@@ -12,15 +12,17 @@ The supported operating system versions are **Ubuntu 20.04 and 18.04 LTS** (Long
## Alternatives
You can developin one of the following ways:
The main ways of developing software using the Development Environment are the following:
-**Use Ubuntu 20.04 as the main operating system** on your computer, and do not upgrade until the release of (a) Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, (b) a new ROS version for Ubuntu 22.04 LTS, and (c) a new version of the development environments adapted to these new systems. This is the main alternative for many developers as the long term support versions provide a stable development system that minimizes the risk of incompatibility.
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on another version of Linux**, such as a newer version of Ubuntu. This is the best supported alternative to using Ubuntu 20.04 directly on your computer. However, there can be issues with 3D graphics, in particular when new driver versions are released. --- 3D graphics will work, but will be slower???, especially if you use Gazebo??? +++++++++++ What is the precise meaning of "not recommended if Gazebo should be used because of 3D graphics requirements"?
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on another version of Linux**, such as a newer version of Ubuntu. This is the best supported alternative to using Ubuntu 20.04 directly on your computer. However, there can be issues with 3D graphics, such as slowdowns due to virtualization or in some cases incompatibilities between drivers. We have successfully used Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine on 20.10, but have not tested other variations.
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on a Windows machine**. This will lead to some issues in terms of using 3D graphics, but 2D graphics should work if you install an X Windows server on the Windows machine. There are some [initial instructions](https://gitlab.liu.se/lrs/symbicloud_docker_images/-/blob/master/doc/itn.md) for this, and we will do our best to help out in case of problems, but cannot guarantee that absolutely all aspects of a development environment will work as expected.
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on a Windows machine**. This will lead to some issues in terms of using 3D graphics, but 2D graphics should work. There are some [initial instructions](https://gitlab.liu.se/lrs/symbicloud_docker_images/-/blob/master/doc/itn.md) for this, and we will do our best to help out in case of problems, but cannot guarantee that absolutely all aspects of a development environment will work as expected.
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on MacOS**. This will lead to some issues in terms of using 3D graphics, but 2D graphics will work if you install an X Windows server. +++++ Tested/untested? +++++
- Use **Ubuntu 20.04 in a virtual machine running on MacOS**. This will lead to serious performance issues in terms of using 3D graphics. 2D graphics may work better.
In certain limited cases, the development environment docker containers can run directly on Windows or MacOS. This entails communicating with the surrounding environment through for example MQTT, with very limited possibilities of using graphics.
## Installing a Virtual Machine running Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04
