Hi everyone
When trying to install FEniCS, I ran into problems on each of the methods (using Docker Toolbox, and installing FEniCS on Ubuntu) and swapped between the two a lot. Eventually I managed to get both to work.
However now before I begin working on my project proper, I would appreciate any opinions or advice on which platform to settle on. For example which is easier to use for a beginner, or are there any differences in functionality between the two, or which is currently more popular (and thus would have a greater support community online)?
Thanks in advance!
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Hello,
I am not an expert as some could be, but I achieved a stable system using Ubuntu OS, and Spyder as a Development Environment. (And obviously FEniCS on the top of it).
I originally tried to start under Windows using Winpython (as a basic package) plus Docker for FEniCS installation, but I couln’t get the Docker stuff to properly deploy FEniCS. So as I didn’t want to destroy my Windows PC, I created a Virtual Machine with Oracle Virtual Box, and then installed Ubuntu on the top of it. Then, Installation of Python, Spyder and FEniCS is straight forward with the packages system. The only difficulties I had were: 1- there is an optimal order when installing python / Spyder / FEniCS (don’t remember which one exactly, but I can find it if anyone is interested) otherwise pieces won’t recognize well each other. 2- Virtual machine has to have a sufficient quantity of memory; at least 2Go in my case. Took me some time to solve this, as FEniCS seemed to run perfectly, but was sending some un explicit error messages.
Good luck for your setting !
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Order shouldn’t make a difference on an Ubuntu system, the packages are built self-consistently. If you use Ubuntu, then make sure you’re installing Ubuntu packages (deb packages), not 4th-party builds like pip (pulling from pypi instead of the ubuntu archives).
sudo apt-get install spyder3 fenics
that should be all you need to do.
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