I have a sad life...

**champagnemojo** · 10-01-2004, 08:13 PM

I just built my first .deb package from a non-debian source. It was a simple little package...just a plugin for the xfce4 panel. But, I'm very excited...unhealthily so in fact, I'd say.

It was really easy too...you should try it the next time you have some *simple* program that you can't find a deb or rpm for.

**A. Jorge Garcia** · 10-02-2004, 02:44 AM

OK, I'll bite. How did you did it?

TIA,
AJG

**firebyrd10** · 10-02-2004, 04:20 AM

Originally Posted by A. Jorge Garcia

OK, I'll bite. How did you dod it?

TIA,
AJG

checkinstall can make deb packages from source code.

**kelmo** · 10-02-2004, 01:15 PM

firebyrd10,

checkinstall will fail on more complicated compiles

**champagnemojo** · 10-02-2004, 05:26 PM

I used the tools in the debmake and devscripts packages. You should look at the doc for debmake. It tells you how to do it better than I could. The only weirdness I encountered was that I had to create the DEBIAN directory myself and copy everything from /debian over to /DEBIAN, because for some reason deb-make created /debian but then when everything is built /DEBIAN is what is looked for. And do make sure to try something simple if you try it.

**nishtya** · 10-02-2004, 08:51 PM

anything you want to share with us?

**champagnemojo** · 10-03-2004, 10:37 PM

Originally Posted by nishtya

anything you want to share with us?

Nothing to share really. I'm still figuring it out myself. It's easy for simple things, but even slightly involved packages are a pain. I now realize that there are supposed to be both /debian and /DEBIAN directories. Just make sure you follow the right order, and if things get messed up it's best to get a fresh source and start over. And if there's a deb or rpm available use them.