pdftk install from src.rpm on fc6 questions
 

I am trying to install pdftk 1.4 on fedora 6. I can't find an rpm for fc6 but I found a src.rpm for fc6 and installed it. I then upacked the tar.bz2 file -- it all ended up here: /usr/src/redhat/SOURCES. Then, reading other sites I found a note that says (for MacOs anyway) that I need to make a few entries in the makefile -

Here's what I entered in the Makefile.RedHat:

TOOLPATH= /usr/lib/
VERSUFF= -4.1.2

The instructions in makefile say to enter:

make -f Makefile.RedHat ( did this because fc6 is RedHat right? )

Here's what I get:

make -C ../java_libs
make[1]: Entering directory `/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs'
make -C "/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs/gnu_local/java/security";
make[2]: Entering directory `/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs/gnu_local/java/security'
/usr/lib/gcj-4.1.2/ -O2 --encoding=UTF-8 --classpath="/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs" -c Engine.java -o Engine.o
/bin/sh: /usr/lib/gcj-4.1.2/: is a directory
make[2]: *** [Engine.o] Error 126
make[2]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs/gnu_local/java/security'
make[1]: *** [libgcj_local] Error 2
make[1]: Leaving directory `/usr/src/redhat/SOURCES/pdftk-1.41/java_libs'
make: *** [java_libs] Error 2

Does anyone know what the makefile was looking for? It seems like the /bin/sh response (above) suggests it was not expecting a directory, but I can't find any thing about makefile except for the MacOS hit.

Some remarks: sometimes Fedora/EL packages can be mixed w/o probs and the recent EL5 version of Pdftk from Dag (http://dag.wieers.com/rpm/packages/pdftk/) should work. Just like compiling any other application from source as unprivileged user is a good idea, so is packaging RPMs as unprivileged user. Some .src.rpm's can be build using rpm with the "--rebuild" switch. And finally: FC6 is (nearly?) unmaintained, unsupported. Please upgrade to F7 and then F8 or choose another distro if you don't like Fedora's ludicrous speed.


It's looking for an executable. Probably some variable that should read /path/to/and/applicationname instead of /path/to/.

Can I upgrade to f7 or 8 without losing my current config/data/etc?

There exists binary rpm packages for pdftk latest version: 1.41 for Fedora 6
for example here for i386 arch
I used the rpm.pbone.net site restricting the search to Fedora 6

Yes, provided "data" uses a separate partition (like user data in /home) or otherwise outside the scope of upgrades. Making backups is never wrong.

I had searched pbone earlier. I'll try restricting search to Fedora 6 next time. Thanks for the tip.

Made backups. Am now upgrading to f7 now.

I will install as unprivileged user as you suggested. That other OS ...(won't say it out loud) ...makes you install as privileged, thought I had to do same here. What other distro do you recommend? You are right, it is very slow, but I thought it was my old pc.

No *build* as unpriv user. Installing still needs root access. I don't recommend any other distro, Fedora ain't that slow, I was pointing at their fast release schedule. If you have (perceived) speed issues please search LQ for clues and else let's address that issue in a new thread.

Upgraded to fedora 8.
Downloaded from DAG the fedora/EL most recent version rpm
Getting errors about key and needing Fedora 7 gcj. So, this version must be for fedora 7?

~]$ rpm -ivh pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm
warning: pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm: Header V3 DSA signature: NOKEY, key ID 6b8d79e6
error: Failed dependencies:
libgcj.so.7rh is needed by pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386

The naming is odd, I don't know why. Try 'yum install pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm' and see if it comes up with the libgcj package which contains libgcj.so.7rh.

I entered this:
# yum install pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm

Got this back:
Setting up Install Process
Parsing package install arguments
No package pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm available.
Nothing to do


Now, I'm trying again to install from srpm. I am supposed to update the make file with the path.
MakeFile entry that I am to make is TOOLPATH= and VERSUFF=

TOOLPATH= # These are what I entered previously /usr/lib/
VERSUFF= # 4.1.1
The toolpath and versuff are used to construct the following in the make file:
CXX= $(TOOLPATH)g++$(VERSUFF)
export GCJ= $(TOOLPATH)gcj$(VERSUFF)
export GCJH= $(TOOLPATH)gcjh$(VERSUFF)

How can I find these files? I've tried find /usr/lib -name "*4.1.1" but nothing is returned... which is probably the problem. My path is wrong?


Now I'm wondering what it needs, and where they live? And how to determine / set my path?

/etc/profile has these as my path:
/usr/bin
/sbin
/usr/local/sbin

gcc: /usr/bin/gcc /usr/lib/gcc /usr/libexec/gcc /usr/share/man/man1/gcc.1.gz
[root@ bin]# whereis gcj
gcj: /usr/bin/gcj /usr/lib/gcj /usr/share/man/man1/gcj.1.gz
[root@ bin]#

When I issue whereis for libgcj and libgcj-devel nothing is found in path.
But, yum claims they are installed, could my path be wrong?

You'll have to be in the directory you downloaded pdftk-1.41-1.el5.rf.i386.rpm to or prefix the full path.


Try and see what 'which g++' returns. Gcj and gcjh are in the gcc-java package IIRC.


Try 'echo $PATH'. To append a dir named /usr/local/dir do 'export PATH=$PATH:/usr/local/dir'. This is only in this session. If it's a systemwide setting fix it by making a custom script, say /etc/profile.d/localpaths.sh, if it's a personal setting dump it in your ~/.bashrc.


'whereis' doesn't work on packages, that's a different concept. 'rpm -ql packagename' lists packagename's contents.