Checkinstall is a wonderful system that automatically makes and installs packages from source. The most basic mode assumes that the source allows configure;make;make install It works for slackware, rpm based systems and debian based ones. The upshot is that if you get a cvs version of something or a package from somewhere that is not in the official list you need only type "checkinstall" to have it installed in a standard way on your system. In gentoo this would mean you could do "emerge -C foobar" for example and it would work just as if you have emerged foobar normally in the first place. It would be wonderful to have a version of checkinstall or something similar for gentoo. Currently we have to make ebuilds by hand for every different application. A gentoo version would of course have to support gentoo like features like USE flags but I don't see that this should be an insurmountable problem. Raphael Reproducible: Always Steps to Reproduce: 1. Get cvs version of app or tar ball not in portage 2. Make ebuild by hand. Emerge it. 3. Feel annoyed that you don't have checkinstall Actual Results: More difficult and slow than on other distros Expected Results: Just as easy and convenient as other distos. Preferably even better :)
*** This bug has been marked as a duplicate of 4600 ***
Eek! Unless I am very much mistaked the bug this has been marked as a duplicate of is completely different! I am making a request for a version of checkinstall or something similar that makes ebuilds to be installed in gentoo. Not rpms etc. to be installed on other distros. Raphael
I wouldn't mark this a dupe so hastily. The Bug report requests a checkinstall *like* system, which, after elaboration, seems more like a request for a generic ebuild generator. $ python generate_ebuild.py 3rd_party_source.tgz Enter category for ebuild: Enter name for ebuild: *** Working *** * Created ebuild: 3rd_party_source.ebuild * Moved to overlay: /usr/local/portage ... That type of deal No, don't think it would be too too hard to write a script to handle this, and in that case I think it's a neat idea.
Thanks. Yes that is exactly what I am looking for. Raphael
(In reply to comment #2) > I am making a request for a version of checkinstall or > something similar that makes ebuilds to be installed in gentoo. Checkinstall does not create ebuilds (IIRC, it's been a long time since I last touched this broken tool). You have a patch for it to create ebuilds? Attach it then, please. (In reply to comment #3) > No, don't think it would be too too hard to write a script to handle this, and > in that case I think it's a neat idea. Yeah, it definitely would not be so hard to create a checkinstall-way broken tool which would generate broken ebuilds, but it would be *way much* harder to create a tools which would actually work correctly. So attach such tool and reopen. Thanks in advance. ;)
Marking as NEEDINFO, reopen when you have something ready.
I don't understand. I thought bugs.gentoo.org was the correct place to put feature requests? Is it only for patches and bug reports in fact?
(In reply to comment #7) > I don't understand. I thought bugs.gentoo.org was the correct place to put > feature requests? Is it only for patches and bug reports in fact? Gentoo Bugzilla is certainly a place to file *viable* feature requests. Automated tool to produce correct ebuilds for arbitrary source tarball does not belong among such requests. There is a specialized tool (app-portage/g-cpan) which produces ebuilds for CPAN perl modules, and you can ask mcummings how hard the coding was. If you'd like to prove otherwise, then there are some docs to help you with writing such tool: http://www.gentoo.org/proj/en/devrel/handbook/handbook.xml?part=2&chap=1 http://dev.gentoo.org/~plasmaroo/devmanual/ (unofficial and not finished yet)
Maybe this discussion is best by email but I think you have fundamentally misunderstood a) the purpose and common use of checkinstall and b) the purpose of the bug I filed. For example, "Automated tool to produce correct ebuilds for arbitrary source tarball does not belong among such requests.". This is not what the bug asked for. If I had such a tarball whose install instructions were ./configure;make;make install, for example, and which had a make uninstall option, then are you saying you would not know how to make an ebuild for it using the ebuild skeleton? Obviously there are dependency issues amongst others but these are simply command option in checkinstall and ...(fades out in exhaustion) Raphael P.S. Checkinstall is badly implemented I do realise that.
*** Bug 55615 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
