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checkinstall and slackware 13?

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Kevin Denis

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Nov 7, 2009, 11:15:13 AM11/7/09
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Hello

I was using checkinstall in order to create slackware package easily.

Apparently, it does not works anymore.

Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

Thanks
--
Kevin

Lew Pitcher

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Nov 7, 2009, 11:25:14 AM11/7/09
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On November 7, 2009 11:15, in alt.os.linux.slackware, Kevin Denis
(ke...@nowhere.invalid) wrote:

> Hello
>
> I was using checkinstall in order to create slackware package easily.
>
> Apparently, it does not works anymore.

It does work, sort of.
Pat V reported a problem with checkinstall a few Slackware releases back,
and that problem /may/ have been fixed by the checkinstall developer(s). In
any case, PV hasn't restored checkinstall to the usual /extra packages, so
either the alledged fix doesn't meet Pat's requirements, or he just doesn't
feel that checkinstall is worth it.

FWIW, there is a workaround to the problem Pat noted: run checkinstall with
the --fstrans=no option

> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

I use checkinstall v1.6.1, which I obtained through freshmeat.net
To install checkinstall from source, do the usual
./configure
make
make install
dance, then, once checkinstall is installed "raw", run
checkinstall --fstrans=no
to build a Slackware package that installs the same way "make install"
installed. You can then run this package
installpkg checkinstall---.tgz
to resync your install database with the installed software, thus making it
possible to properly
removepkg checkinstall---
to remove it or
upgradepkg checkinstall---
to upgrade it.

HTH
--
Lew Pitcher

Master Codewright & JOAT-in-training | Registered Linux User #112576
http://pitcher.digitalfreehold.ca/ | GPG public key available by request
---------- Slackware - Because I know what I'm doing. ------


Kevin Denis

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Nov 7, 2009, 11:38:58 AM11/7/09
to
Le 07-11-2009, Lew Pitcher <lpit...@teksavvy.com> a �crit�:

>> I was using checkinstall in order to create slackware package easily.
>>
>> Apparently, it does not works anymore.
>
> It does work, sort of.
> Pat V reported a problem with checkinstall a few Slackware releases back,
> and that problem /may/ have been fixed by the checkinstall developer(s). In
> any case, PV hasn't restored checkinstall to the usual /extra packages, so
> either the alledged fix doesn't meet Pat's requirements, or he just doesn't
> feel that checkinstall is worth it.
>
> FWIW, there is a workaround to the problem Pat noted: run checkinstall with
> the --fstrans=no option
>
Yes it used to work with slackware 12.2, but not anymore :/

>> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?
>
> I use checkinstall v1.6.1, which I obtained through freshmeat.net
> To install checkinstall from source, do the usual
> ./configure
> make
> make install
> dance, then, once checkinstall is installed "raw", run
> checkinstall --fstrans=no
> to build a Slackware package that installs the same way "make install"
> installed. You can then run this package
> installpkg checkinstall---.tgz
> to resync your install database with the installed software, thus making it
> possible to properly
> removepkg checkinstall---
> to remove it or
> upgradepkg checkinstall---
> to upgrade it.
>
> HTH
>

Tried this allready. I will another time, to see if it could work this
time.
--
Kevin

geep

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Nov 7, 2009, 11:47:13 AM11/7/09
to

Hi,
We discussed this on 25/27 May.
I think that the fix I noted then still works - here's a repeat of what I
posted on 27 May:

"Today I found that 1.5.3 is broken on Slackware-current x86 19 May 2009.
The good news - the fix for 1.5.3 is simple.
Edit /usr/sbin/checkinstall on lines 1419 and 1421.
Change ${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME} to ../${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME}
(This is due to changes in makepkg - it now won't let you create a package
in the current working directory - it complains with:
"ERROR: Can't make output package in current directory.")

Be nice if 1.5.3 supported txz. Maybe I'll take a look..."

Cheers,
Peter

Kevin Denis

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Nov 7, 2009, 12:32:41 PM11/7/09
to
Le 07-11-2009, geep <gee...@boursomail.com> a �crit�:

>> I was using checkinstall in order to create slackware package easily.
>>
>> Apparently, it does not works anymore.
>>
>> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?
>>
>> Thanks
>
> Hi,
> We discussed this on 25/27 May.
> I think that the fix I noted then still works - here's a repeat of what I
> posted on 27 May:
>
> "Today I found that 1.5.3 is broken on Slackware-current x86 19 May 2009.
> The good news - the fix for 1.5.3 is simple.
> Edit /usr/sbin/checkinstall on lines 1419 and 1421.
> Change ${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME} to ../${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME}
> (This is due to changes in makepkg - it now won't let you create a package
> in the current working directory - it complains with:
> "ERROR: Can't make output package in current directory.")
>
Yes, I noticed that too.

But I use a checkinstall 1.6.1.3 and there is a lot of occurence of
tke {SLACK_PKG_BASENAME} and none in lines 1419 and 1421.

Can you put the lines 1410 to 1430 of your /usr/sbin/checkinstall in
order to me to check which one I should change.

Thanks
--
Kevin

Martin Schmitz

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Nov 7, 2009, 2:54:00 PM11/7/09
to
Kevin Denis wrote:
> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

The best way is to create some kind of original slackware package:

configure --prefix=/usr
make && make DESTDIR=/tmp/foo install
cd /tmp/foo
makepkg /tmp/foo-0.1.2-i486-1_YOURTAG.tgz

If you really need a tool which can do this (and a lot of more) for you
than have a look at http://www.src2pkg.net/ - it's way better than
checkinstall.

Martin

Helmut Hullen

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Nov 7, 2009, 3:11:00 PM11/7/09
to
Hallo, Kevin,

Du meintest am 07.11.09:

> I was using checkinstall in order to create slackware package easily.

> Apparently, it does not work anymore.

> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

For creating packages I prefer the "Build" scripts from slackbuild.org.

If you really are searching for "checkinstall" look at slackfind.net.
You'll find 2 download addresses for checkinstall 1.6.1

Viele Gruesse
Helmut

"Ubuntu" - an African word, meaning "Slackware is too hard for me".

Grant

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Nov 7, 2009, 4:58:24 PM11/7/09
to

If you're adding packages to the distro, consider placing them in the
default /usr/local/* area -- then they can override /usr files (due to
path search order) but not interfere with the distro system files.

Grant.
--
http://bugsplatter.id.au

Steven J Masta

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Nov 7, 2009, 6:00:22 PM11/7/09
to
Martin Schmitz wrote:
> Kevin Denis wrote:
>> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?
>
> The best way is to create some kind of original slackware package:
>
> configure --prefix=/usr
> make && make DESTDIR=/tmp/foo install
> cd /tmp/foo
> makepkg /tmp/foo-0.1.2-i486-1_YOURTAG.tgz

A word of warning: not all makefiles honor the DESTDIR directive and you
will actually install the program. Best to check the makefile first.

A "proper" package will also have a slack-desc file in
/tmp/foo/install/slack-desc see
http://www.linuxpackages.net/howto.php?page=slack-desc&title=Slackware+Desc+File
for more info.

A "proper" package should also have the programs docs (COPYING, README,
INSTALL, etc.) installed in /usr/doc/PROGRAMNAME-VERSION.

If you're just making packages for yourself, do what works for you. It's
a good idea if you stay consistent. I *highly* recommend using build
srcipts - either your own or someone elses - it makes uprgading much easier.

Steve

Henrik Carlqvist

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Nov 7, 2009, 6:33:47 PM11/7/09
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Kevin Denis <ke...@nowhere.invalid> wrote:
> But I use a checkinstall 1.6.1.3

In my experience checkinstall has been buggy since version 1.6.0, but I
wasn't aware of any newer version than 1.6.1. Where did you find 1.6.1.3?
Have you been able to install perl modules with checkinstall 1.6.1.3?

Using checkinstall 1.5.3 has worked fine for me up to Slackware 12.2 and
I have also used it on Slamd64 12.1. On these platforms I have created
a lot of packages with checkinstall. However, I haven't
tried checkinstall on any Slackware 13 yet.

regards Henrik
--
The address in the header is only to prevent spam. My real address is:
hc3(at)poolhem.se Examples of addresses which go to spammers:
root@localhost postmaster@localhost

Henrik Carlqvist

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Nov 7, 2009, 6:37:48 PM11/7/09
to
Martin Schmitz <ne...@rmz.ath.cx> wrote:
> The best way is to create some kind of original slackware package:
>
> configure --prefix=/usr
> make && make DESTDIR=/tmp/foo install
> cd /tmp/foo
> makepkg /tmp/foo-0.1.2-i486-1_YOURTAG.tgz
>
> If you really need a tool which can do this (and a lot of more) for you
> than have a look at http://www.src2pkg.net/ - it's way better than
> checkinstall.

The nice thing with checkinstall is that it doesn't make any assumptions
about how the program is installed. The Makefile doesn't need to have
support for DESTDIR, checkinstall doesn't even require any Makefile at
all. If you have a program which installs with some strange script you can
still use checkinstall with something like this:

checkinstall the_install_script.sh

geep

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Nov 7, 2009, 6:52:08 PM11/7/09
to
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 17:32:41 +0000, Kevin Denis wrote:

Here are the original lines 1410 to 1430 of /usr/sbin/checkinstall 1.5.3.
These are NOT yet patched with the change mentioned above.
I have tested the patched version on Slack 13.0 and it works fine for me.
I remember discussion (a long time ago) about 1.6.x being broken, so I
always use 1.5.3.
Cheers,
Peter


echo
echo -n "Creating package ${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME}..."

cd $BUILD_DIR
chmod 755 $BUILD_DIR


$MAKEPKG -l y -c n "${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME}.tgz" &> /dev/null
okfail
mv "${SLACK_PKG_BASENAME}.tgz" "$DIRECTORIO_FUENTE"

#
# Install the package to register it in Slackware's installed packages
list
# so we can list it's contents with pkgtool o remove it with removepkg
#

# Go back to where we started
cd "$DIRECTORIO_FUENTE"

Aaron W. Hsu

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Nov 8, 2009, 1:16:37 AM11/8/09
to
On Sat, 07 Nov 2009 11:15:13 -0500, Kevin Denis <ke...@nowhere.invalid>
wrote:

> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

Since moving back to Slackware, I have not used Checkinstall, and I
haven't missed it at all. I have used SlackBuild scripts (many that I have
written myself), and they work great. I get more control over what I am
doing, they work for a variety of different install and configuration
tools, and they're about as convenient as checkinstall, imo.

Aaron W. Hsu


--
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its
victims may be the most oppressive. -- C. S. Lewis

Stuart Winter

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Nov 11, 2009, 6:51:50 AM11/11/09
to
On 07 Nov 2009 16:15:13 GMT, ke...@nowhere.invalid wrote:

> Anybody here using checkinstall? Or another equivalent? Which one?

You can use slacktrack which is in /extra of slackware-13.0.

This serves the same purpose as checkinstall but has the
options to create/set appropriate permissions, ownerships
and so on on the resulting Slackware packages.

The only real caveat is that you need to install the package
onto your actual live filesystem of the running OS; for more complicated
builds, this is really the only way to ensure a working package.
The ap/linuxdoc-tools package is built using slacktrack.

I recommend using slacktrack on a development/disposable
installation of Slackware - either on a spare machine, or
inside a virtual machine.

slacktrack used to use the installwatch library that checkinstall
uses, but it was unreliable and needed fixing when programs such
as coreutils and glibc changed their internals; which is why
we removed checkinstall from Slackware a few releases back.
Patrick also would receive bug reports/security reports about
checkinstall after they'd installed "libsafe".

I'll mention checkinstall to Patrick again.

--
Stuart Winter
www.slackware.com/~mozes
Slackware for ARM: www.armedslack.org

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