I'll start by saying Fedora Core 4 is not something I'd recommend any Linux noob or intermediate use. It has a lot of early releases of new software which aren't well supported in the community yet. Main one is of course GCC 4.
99% of commercial products for Linux will not work without the compatibility packages. Actually installing them is easy enough, and the only reason installing BlitzMax isn't that easy is because it doesn't come in a packaged format that would install these dependencies for you.
The other thing is that it's perfectly possible to compile stuff for GCC 3 under Fedora Core 4, providing you have the compatibility packages installed. BMK is currently closed, so this, among other issues (library/header paths) is not something the community can fix for you yet.
Your best bet for compatibility for the next year or so is to build stuff under GCC 3. Even when most distros will have moved to GCC 4, all the decent ones (ie. Ubuntu, SuSE, Mandriva) will still include the compatibility libraries for 3.
As for those having trouble with Accelerated Graphics, if it's not built into your packaging system, most people will be fine using the install scripts provided by Nvidia or ATI on their driver downloads. I've personally found these tend to actually work better than the included ones.
The advantage you'll find with Linux is the userbase is generally far more technically inclined than the Windows userbase. The difference is most people are far more familiar with the Windows way of doing things - on many Linux distros, things are not actually that much harder, they're just unfamiliar.
You'll find that once you get your head around apt-get and the like that running Linux actually ends up being a lot easier than keeping Windows chugging along happily.
As for your Linux end-users, learn how to package your apps. An RPM or DEB will sort out dependencies for you. No telling someone to go download Direct X9 or whatever, the package management will do the equivalent of that for your user automatically.
99% of commercial products for Linux will not work without the compatibility packages. Actually installing them is easy enough, and the only reason installing BlitzMax isn't that easy is because it doesn't come in a packaged format that would install these dependencies for you.
The other thing is that it's perfectly possible to compile stuff for GCC 3 under Fedora Core 4, providing you have the compatibility packages installed. BMK is currently closed, so this, among other issues (library/header paths) is not something the community can fix for you yet.
Your best bet for compatibility for the next year or so is to build stuff under GCC 3. Even when most distros will have moved to GCC 4, all the decent ones (ie. Ubuntu, SuSE, Mandriva) will still include the compatibility libraries for 3.
As for those having trouble with Accelerated Graphics, if it's not built into your packaging system, most people will be fine using the install scripts provided by Nvidia or ATI on their driver downloads. I've personally found these tend to actually work better than the included ones.
The advantage you'll find with Linux is the userbase is generally far more technically inclined than the Windows userbase. The difference is most people are far more familiar with the Windows way of doing things - on many Linux distros, things are not actually that much harder, they're just unfamiliar.
You'll find that once you get your head around apt-get and the like that running Linux actually ends up being a lot easier than keeping Windows chugging along happily.
As for your Linux end-users, learn how to package your apps. An RPM or DEB will sort out dependencies for you. No telling someone to go download Direct X9 or whatever, the package management will do the equivalent of that for your user automatically.