building deb packages

[Mark Wieder]

On 02/28/2018 11:37 AM, Mike Bonner via use-livecode wrote:
> I decided to see how hard it was to turn LC into a deb package.  So far it
> hasn't been too difficult, the only thing I need to find again is how to
> have the icon auto update during the install. (as it is, to see the lc icon
> one must log out and in for it to show up, otherwise its the generic icon
> that shows... I have the answer to that specific thing.. I just need to
> remember where I put it. :)
> 
> I built the .deb package on ubuntu 16.4.  Currently, I don't know if it
> will function as is on earlier versions, and would also like others to
> test.  This is the x64 version.
> 
> Any of you who like messing with vm's, would you mind downloading it and
> seeing if it will work? (I'd rather a safe check in a vm rather than a
> production system obviously, though there isn't all that much that could go
> wrong.. i'm still paranoid)
> 
> The link to it is here:
> https://www.dropbox.com/s/49d4g6n4fi7nabz/livecode_9.0.0_dp_11_x64.deb?dl=0
> 
> To install, at a command prompt run: dpkg -i  livecode_9.0.0_dp_11_x64.deb
> 
> I added some dependencies to the deb, but i'm unsure (so far) what might
> need to be adjusted for earlier versions (if anything.)  Still trying to
> get a handle on how it all works.  (it seems deceptively simple, so i'm
> pretty sure i'm missing something!)

Installed properly here on linux Mint 17.3. I opened with the Gdebi 
package installer first rather than following my first instinct to go 
with a commandline. That let me look at the install directories, and 
everything seemed fine, so I clicked install. No problems installing, 
and it showed up properly in the menu.

A few things here:

You might want to change the download link - Dropbox lets you do this in 
a couple of different ways, and the one you selected requires that the 
downloader have a Dropbox account as well. You can alternately create a 
download link that anyone can use without needing an account.

The installer installs to the /opt/livecode directory, which doesn't 
offer the option of installing just for the current user. That doesn't 
bother me, since it's what I wanted anyway, so I'm just noting it. Also, 
I'm not sure if it's desirable or feasible to create a .deb installer 
that would only install for the current user.

And the size of the installer is a bit of a boggler. The installer from 
the downloads.livecode page is a bit under 400MB, and the .deb installer 
is 628MB. That seems like a lot of overhead. Just curious.


-- 
  Mark Wieder
  ahsoftware at gmail.com