The subject should pretty much cover the entire question, but let me expand on it just a little for those wondering wth i'm talking about.

I was just in this thread here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...69#post2252769

And the last post (at the time, from zariweb) got me thinking. I didn't want to clutter up the thread, so I thought I'd start another =)

This is a very good point, and in contemplating the automation of this a little further (something like downloading the slackware build script for a package, building and then installing, or using checkinstall if the package wasn't in the slack repository) I wondered if it was possible to know in advance which software *didn't* honor the DESTDIR in make / make install ?

Is it merely a case of that if the software is using relatively new automake tools and the `./configure && make && make install procedure` that DESTDIR is supported, or is there something else about the process that can be used to determine (from a source directory, ./configure'd if necessary, raw ideally) if a slackbuild script will work for that package?

I hope that's clear - sorry for the somewhat obscure query - feel free to point me at any links I may have missed that will answer this question (I wasn't sure where to look, to be honest, my understanding of the automake process is flakey at best).

Many thanks,
- Piete.

Should normally have DESTDIR documented if it is supported, otherwise have a read of the makefile

`grep DESTDIR Makefile`.

If it's there, it will usually work as expected. There are a lot of packages that are stupid about some things and will still try to make changes to your live filesystem. I strongly recommend using tee to log the output of the make install, and then go over it to make sure the Makefile wasn't doing anything dim-witted amongst all the scrolling.

this is also sometimes implemented in the 'configure' script instead of the makefile such as in MPlayer. I would look at both to be sure.

regards,
...drkstr

Building a good package always means not assuming everything installs cleanly, even though you find traces of DESTDIR in the configure or Makefile scripts. Always use a method to see if files are installed outside of your package target directory - I use installwatch because it writes a clean log, but even so, examining the output from the "make install" stage is equally important.

I would never rely on checkinstall to produce packages. Checkinstall will not catch all installed files in all circumstances. It does a good job in many cases however. Writing a SlackBuild script means you have complete control, but it requires some manual effort.

Eric

Thanks for all the responses. When a slackbuild is available, I generally use it in place of checkinstall. I've found checkinstall to be more than good enough for my lazy bones, was just wondering if there was any advance way of checking for DESTDIR support.

I have no desire to become any sort of package maintainer, I just like being able to uninstall things or grep /var/log/packages/ for things I have installed!

It looks to me as though the answer on the question is: "Sometimes." Which is what I expected. Many people implement destination directory on install in different ways and no automated procedure will catch them all, or be able to deal with the (potentially) infinite varieties of implementations.

So, many thanks to all who've taken the time to answer and think it over =)
- Piete.