I've just uploaded a new release of src2pkg. This release is an important upgrade from earlier releases, so I recommend anyone who is already using src2pkg to update to the new version. This is also an excellent release for anyone who hasn't tried src2pkg yet.

Since the last release made a lot of changes to the code, this new version contains several minor fixes. But, this version has a few major changes and improvements which should be mentioned:

1. The installable package of src2pkg is now a 'noarch' package which does not contain any pre-compiled binaries or libraries. The busybox
program is no longer used at all. src2pkg still uses a statically-compiled version of the tar program and a small library for tracking the creation of files and directories. When you install the src2pkg package, it will offer to compile these two items for you. Or you can do so after installation by running the command 'src2pkg --setup' as user 'root'. This is done to insure compatibility with your system, no matter which version of gcc, glibc, etc that you are using. This also makes it easier for users which are running other architectures, whether it be slamd64, slackintosh, b/w64 or s390. And it makes src2pkg available to those are running whichever version of these or Slackware.
It's easiest to un-install any previous version of src2pkg you have installed. And be sure to upgrade your /etc/src2pkg/src2pkg.conf file after installing the new package. Please remove any previous versions of src2pkg that you have installed before installing the new package. Using upgradepkg to install this version will not work(as reported below in a reply to this thread). Installing with installpkg avoids any problems.

2. I finally forked the installwatch library which src2pkg uses for tracking file creation. The new program and library are called sentry/libsentry. I've tried without success to contact the current maintainer of installwatch to check on any progress made with the broken functions in the installwatch library. Meanwhile, I've managed to fix it myself. In order to avoid clashing with version numbers of the official release (and to avoid some bad press that installwatch has gotten), I've forked the code into a new project. libsentry contains some important fixes including handling the chmod command which was broken in installwatch when used with coreutils>=6.7 and glibc>=2.5. The included 'wrapper' for the library is called 'sentry' and can be used exactly the same way that the 'installwatch' program was.(most of the internals and environmental variables have been kept as-is for now) I'll be offering the new program and library for use by other program authors whose programs depend on installwatch. The wider base of users should help to ensure a myimum amount of feedback so that I can stay ahead of any changes in glibc/coreutils.

3. Compatibility with 64-bit systems has been improved. Thanks to 'piete' and 'shangoshi' for advice and testing of these features and to piete for reporting a compile-time bug in libsentry on 64-bit arch.

4. Thanks to Stanislav Mukomela for several useful suggestions -this guy builds high-powered system adminstation programs using src2pkg so he gives it a good workout!

5. I've added some example src2pkg scripts to the package (again) which show some of the common ways to use the scripts, as well as some pretty advanced usage. I recommend that you have a look at them if you are anything more than a passing user of src2pkg.

Please see the ChangeLog for details of all the changes. (Note that src2pkg-1.9.0 and 1.9.1 were only released to a few beta testers -I made some big changes and then undid some of them -you know 'KISS')

Please report any problems you have promptly so they can be fixed before the next release.

You can get the latest (src2pkg-1.9.2-noarch-1.tgz) package from the usual place:
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...nload/src2pkg/

You can also get a tarball of the latest sources there, or browse the uncompressed source directory.

Thanks to everyone who helped with testing and made suggestions by e-mail or here on the forum.
Gilbert

Gilbert,

Good news. I'll be downloading it and using it this week. I've got to build Opera again.

Regards,

-Drew

Thanks, gnashley:-) Downloading now.

There's a bit of an oops with the upload. Be sure you get build number 2, that is src2pkg-1.9.2-noarch-2.tgz. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Drew, I'm glad you mentioned about Opera. I hadn't tried packaging it for a while now even though I grabbed a build of the new beta-9.50 version some time ago. Turns out there was a small fix needed to be able to build the package and you have to run the build as root using the -REAL option since these install.sh scripts install directly to the system. Having 3 separate ways to install stuff now makes it a little harder to thoroughly test everything and lots of code was moved around and added for that.
If you'll notice I'm using micro-version numbers as I approach version-2.0 so that I can get as many details taken care of before then. Thanks again. (Anyone who downloaded the first build src2pkg-1.9.2-noarch-1 shouldn't need to re-download unless they are building packages from pre-compiled binary content.)

Thanks for the heads up:-) Great documentation, the install script works very well indeed.

Okay. Thanks for the heads-up.

I'm also going to be building Scribus again. Scribus was the package that gave me an error due to having a tarball inside a tarball. On your advice, I changed a line in my /usr/libexec/src2pkg/FUNCTIONS to fix the problem. I'll be using the latest version of src2pkg on a new installation of Slackware 12 on a different computer. I'll let you know how well Scribus builds.

Regards,

-Drew

I removed my earlier versions of src2pkg before installing the latest one on my slack boxes. It installed fine.

I especially need feedabck from users who are running on Slack-12 or current since the installwatch libraries were causing problems there. I've fixed the problems that I was aware of but there could be new ones -especillay with Slackware current. The problems are not major ones and many users might never notice as only seldom-ued commands are affected. Anyway, anyone who has problems should let me know right away.

Okay. I'm running 12, I'll let you know if I encounter any anomalies with your newest version:-)

Thanks for the udpdate Gnashley.

When I tried to install using upgradepkg I didn't get the prompt asking to compile and install these. The upgrade stopped as if it was waiting for input though, it just didn't show the message. I had to manually uninstall previous version and then installpkged the new one.

Yep, that's what I did.

Thanks for the tip dive. I hadn't actually tried it with upgradepkg. I guess that upgradepkg supresses the ouput when it first install the new package. I had just thought that it would run the script verbosely, and hence, show you the opiton to compile twice. I may have to do away with the compile-on-install option -it was kind of an 'iffy' wusetion as to whether to have that option. It is handy since, if you are installing you are already root. But there's laread code in src2pkg to handle it separately with the command 'src2pkg --setup'. If you don't do that first it will do it the first time you try to build a package with it -if you are running as 'root'. if you are running as a normal user it will refuse to run and telly you that you must log in as root and run the 'src2pkg --setup' command.
That whole feature is about maling sure that the library and tar program are compatible with your system. For the last release i had to create sseparate packages for Slack-11 and Slack-12 and users on 64-bit or other arches still had to build from the source tarball. So I'm trying to work out an easy way to make sure everyone gets full compatibility. This method should make it possible to run src2pkg on nearly any distro or version.

Can't really think of any way to make this simple except maybe put the tgz inside an archive with a readme explaining how to install without upgradepkg. Or maybe theres a way to detect whether upgradepkg is being used and aborting the process. Then putting something out in console telling how to install.

Thinks I've found a small error in src2pkg.conf:

# Signature for line 11 of automatically created slack-desc files
# SIGNIATURE="Packaged by src2pkg"

What's the error? Do you mean that this line is not getting written to the slack-desc file or that you are unable to override that or what? Or am I missing something? Oh, now I see it! You mean the missing 'i' in this=Signature
I kept looking at 'created' because I always have to correct my typing 'cerated'.
Luckily comments don't count and typos in real code throw errors. Too bad that errors in logic don't report themselves to you as well...
I should be ashamed since I used to always win the Spelling Bees in school. However I've learned two foreign languages since then so my eyes don't pop out so much when I see letters strangely ordered anymore. Heck, I used to be a journalist and now I can't even write a short e-mail and keep things straight! I guess the trouble is that lines of code come from one side of the brain and the comments that go with them come from the other...
Come on now dive, go build a few packages and help me find some real errors. lol
Quick what does this mean:
Kindertagesstaettenbenutzungsgebuehren