New Install - LibreCAD & dxf2gcode

My new install of 2.7.14 on Debian 7 for a turret mill is rotating all 3 steppers (loose on the floor).

My Laptop CAD has been LibreCAD (Lubuntu) for a couple of years, and I have used dxf2gcode (Windows) several times on an Arduino router.
Both these products meet my requirements for the mill, at least until I get more experience.

But, unsure as to what versions of these products mate best with the Debian install.
Are latest releases Ok ?

The Debian machine is currently not on the Net, install would be done from a USB stick.
Does this limit the seamless loading of the packages ?

Thanks in advance for any assistance,
John

electrosteam wrote: My Laptop CAD has been LibreCAD (Lubuntu) for a couple of years, and I have used dxf2gcode (Windows) several times on an Arduino router.

dxf2gcode has a version for Linux that you can download, copy to usb and it will work even from usb.

electrosteam wrote: But, unsure as to what versions of these products mate best with the Debian install.
Are latest releases Ok ?

Yes they are, at least they where till a year ago.

electrosteam wrote: The Debian machine is currently not on the Net, install would be done from a USB stick.
Does this limit the seamless loading of the packages ?

Yes, you can download packages and install them from the usb, but might have version issues.
It does limit the above, but after some trial and errors it can be done.

electrosteam wrote: Thanks in advance for any assistance,
John

You are always welcomed.

Not having a network connection should not hurt anything, but it might make it a little simpler.

The biggest problem will be that Debian 7 (Wheezy) is end of life. All of the Debian repos have been moved to archives. If you can temporarily connect the Internet, change the repository list to point at one of the Debian archives then "sudo apt-get install librecad". Otherwise you will need to download the debs on another pc and transfer via usb and install them.

electrosteam wrote: My new install of 2.7.14 on Debian 7 for a turret mill is rotating all 3 steppers (loose on the floor).

Before you go too far, you could consider trying the preempt-rt version of LinuxCNC that is built on Stretch.
The second option on the Download page .
(Maybe run it as a LiveCD just to do a latency test).
I have a machine here that manages 7000nS latency with preempt-rt and that is as good as you would ever need.

This gets you away from the very-out-of-date Debian 7 Wheezy.

Andy,
Thanks for the good advice, I went back to the download page and perhaps I was too conservative with my choice.
As I have stepper motion, and I am busy re-building mechanicals on the mill, I think I will cut some metal before I change.

But, I have two other towers, each with a history of getting Lubuntu installed, that I can experiment with.
I will try the pre-empt-rt version on those first.

John