Olex2
Olex2 is a new crystallographic program born out of the reality that most of the existing small molecule crystallography code is single author and therefore in a situation where it could be lost if that author dies or stops supporting their code. This has happened many times in the past with for me the most memorable time being the tragic death of Dr. Laszlo Zsolnai and the end of xpma. So the olex2 gang got a research grant and have set out to battle all things crystallographic. They've started in parallel producing a nice GUI and writing code to do single crystal refinements.
Like all good programmers now-a-days the olex2 guys have their own website where they support all manner of operating systems. So your now wondering why I have written this page and made you read all the way to here to find out?
Linux
I'm a Linux fan and olex2 being open source fits nicely with Linux and to the olex2 guys horror I've been working with them to remove the window'isms and trying to get a good Linux version. I also build and maintain a primitive Linux installer and the binaries for both the x86_64 and i386 versions of olex2. They're hosted here on my site which makes it easier for me to keep them updated. They are built from the sourceforge svn at frequent intervals. I also maintain the rather crude Makefile held in the olex2 sourceforge svn.
Linux - RPM
There is now a linux rpm available. To get it go to the debroglie repo follow the "Setup the repository" link.
Currently the rpm is in the testing channel for fedora 8 only. Remember to activate this channel in yumex or yum cmdline to install it, as the channel is disabled by default. If you need help please post to xforum. The Linux binary installer will continue to be supported.
Please note that the rpm needs root or sudo permissions to install, like most rpm files do. Whilst the linux installer will install to your user account only. Useful if you are a pleb with now higher powers (which sometimes we all are).
Linux - installer
If your wondering how to user the Linux installer. Well down load the archive file (tar.gz) which is compatible with your architecture. So if your running a 64 bit Linux OS then get the x86_64 whilst if your using a 32 bit version get the i386 archive.
If your not certain how to tell which you are using, then just open a console and type uname -a or uname -i this will give you a small list of machine information and if you see ix86 where x is 3,5 or 6 then your running in a 32 bit environment and if you see x86_64 your in a 64 bit environment.
Note that there will be several and a good rule of thumb is that the higher the number the newer the svn release. But you can always check the upload date on the download page to make sure you've got the latest version.
OK, once you've got the archive file then you uncompress it using your favourite uncompress program or type tar -xvf archivefilename.tar.gz in the command shell in the location of the downloaded file. Then cd into the olex_installer directory produced. There is a README file you can read or you can just type sh installer and it should hopefully install.
OK, so I know it is simple but it works. If you do have any problems with either the Linux installer from the download site or the Makefile from the svn feel free to contact me via the f you need help please post to xforum.