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How to Make Easy-to-Package Linux Software

Posted by timothy on from the easy-rocks dept.

jmmv writes "The packages in any Linux distribution (or other operating systems) are a master piece to let the user install any program he wishes as painlessly as possible. However, the creation of these packages is not always free of problems. Usually, the packager finds that the program he wants to package suffers from a series of pitfalls - either conceptual or related to portability - that make the packaging task harder than usual. This is why I decided to write an article (published at ONLamp.com) summarizing these problems and proposing several solutions to each of them, aiming to make the life of the packager simpler. I hope it to be of interest to free software developers and also hope that they understand some of the issues and try to fix them in their creations."

3 of 52 comments (clear)

  1. How to properly package for linux by ZephyrXero · · Score: 4, Informative

    http://www.autopackage.org

    --
    "A truly wise man realizes he knows nothing."
    1. Re:How to properly package for linux by polyp2000 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      who mentioned about forcing people to do anything? Most projects supply their files in several different formats so that people can make a choice as to what kind of install they want to do. I dont really care what you think, because if you are truly honest with yourself, you will admit that installing software on linux is a pain in the arse sometimes - even for seasoned users. Giving joe sixpack a foolproof click-through self-installer for linux is not just a good idea its a requirement. Especially as it continues to make headroads on the desktop.

      I use Gentoo and Vidalinux by the way. The portage system is pretty good and dependancy issues are pretty much a thing of the past although annoyingly i still have problems. Im lucky enough to have a fairly beefy SMP computer so most of the time i dont have to wait too long for compiles.

      Having said all that Autopackage is the best thing ive seen as an installation method yet. Have you actually tried to use it yet ?

      Make sure you read the instructions first. You dont even need to go anywhere near a shell prompt!

      4 steps to installing an autopackage...

      --
      Electronic Music Made Using Linux http://soundcloud.com/polyp
  2. This definately is a shortcomming in linux distros by Stevyn · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Take a look around. You either get a good method for a few outdated packages, or you get a great system that takes forever to compile packages. Obviously, I haven't dealt much with debian based distros and their magical apt-get, but the major distros like Suse, mandrake, and fedora are still RPM based. I think RPMs have really slowed down linux adoption due to dependency hell. I hope systems like autopackage can help things out.