slackpkg question

How do I know if some application is available
as a slackpkg to install?

Like, if I want to install dosbox on my computer,
how do I know if there is a slackpkg for that?

There must be a list somewhere, that I can look
at get the correct spelling etc. So where?

Try slakfinder.org to find a repository hosting the requested package.

Then install and use slackpkg+ to be able to install the package from a third-party repository.

slackpkg+ configuration of repositories is done in /etc/slackpkg/slackpkgplus.conf.

Type

$man 5 slackpkgplus.conf

for documentation of configuration parameters.

That did not help. I am trying to install
dosbox on my slackware install. No slack packages
seem to be around for it.

I downloaded a dosbox-0.74.tar.gz

My notes on install said I could install
a tqz file with installpkg whatever.tgz

I renamed dosbox-0.74.tar.gz to dosbox-074.tgz

and tried to install, like this: installpkg dosbox-074.tgz

It responded with this:

installpkg dosbox-074.tgz
Verifying package dosbox-074.tgz.
Installing package dosbox-074.tgz:
PACKAGE DESCRIPTION:
WARNING: Package has not been created with 'makepkg'
Package dosbox-074.tgz installed
=======================
After running that, I have the following things
installed:
/dosbox-0.74
/dosbox-0.74/visualc_net/dosbox.sln
/dosbox-0.74/visualc_net/dosbox.vcproj
/dosbox-0.74/docs/dosbox.1
/dosbox-0.74/src/gui/dosbox_logo.h
/dosbox-0.74/src/gui/dosbox_splash.h
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_keyboard_layout_data.h
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_execute.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_misc.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_classes.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_programs.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_mscdex.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_codepages.h
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_keyboard_layout.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_files.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_ioctl.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_tables.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_memory.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dos/dos_devices.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/src/dosbox.ico
/dosbox-0.74/src/dosbox.cpp
/dosbox-0.74/include/dos_inc.h
/dosbox-0.74/include/dosbox.h
/dosbox-0.74/include/dos_system.h
/var/log/packages/dosfstools-3.0.28-i586-1
/var/log/packages/dosbox-074
/var/log/scripts/dosfstools-3.0.28-i586-1
============================

However, I have no idea if a program
ever got generated. I used the find
command to find all those above files.
I was hoping I would have something like /usr/bin/dosbox
somewhere, but I don't see anything like a program.

Anyone know what is going on?

Here are the files in my generated /dosbox directory
that got installed from my above installation:

12 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 11419 May 10 2010 missing
16 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 13663 May 10 2010 install-sh
20 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 18615 May 10 2010 depcomp
36 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 34597 May 10 2010 config.sub
44 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 44959 May 10 2010 config.guess
4 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 367 May 10 2010 autogen.sh
16 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 12704 May 10 2010 acinclude.m4
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 972 May 10 2010 THANKS
32 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 31457 May 10 2010 NEWS
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 91 May 10 2010 Makefile.am
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 3833 May 10 2010 INSTALL
32 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 30699 May 10 2010 ChangeLog
20 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 17992 May 10 2010 COPYING
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 264 May 10 2010 AUTHORS
64 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 61735 May 10 2010 README
20 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 16916 May 10 2010 configure.in
8 -rw-r--r-- 1 1002 1002 7850 May 10 2010 config.h.in
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 1443 Dec 5 16:11 ejc.1
12 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 8211 Dec 5 16:15 config.h
44 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 43177 Dec 5 16:17 aclocal.m4
4 drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 Dec 5 16:17 autom4te.cache
8 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 7333 Dec 5 16:17 compile
28 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24828 Dec 5 16:17 Makefile.in
256 -rwxr-xr-- 1 1002 1002 260092 Dec 5 16:17 configure
36 -rwxr-xr-x 1 root root 36496 Dec 5 16:17 config.status
28 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 24831 Dec 5 16:17 Makefile
4 drwxr-xr-x 14 1002 1002 4096 Dec 5 16:17 src
4 drwxr-xr-x 2 1002 1002 4096 Dec 5 16:17 visualc_net
4 drwxr-xr-x 2 1002 1002 4096 Dec 5 16:17 include
4 drwxr-xr-x 2 1002 1002 4096 Dec 5 16:17 docs
4 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 23 Dec 5 16:17 stamp-h1
48 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 47334 Dec 5 16:17 config.log
0 -rw-r--r-- 1 root root 0 Dec 5 16:18 ejc.0

Does anyone have a clue which executable files and in
what order I should execute them to build the program?

You downloaded the source code, not a slackware package.

Try here: https://slackbuilds.org/repository/14.2/system/dosbox/

I don't think that page is going to work.
It essentially gives me the same thing I
already tried.

I installed that slackbuild and it gave
me the same problems as the one I already
tried. This build also requires compiling
the code.

Also the instructions are just about
worthless. They go on and on. When
in fact they should be written as
simple as something like this.

Download whatever file.
Extract the contents into a directory.
Look for file blahblah there and execute it.

But it doesn't do that it just goes on and
on, with lots and lots of explanation that
really says nothing.

slackpkg, by default, will only look for official Slackware packages, which are limited to what you can find on your installation DVD/drive (short of patches that are published on mirrors).

If you want to use slackpkg to search for other, non-official Slackware packages, you'd need to look into slackpkg+, which is an extension to the regular slackpkg allowing support for alternate repos. Eric and Robby both offer their own repos, and there is also slackonly, that provides Slackware packages for SlackBuilds on SBo.

As for your tar.gz -> tgz renaming... I'm pretty sure I did similar things when I started with Slackware. tgz files are unfortunately not guaranteed to be Slackware packages, it can also be a shortened version of tar.gz.

In your case, you downloaded the source code for that program, which isn't something you can just install. It needs to be compiled first. You can do that by extracting the source, viewing their compilation instructions, then following them. By default, it will install it to your system without creating a package. SlackBuilds are used to automate this build process and create a Slackware package that you can then install.

To be able to use that SlackBuild, I'd highly suggest checking out SBo's HOWTO on how to properly run them to create a package. If things still don't make sense after that, let us know and we'll try and fill in the blanks.

Good luck!

Either read this about how slackbuilds work:
https://slackbuilds.org/howto/
(They are basically helper scripts to allow you to take the source code you have and compile it into installable, executable software)

Or go here for a ready-made package:
http://www.slackware.com/~alien/slackbuilds/dosbox/
In pkg or pkg64, depending on whether you are using 64-bit or not, you will be able to find a .tgz file for your Slackware version that you can download and the install with the (logged in as root) installpkg command.

Maybe spend some time here, too:
https://docs.slackware.com/


@gegechris99 I didn't know about slakfinder.org, nice! thanks for that.

Yea I figured it out it has to be compiled but so
does the one that is downloaded from the recommended
site.

I really got nothing against compiling the program,
as long I have everything I need there.

This is just another example of something I run into
a million times during my decades of programing. No
one is able to write good instructions. They always
say way too much, and still fail to get the necessary
information out there.

I can figure this out, and after I do, I might give
an example of how the instructions should have been
written. If i do, I will use 1/4 the words and give
everything needed.

Originally Posted by EldonCool How do I know if some application is available as a slackpkg to install?

I think you might be confusing yourself from the start. What do you mean by a "slackpkg"? If you type

$ man slackpkg

in a terminal, you will see what meaning has the "slackpkg" word for Slackware users.

Originally Posted by EldonCool How do I know if some application is available as a slackpkg to install? Like, if I want to install dosbox on my computer, how do I know if there is a slackpkg for that? There must be a list somewhere, that I can look at get the correct spelling etc. So where?

slackpkg only deals with official packages from Slackware repository. You can check the list of packages by looking at this site.

if you want applications not available in the Slackware repository, you can check the SBo repository and there are some third party applications to help you installing from SBo repository:
- sbopkg
- slpkg
- sbotools

You can find most of what is on the Sbo site already compiled for you at the SlackOnly site

Is slackonly generally trusted now? They seem pretty legit, but most senior community members seem to just shrug when it comes up, as far as I can tell.

Example:
https://www.linuxquestions.org/quest...3/#post5595819

Oh and instructions on how to use a Slackbuild can be found here, seems concise enough to me:
https://docs.slackware.com/slackwareackage_management_hands_on?#build_a_package_from_source

Originally Posted by heyjann Is slackonly generally trusted now? They seem pretty legit, but most senior community members seem to just shrug when it comes up, as far as I can tell.

It really depends on who's responding. Some people are inherently trusting, while others are not. Plenty of people still use random packages from sites like pkgs.org, which mix and matching packages from various repos listed there can have unintended issues if things don't match.

I personally don't use slack-only, because I like to have control over optional dependencies on programs I compile. But I do believe that as more people come to Slackware from primarily binary-based distros, they'd prefer to use a repo that has pre-compiled packages that are ready to install. Some don't want to deal with learning how to use SlackBuilds and queues and the like. And others don't want to wait for the package to compile. These posts could make it seem that it's more accepted than it is by the more experienced community (Slackware experience, not Linux experience), although, I personally don't know if the long-time Slackware users deem it as trusted or not.

As far as I know, the slack-only repo is pretty hands off by it's creator. It uses slackrepo to build all of SBo, and after making any needed hintfiles, you can set a cron job to run slackrepo sometime on the weekend after the typical public update from SBo. There's also built-in checks like md5s and the like to ensure the packages aren't tampered with after being created by slackrepo. However, this doesn't prevent someone from manually editing the SlackBuilds before they're built to possibly do bad things (although, I'm not suggesting that's the case here -- slackrepo provides better security solutions than most SBo building programs).