source compiled debian

ruwach · 02-21-2004, 12:47 AM

Hey there Debian know-a-lots,

i have been using debian for a while now and i recently tried a couple of source based distros. i don't really know enough about them to really set up my system the way i want, but i do admit that compiling from source did speed things up on my old k6-400mhz system.
so here is my question,
i know that using apt, i can download the source packages and compile them locally, What i would like to do is set the Make options, or GCC options, flags and such to compile these all optomized like for my system. not so much for every package that i have, but the really resource intensive ones, like X, mozilla, etc.. it would also allow me to do it package by package while i still have a working system and not take 3 days to set up ( like gentoo, sourcemage, lunar etc.. )

so, is it possible to do this, and how do i go about it ?
thanks a lot, look forward to any help

stony · 02-22-2004, 04:41 PM

Hi,

Quote:

Originally posted by ruwach
Hey there Debian know-a-lots,

i have been using debian for a while now and i recently tried a couple of source based distros. i don't really know enough about them to really set up my system the way i want, but i do admit that compiling from source did speed things up on my old k6-400mhz system.
so here is my question,
i know that using apt, i can download the source packages and compile them locally, What i would like to do is set the Make options, or GCC options, flags and such to compile these all optomized like for my system. not so much for every package that i have, but the really resource intensive ones, like X, mozilla, etc.. it would also allow me to do it package by package while i still have a working system and not take 3 days to set up ( like gentoo, sourcemage, lunar etc.. )

so, is it possible to do this, and how do i go about it ?
thanks a lot, look forward to any help

sure it is possible to do that:

Install a minimal debian system. Setup internet and apt (_DON'T_ forget the "deb-src" lines in sources.list).
Now download the sourcepackages you want to compile yourself.

Code:

apt-get source $package_of_your_choice

After downloading dpkg will extract the source of the downloaded package into a directory named after the packagename. Inside there is another directory called "debian" where you can find a file called "control". Inside this file, you can see all other packages your self-build package depends on later so read there, that you can get all other packages you have to build.

In the ".dsc" file in the directory where you have downloaded the source package are all binary packages listed that will emerge from the source. Look for the "build-depends" line and install all header files and/or the packages themself shown there.

Those are the files you need to build the package(s).

Now you have two choices. Installing precompiled packages/headers or compile them yourself by hand. If you compiling them yourself then you have to do the above for all packages your package depends on ...

Now, after you've done all this, continue by reading here (READ THIS, REALLY, YOU NEED IT !!!) and building your package with all the depending packages.

And at least you have to do a

Code:

dpkg --install $your_package $depending_package_1 $depending_package_.....

to install the package(s)...

Have fun

cu

schleppy · 02-22-2004, 05:44 PM

One suggestion,
You can use the apt-get build-dep option to make sure you've got all the depends for building debs. It's in the apt-get man-page. Enjoy.

ruwach · 02-23-2004, 08:58 PM

ok, this stuff is great, but.......
stony, the link is broken,
and i think i can pull off these steps ok, just that i still don't know how to pass my compilier options durring the compile , my march=k6-2 and flags and stuff,,,

thanks for your replies

Strike · 02-24-2004, 12:51 AM

Use apt-src or apt-build or pbuilder ... or be intelligent and only compile the stuff that uses up CPU for significant amounts of time.