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-   -   Slackbuilds intent and philosophy (http://www.linuxquestions.org/questions/slackware-14/slackbuilds-intent-and-philosophy-710182/)

boler 03-09-2009 02:37 AM
Slackbuilds intent and philosophy
 
Hi,

Why does slackbuilds require you to compile the packages from source code? Is there a technical or political reason why slackbuilds (or some other institution) cannot provide precompiled binary packages?

This is in response the the slackbuilds FAQ below:


Do you provide precompiled packages from your SlackBuild scripts?

No. We are not now, nor will we ever be, a source of precompiled packages.

The answer doesn't provide a reason, but appears vehemently against it?

I don't mind downloading the source and running the scripts to compile, but I would rather not if I can get away with it.

Thanks.

sahko 03-09-2009 03:33 AM
You probably already know this but binary packages have dependencies.
Depending on the system they were built on, they might have "unwanted" dependencies.
Providing scripts to do the job is failsafe, and gives absolute control to the one who is
building the package. Slackware is about control right? :)

Regarding some applications, there might also be licensing issues that prohibit binary distribution (eg. adobe reader) , so a build script is a workaround.

gnashley 03-09-2009 03:53 AM
Also, not distributing binaries exempts them from having to provide the sources from the same site.

disturbed1 03-09-2009 05:11 AM
Saves them on the bandwidth bill as well ;)

H_TeXMeX_H 03-09-2009 11:17 AM
If you want packages, Alien Bob has many:
http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/

There's also:
http://linuxpackages.net/
although I can't really recommend using things off there, as a good percentage fail to work properly for aforementioned reasons.

brianL 03-09-2009 11:58 AM
Anyway, there's that much crap on TV these days that I'd sooner watch a SlackBuild build. :)

hitest 03-09-2009 12:08 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by brianL (Post 3469832)
Anyway, there's that much crap on TV these days that I'd sooner watch a SlackBuild build. :)
FTW!! Yeah, watching stuff build is lots of fun. :)

MannyNix 03-09-2009 01:59 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by hitest (Post 3469839)
FTW!! Yeah, watching stuff build is lots of fun. :)
It is for me! It's almost like watching an aquarium. That's why I don't mind running gentoo, FreeBSD ports or crux :P

ErV 03-09-2009 02:11 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by hitest (Post 3469839)
watching stuff build
Never could understand that. This makes sense only when you build your own software - so you will be able to terminate build as soon as you see first error. If watching text in terminal is fun, consider using this:
Code:
tr -dc '0-9A-Z' </dev/urandom
on on 1280x1024 vesa framebuffer terminal.

f000l 03-09-2009 04:07 PM
Code:
tr -dc '0-9A-Z' </dev/urandom
It's to fast for me to enjoy. Btw Is there someting similar to the "The Matrix" random screen code around for one to enjoy? :)

brianL 03-09-2009 05:22 PM
Yes, have a look among the screensavers.

gnashley 03-10-2009 02:00 AM
cmatrix can be run in a terminal window.


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