Package/Build-From-Source Management

[David Abrahams]

Alan McKinnon <alan at linuxholdings.co.za> writes:



> On Tuesday 13 June 2006 22:12, David Abrahams wrote:

>> > In general having things installed in /usr/local should not

>> > affect the package manager "per se", but you can't expect apt,

>> > dpkg and friends to know what's there unless you tell it ( hence

>> > for example checkinstall ).

>> >

>> > There's a menu editor include under Accessories for your custom

>> > commands or to add entries for packages that are not yet fully

>> > compliant with the freedesktop specs.

>>

>> I don't understand how editing a menu can possibly keep my packages

>> in order.  Maybe I'm misunderstanding the meaning of "menu" here?

>

> It has nothing to do with your packages. What he is saying is that if 

> you install stuff yourself and put it in /usr/local (the recommended 

> place for such things) then it doesn't interfere with the rest of the 

> system.



Well, sure it does, if usr/local/bin is in the path and usr/local/lib

is searched for libraries.  Then the package manager might not see the

stuff in /usr/local, but certainly any program loading dynamic

libraries or launching other programs _will_ see it.  



> Additionally, such packages probably don't install the relevant items 

> on the panel menus as they don't have installation instructions that 

> conform to the freedesktop specs, so there is a gui command where you 

> can do this manually.



Oh, getting software into the GUI is the last thing I'm worried about.



-- 

Dave Abrahams

Boost Consulting

www.boost-consulting.com