Re: [Denemo-devel] Linux Installation

[Richard Shann]

On Tue, 2015-05-12 at 14:39 -0400, Cantor Stuart Binder wrote:
> I am trying to get a clear picture of the best installation procedure for
> Denemo in Linux. 
> The binary is not up to date in the Debian distributions (Ubuntu Rebecca has
> 1.1.0, Debian jessIe currently has ver. 1.1.8). 
ArchLinux is one that keeps Denemo up-to-date, I believe
> Very likely, the majority of
> Linux users are going to get Denemo 1.1.0, because that's what you get if
> you install it with apt-get, aptitude, synaptic, etc.

This is true quite generally, distros distribute out-of-date packages. I
haven't had a definitive-sounding explanation but I think that it is the
time it takes to get all the packages co-operating: many years ago when
disk space was slow and expensive and the main type of Unix installation
had dozens of users simultaneously using the same resources the decision
was made to share libraries. This has gotten so embedded that when we
tried to make a statically linked version of Denemo we got beaten back -
we got the majority of stuff built, but most things are never built that
way. So we do something that is on the face of it quite nuts - we build
everything as shared, even though it is only shared by one program,
Denemo.

>   So (until we get
> updated binaries into the distros) the only ways to install the current
> Denemo version are:
> 1. Build from source or 
> 2. Use the binary available at denemo.org.
> Each of these has some issues. Building from source is not for everyone, not
> necessarily straightforward even for the experienced. The binary on the
> website allows you to run the program, but doesn't do a proper install,

Well that's the whole idea, not to do a "proper" install, which would
mean sharing libraries with others - impossible as you can't anticipate
which library versions may be there. Instead it contains all its own
versions, gobbling up disk space and wasting shared memory (if there is
anyone else on your machine using the same library) but that isn't
really an issue.

>  and
> doesn't add Denemo to any DTE  menu.

I think we have to accept that people who have a serious interest in
doing some task will get the binary while dabblers will put up with what
is given them on a plate, the plate usually having too small a screen
and no keyboard nowadays, making it useless for serious work.

>  None of these issues is insurmountable,
> but they would definitely get in the way of a novice user trying out the
> program. So my questions are: 1. Is there a simple Linux install method for
> Denemo that just works? And 2. Does anyone know how to get the current
> version of Denemo into the linux distros

I think it would be necessary to join all the distro teams as a
contributor and learn all their procedures (and correspondingly, having
all the distros available for use) ... Even so, you could only get the
package into some sort of "testing" repository and would have to check
that updates to other libraries hadn't broken it. (I think). It wouldn't
make it into what newbies install for a couple of years (for Debian).

You mention that Ubuntu has moved on to 1.1, I wonder if the Ubuntu
version works at all? Previously they modified the code to fit with
their "Unity" desktop, as if it was some sort of iPad app, the result
was something which could not be used to enter music. As it is (was?)
the most popular GNU/Linux system this helped to spread the notion that
Denemo was a package that didn't work.

Richard