Claude AI CLI tool
curl -fsSL https://claude.ai/install.sh | bash

# Verify installation
claude --version

Install Anthropic Python SDK

source venv/bin/activate
pip install anthropic

Note: For consistency and bug fixes, always install anthropic via pip even if Claude CLI is installed.

Python Development Environment

Create Virtual Environment

# From project root
python3 -m venv venv
source venv/bin/activate

# Install dependencies
pip install -r requirements.txt

# Install development dependencies (optional)
pip install -r requirements-dev.txt  # if exists

Verify Installation

# Check available UI backends
python3 mbasic --list-backends

# Expected output should show:
# - cli (always available)
# - curses (if urwid installed)
# - tk (if python3-tk installed)
# - web (if web dependencies installed)

Documentation Development

Local Documentation Server

For developing/testing documentation changes before publishing to GitHub Pages:

# Install MkDocs (if not already in venv)
source venv/bin/activate
pip install mkdocs mkdocs-material mkdocs-awesome-pages-plugin

# Start local documentation server
mkdocs serve
# Opens at: http://localhost:8000/

Environment Variable for Local Docs

By default, MBASIC UIs link to GitHub Pages documentation (https://avwohl.github.io/mbasic/help/).

To test documentation changes locally before publishing:

# Set environment variable to use local docs
export MBASIC_DOCS_URL="http://localhost:8000/help/"

# Run MBASIC with local docs
python3 mbasic --ui tk
# Help > Help Topics now opens localhost instead of GitHub Pages

Documentation URLs: - Production (default): https://avwohl.github.io/mbasic/help/ - Local development: http://localhost:8000/help/ (with MBASIC_DOCS_URL set)

See DOCS_URL_CONFIGURATION.md for complete documentation URL configuration details.

Quick Test

Verify everything works:

# Test interpreter
python3 mbasic

# Test compiler (if z88dk installed)
cd test_compile
python3 test_compile.py test_varptr_simple.bas
# Should generate test_varptr_simple.com

# Test with tnylpo (if installed)
tnylpo test_varptr_simple.com

Summary Checklist

Minimal Development Setup

  • python3.12-venv - Virtual environment support
  • git - Version control
  • Create venv and install Python dependencies
  • Verify python3 mbasic --list-backends

Full Interpreter Development

  • All minimal setup items
  • python3-tk - GUI support (optional)
  • emacs-gtk or preferred editor
  • Web dependencies via requirements-local.txt

Compiler Development

  • All minimal setup items
  • snapd - Snap package manager
  • z88dk - Z80 cross-compiler
  • ncurses* and lib64ncurses* - NCurses libraries
  • tnylpo - CP/M emulator (built from source)

Documentation/Web Deployment

  • redis-server - Session storage (optional, for multi-user)
  • mariadb-server and mariadb-client - Error logging database (optional)
  • Setup MariaDB user and databases
  • Run config/setup_mysql_logging.sql
  • apache2 - Web server (optional)
  • Configure directory permissions
  • Install Python packages: nicegui, redis, mysql-connector-python

Kubernetes/Cloud Deployment

  • docker.io - Container runtime
  • Add user to docker group (usermod -aG docker username)
  • doctl - DigitalOcean CLI (via snap)
  • Connect doctl snap permissions
  • Configure doctl authentication (API token)
  • kubectl - Kubernetes CLI (via snap)
  • Configure cluster kubeconfig
  • Setup hCaptcha account (optional, for bot protection)

AI-Assisted Development

  • Claude CLI
  • anthropic Python package
  • API key in environment

Troubleshooting

"python3-venv not found"

# Try with version-specific package
sudo apt install python3-venv python3.12-venv

"z88dk-zcc not found after snap install"

# Snap binaries might not be in PATH
# Log out and log back in, or:
export PATH="/snap/bin:$PATH"
echo 'export PATH="/snap/bin:$PATH"' >> ~/.bashrc

"tnylpo: error while loading shared libraries"

# Install missing ncurses libraries
sudo apt install libncurses5 libncurses6 lib64ncurses6

"Permission denied" when running web server

# Check directory permissions
ls -ld /home/$USER /home/$USER/cl /home/$USER/cl/mbasic

# Fix if needed
chmod o+x /home/$USER /home/$USER/cl
chmod -R o+rx /home/$USER/cl/mbasic

MariaDB connection issues

"Access denied" with Unix socket: 

# Check if user has Unix socket authentication
sudo mysql -e "SELECT user, host, plugin FROM mysql.user WHERE user='wohl';"

# Should show: unix_socket for localhost
# If not, run the GRANT command again:
sudo mysql -e "GRANT ALL PRIVILEGES ON mbasic_logs.* TO 'wohl'@'localhost' IDENTIFIED VIA unix_socket; FLUSH PRIVILEGES;"

"Can't connect to MySQL server": 

# Check if MariaDB is running
sudo systemctl status mariadb

# Start if needed
sudo systemctl start mariadb

Test connection: 

# Unix socket (no password)
mysql mbasic_logs -e "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM web_errors;"

# Password authentication
mysql -u wohl -p mbasic_logs -e "SELECT COUNT(*) FROM web_errors;"

See Also

Support

For issues specific to: - z88dk: https://github.com/z88dk/z88dk/issues - tnylpo: https://gitlab.com/gbrein/tnylpo/-/issues - MBASIC: https://github.com/avwohl/mbasic/issues