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Re: testing if Ubuntu deb file for ASCEND works in Debian....





From: Alan Ianson <agianson@gmail.com>
To: debian-user@lists.debian.org
Subject: Re: testing if Ubuntu deb file for ASCEND works in Debian....
Date: Mon, 25 Jun 2007 07:20:24 -0700

On Mon, 2007-25-06 at 13:54 +0000, Michael Fothergill wrote:

Sorry, this was meant fort the list.. :)

> Dear Debianists,
>
> I have been working with an engineering modelling program called ASCEND.
> You can get it from sourceforge and it has a wikipedia page.
>
> See:
>
> http://ascendwiki.cheme.cmu.edu/
>
>
> I have a version of it compiled on my AMD64 box here that works OK courtesy 
> of the kind assistance of one of the developers, John Pye.
>
> I have been distracted with stuff for a while but I am eventually going to 
> try to make a deb file for Etch for the AMD64 version of ASCEND and
> distribute it.
>
> I have read a few web pages on making deb files and I guess there will be a > steep learning curve involved to get the deb file checked out and registered 
> (or whatever happens to them) by the Debian community.

Good idea. If the package is useful to others why not try to get one of
the debian developers or package maintainers to package it and have it
added to the debian archive. They will need your assistance if they
don't use the software themselves. They could likely roll it out without
much further ado whereas you or I would lose some of our hair.. :)

It would need to enter experimental or unstable first so it may take
time for it to become "stable".

I forget exactly how to ask that a package be added to debian, something
along the lines of a bug report requesting the software be packaged.
I have started to read the Debian policy tome and will then move on to the maintainers guide tome. I will need to find out exactly what kind of license this software has got. Then I can figure out whether it belongs in Debian free or non free. 



> However, the developers have made an Ubuntu deb file and put on the
> sourceforge site where it can be downloaded. One of them suggested I try to > get it to work under Debian Etch and see if it succeeds. I have a 32 bit 
> machine at work (AMD Duron 1200 MHz) that is running the i386 version of
> Debian Etch 4.0 (r0) and I am going to try installing the deb file and see 
> how it goes.....
>
> I downloaded the deb file from the following link:
>
> https://sourceforge.net/project/downloading.php?group_id=167528&filesize=4682680&filename=ascend_0.9.5.109-1feisty_i386.deb&36060585
I tried installing it on the i386 machine at work and I discovered that it needs llibsundials-serial0, python-matplotlib python-numpy and libktable. I couldn't find the sundial libraries anywhere in Synaptic in Etch 4.0 r(0) i386. Maybe they are there but under some different package name I don't recognise. I couldn't see python-matplotlib or python-numpy in there either. I guess libktable might be part of tktable. I am not sure if tktable is around in i386 Etch. I am going to nose around on the internet and find individual deb files for these packages and copy them on to a CDROM. I will take them to work and manually install them on my machine with the dpkg command.
If you read the Debian policy tome then it says that there is a general email packages@debian.org or something that goes to a whole tribe of package maintainers somewhere..... Is that where you are supposed to send an email asking if anyone is interested to help turn it all into a proper Debian package? 


>
>
> There is also a deb file in there for Ubuntu Edgy that apparently uses the > Debian sundials libraries... Maybe that one would be easier to install in 
> Etch.....
>
> The other dumb question I have is what do I do with the single deb file?
> Normally I read loads of them in from the installation DVD's I burn from the 
> iso files released by hte developers.
>
> I have never done anything with an isolated deb file like this before.
>
>
> Can I do something like apt install /home/mikef/ascend/ascend_edgy.deb and 
> it will work or is some other hocus pocus required?

I do dpkg -i /path/to/the/newfile.deb in a case like that.

It may have depends and hopefully they are already or can be satisfied.
After running dpkg I run aptitude and see if it has any complaints or
solutions.

> Some useful information on building ASCEND in Ubuntu is here:
>
> http://ascendwiki.cheme.cmu.edu/Building_ASCEND#Ubuntu_6.10
>
> >From looking at it I am not sure if all the dependent software will be
> installed automatically, I think I will have to do some manual stuff as
> well.
>
> Comments appreciated.
>
> I guess if I can get one of these deb files to work it could also be billed 
> as a "new" Etch deb file.
>
> Regards
>
> Michael Fothergill
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Who's that on the Red Carpet? Play & win glamorous prizes.
> http://club.live.com/red_carpet_reveal.aspx?icid=REDCARPET_hotmailtextlink3 
>
>


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