Avida software - Anyone used/set up on Gentoo platform?

Seamaiden

Hello,

I've just read in Discover Magazine about this software being used by Devolab. I found a tarball-gunzip at sourceforge.net, have d/l'd the tarball and extracted, emerged cmake. But I'm curious about others using it. I haven't gone through the entire readme yet, so I haven't actually started the program running. Mostly curious, and since I'm not exactly someone who knows her way around a command line, I have to look up almost everything.
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Seamaiden · Posted: Sun Mar 27, 2005 9:10 pm Post subject:

This is so unusual for this Gentoo forum, to ask a question about something and have no replies.. almost like a Googlewhack. But, it seems at this point I'm battin' a thousand, eh? My last two posts have netted me not much, which is really surprising. I can't be the only one who's both running Gentoo and is curious to run this Avida app.. am I?

I'm worse than my own kids (when it comes to asking questions that stump the experts..). :lol:

Wait a minute, that is not funny.

Bump-a-roo!
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r4v5 · n00b Joined: 11 Sep 2004 Posts: 5

Avida 2.2.2 compiled fine after emerging cmake. I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to do, but there's an executable AvidaConsole in <avidadir>/build/work/ that brings up the fabled ncurses interface.

Note that I have no clue as to what it's supposed to do, so I can't tell if it's doing it properly, but if it's supposed to be a more-detailed version of the Game of Life on steroids then it's doing it.

Seamaiden · Posted: Mon Mar 28, 2005 4:45 am Post subject:

Well HEY! (Thank you so much for answering!) In a nutshell, this program basically creates digital organisms that can evolve. You've gotten further than I have post emerge cmake. I'm not even to the point of finding what.. err.. interface or executable I can or should run. I am under the impression that there are default settings/parameters by which the organisms "seed' the soup, as well as parameters that are set in their little digital world, such as food, reproduction rates, mutation rates, etc.

It's used to study evolution without experimenting on animals, and where exact parameters are set by the "researcher". What I'd really like to see demonstrated is what is called "punctuated equilibrium" - a theory that holds that evolution does occur, but not at the slow, steady rate postulated by Darwin. (I have a good friend who's been visiting the Galapagos frequently lately, dive trips, etc. and is there right now.) The program seems to demonstrate not only that complex forms do not need "divine intervention" or intelligent design (God), because they are able, on their own, to come to diversity and complexity with a relatively simple beginning. Fascinating, really, and I'd like to see it in action. The main reason why I'd like to get it going is because my kids are being taught science by a teacher who's only there to pick up a paycheck, and we live in California's bible belt, so they're hearing a LOT from people who can't see anything beyond their thumpin' bibles. (In other words, I have an agenda!)

Thanks again! Although, I fear I've bitten off far more than I can chew, it seems I really should be familiar with programming/programming language, etc., in order to set this up and run it properly. Still determined, though!
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gruevy · n00b Joined: 10 Apr 2005 Posts: 1 Location: Michigan

I've got a test ebuild created for avida. It's available at the following URL:

http://www.cse.msu.edu/~gerrishj/avida-2.3.0.ebuild

Download it and move it into your portage overlay (usually /usr/local/portage, check your /etc/make.conf.)

It has support for the Python bindings, the Qt interface, and the ncurses interface. The Python and Qt parts are still experimental though.

The python bindings aren't currently working. For some reason the boost ebuild isn't installing pyste. I'll have to find out what's up with that. If anybody knows, I'd appreciate some help.

You can still emerge it with:

USE="-python" emerge avida

Let me know if there are any issues with it.

UPDATE: Looks like it's installing in /usr/work and /usr/preset_organisms. I'll have to spend a bit more time messing w/ cmake before everything is installed in the correct location.

UPDATE 04/11/2005: Updated ebuild up, installs binaries to /usr/bin, libs to /usr/lib, and the rest of the files to /usr/share/avida-2.3.0. Still working on the python/Qt stuff.

Seamaiden · Posted: Mon Apr 11, 2005 3:09 am Post subject:

Hey, excellent news, my friend! Thank you. Now I just need to wrap my head around setting "organism parameters".

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Section_8 · l33t Joined: 22 May 2004 Posts: 627