I've been using sbopkg....if I get an install error, I check the log and go back and install dependencies first...probably a stupid question, but what the best way to check for dependencies BEFORE I install something via sbopkg? thanks

I haven't really used it, BUT I would think the best thing would be to read the README from www.slackbuilds.org, write down the required packages, add those to the que BEFORE the main package then I'm sure there is an option to install each package as it finishes.

Other than that, I would think that each package posted to slackbuilds.org would have to have a special file that listed dependencies. Then sbopkg could just reference that file.


try "sbopkg -s <pkgname>" and it should print the readme for the pkg if found then you can go from there.

I think it's pretty safe to say: Always take a look at the README

You should know that sbopkg ITSELF will *not* check for dependencies, I assume you were probably thinking that. There's typically a README in Slackbuilds that lists those dependencies -- you should always check them before downloading them just to be on the safe side.

thanks everyone....well, I guess I was after a quick way to see not only if it had dependencies, but if I already had them or not...what's a quick command to check that? Sorry, it's been a long time. thanks

thezoid.

1. sbopkg downloads a local copy of the repository from www.slackbuilds.org. This includes all the files required to build the package except for the source.

2. You type "sbopkg -s pkgname" to search for the package you want.

3. If found, it prints the README. Press CTRL-C to exit as continuing will just print the .SlackBuild and .info files. Most if not all of the README files for the packages on slackbuilds.org will have the dependencies that are required after a FULL install of slackware. These should be the only packages you will need to install before the one you really want.

4. If you have forgotten what you have installed from slackbuilds.org, you can type "sbopkg" to in a seperate xterm and select the PACKAGES option. This will list all slackbuilds.org packages installed on the system.

5. Build a Queue in the proper order of all the dependencies avaliable (which they all will be because packages don't get posted to slackbuilds.org unless they can be fully built in at least the most basic form)

6. Save the queue and exit.

7. run "su -c 'sbopkg -i new_queue_name'" to build and install each package in the queue.

IF you did not do a full install of slackware. you can run pkgtool to have a menu based package browser OR just look through the files in /var/adm/packages/. This list all packages installed through slackware's packaging system only.

IF you built a few packages from source with out making a proper slack build, I would hope you know what you have installed already. Check your /usr/local/ file structure for all those things.

IF you used some other method to install a package, good luck.

For me it's: ls /var/log/packages/<packagenameTAB> in any terminal

What I do is I look at the README (from sbopkg), and if any dependencies are listed, I search and add those to the queue (again, checking their READMEs as well). The recently-added "Reverse" option for queue management is handy there, it reverses the list so it will first start from the dependencies. I don't use any command line at all, all can be done using the menus in sbopkg.

Ok...thanks all...I get the picture....the last two programs I installed, I queued up the dependencies first and all went well....I can see an advantage to installing software like this, because usually once I get a set number of programs, it tends to stay that way other than system updates. thanks again.