In the last few evenings I’ve been looking at getting Python ready for the Weebox. I’ve been fascinated with using my favourite script language as the front-end for the music player; it’s quick and easy to develop with, and there’s an MPD client library for it already.
Before I ran off all excited about using Python on this rather limited embedded system, I first thought I’d better see whether I could compile up Python for the ARM.
Using the Scratchbox setup (described in Building Things), I unpacked the latest build of Python, configured it up and built. Like so many decent Open Source products it compiled straight out of the box with no issues at all. I still can’t quite get over that, having last really played with Linux and its attendant OS packages in the mid 90s, I still expect a four hour head-scratching session every time I build anything.
Fearful that the executable would be too bloated to use, I checked its size: A stripped python weighs in at 1.1MB, not half as bad as I feared. Admittedly it requires a few other support dynamic libraries; but none that won’t already be on the system. Also, it’ll need the python libraries themselves, which are rather more wieghty at 15MB, but a lot of those can be cut out; indeed I’ll only add the exact libraries needed (using modulefinder).
So, looking good on that front; so until I find a problem, Python’s going to be the way forward. Excitedly, today in my spare time I knocked up a mini Tkinter- based mock up of a 24x2 character display, interfacing with MPD using the client library. With a linux distribution running on my main PC in a VMWare virtual PC, I was coding the Python script on the same PC under Windows. Seems a bit overcomplex, I admit; but none of my real Linux PCs have working sound!
The first thing that became clear with my mockup was that 24 characters isn’t much at all! A fair amount of scrolling will be needed, especially if I want to put some graphic equalizer-type display on the unit too!
Fingers crossed some actual real hardware turns up soon!
Matt Godbolt is a C++ developer living in Chicago. He works for Hudson River Trading on super fun but secret things. He is one half of the Two's Complement podcast. Follow him on Mastodon or Bluesky.