University of Wisconsin-Madison
Union South, Fifth Quarter Room
April 29-30, 2013
9:00 AM - 4:30 PM
Alternate Installation Options
For this bootcamp, we intend to have all learners login remotely to a server that will be prepared with the correct environment. Instructions on how to prepare your laptop for this are available on our boot camp web page.
Below are some other options that you may be interested in for the boot camp or for the long term. Please note that we can only provide limited support for these options on the day of the boot camp. For this reason, make sure to also complete any necessary steps from our standard setup at the link above.
Virtual Machine
To give everyone a consistent, pre-configured environment we provide a Linux virtual machine. Install VirtualBox and download this virtual machine image. Load the VM into VirtualBox by doing Import Appliance and loading the .ova file.
SSH to Your Own Server
If you have your own remotely-accessible server, or one that belongs to your research group, you may prefer to do the boot camp exercises in that location. You will need the following software installed, which is the same set we have installed on our boot camp server: bash, a text editor (we have vi, emacs, and nano), ack-grep, git, and a recent version of Enthought Python Distribution (EPD, follow the subscription links for their free academic license).
Other Options
To complete the entire workshop you need several things: a Bash shell, git, a code editor (though any plain text editor will work in a pinch), and a scientific Python installation that includes the IPython Notebook, NumPy, and matplotlib.
Even if you plan to install things yourself, please download VirtualBox and the virtual machine as a backup. It can be extremely difficult to get everything set up correctly.
Bash
Mac
The default shell in Mac OS X is bash.
Windows
Install Git Bash following the instructions here.
Linux
The default shell is usually bash but if not you can
get to bash by opening a terminal and typing bash.
Git
Mac
Install Xcode and the command line tools (from the Download preferences pane) or install just git.
Windows
Install Git Bash following the instructions here.
Linux
If git is not already available on your machine you can try
to install it via your distro's package manager
(e.g. apt-get).
Code Editor
Mac
We recommend Text Wrangler or Sublime Text.
Windows
Notepad++ is a popular free code editor for Windows.
Linux
Kate is one option for Linux users.
Python
Installing everything you need on your own can be a bit difficult so we recommend just installing the Enthought Python Distribution, which comes in free and academic versions for Mac, Windows, and Linux.
For other options check the Python4Astronomers page on installing scientific Python.
Contact
This workshop will be presented by revered faculty and staff: Paul Wilson, Lauren Michael, Stephen McGough, and new(ish) blood: Matt Gidden, and Aronne Merrelli. For more information contact info@software-carpentry.org.