Question about libraries/packages

[uncooldude]

Ok, I've got YDL 5.0.1 on an old CRT iMac. Just getting that outta the way, it's prob. not significant.

Anyway, I thought I'd install the XFCE Desktop, just for fun. I went to the XFCE website, and got the Big Installer Package -- you know the one, it is one big package that compiles itself for your system.

When I ran it, it compiled its graphical installer/wizard window, and then, the wizard window informed me that I lack a bunch of packages. (I would list them here, but I seem to have misplaced the list for the moment -- at any rate, WHICH packages probably isn't that significant.)

Now, when I ran rpm -qa | sort, it appears that EACH AND EVERY ONE of the packages/libraries that the installer claimed I don't have actually exists (and they all have version numbers => the ones "needed").

Well, I thought to myself, ok, maybe this has something to do with how old YDL 5 is. So, I booted into Fedora 9, and ran the XFCE installer from there. Guess what? Same lies! Same packages listed as "needed", even though they show up in the RPM database!

Now, why is this? Does the XFCE installer look in a different place from the RPM database to determine what packages and libraries you have installed? (I'm guessing it does.) If so, where the #$%@ does it look, and how can I fix this #$@*ing problem?

I tried google, and searching this forum (as I'm sure that this problem has been addressed somewhere else), but I had no idea where to start!

Thanx in advance.

[CronoCloud]

I can explain this one. you can have libraries installed via yum, without having said libraries devel packages installed, which would be needed to compile an application that uses the libraries.

For example. if XFCE needs libfoo, you'll also need to have libfoo-devel installed if you compile it.

So all you need to do is make a list of the "missing" libs and install the "devel" packages for those libs.

Ron Rogers Jr. (CronoCloud)

[uncooldude]

!!!

Sounds interesting. I'll check it out.

[uncooldude]

Thanks for the info.

Still have the following problem:

I installed the "-devel" packages that the xfce installer said were missing. Then I re-ran the installer. Unfortunately, two packages were still listed as "missing": gstreamer-plugins-base (even though I installed the "-devel" package) and gtk-doc (I couldn't find a gtk-doc-devel package).

What gives? I'd like to get xfce up and running!

[ppietro]

Thanks for the info.

Still have the following problem:

I installed the "-devel" packages that the xfce installer said were missing. Then I re-ran the installer. Unfortunately, two packages were still listed as "missing": gstreamer-plugins-base (even though I installed the "-devel" package) and gtk-doc (I couldn't find a gtk-doc-devel package).

What gives? I'd like to get xfce up and running!

Check the version numbers on the devel packages for those two.

However - I must ask: Is there a reason you're building XFCE from scratch?

Back when I used 5.0.1, I just downloaded and installed it with YUM/Pirut (aka Add/Remove Software) from the standard repos. If you have your 5.0.1 box set up according to this:
viewtopic.php?t=2316

you should be able to get the XFCE desktop from the Fedora repos, IIRC.

Cheers,
Paul

[uncooldude]

I DID check the version numbers. Still having prob's.

I want to compile it from source because...well, maybe you don't remember me, but I'm the guy who wanted GIMP 2.4.5, and decided to compile it from source because 1)this iMac ain't hooked up to that Inter-Web-thingy, and 2)there were no RPMs supplied for GIMP 2.4.5/FC5-PPC.

Same problems, fella. No i-net. And I want an up-to-date version.

Plus, "doing it the hard way" is a good way to learn about the guts of a Linux system.

[ppietro]

I DID check the version numbers. Still having prob's.

I want to compile it from source because...well, maybe you don't remember me, but I'm the guy who wanted GIMP 2.4.5, and decided to compile it from source because 1)this iMac ain't hooked up to that Inter-Web-thingy, and 2)there were no RPMs supplied for GIMP 2.4.5/FC5-PPC.

Same problems, fella. No i-net. And I want an up-to-date version.

Plus, "doing it the hard way" is a good way to learn about the guts of a Linux system.

Yeah - but just remember - sometimes:
Up-to-date != buildable

Especially on older systems like YDL 5.0.1. We still run into a lot of issues with YDL 6.1, since it's based on Red Hat Enterprise Linux, which is about 3 versions back from the current Fedora builds. YDL errs on the side of stability instead of newness. Just sayin'.

Anyway - back on topic:

So - another thought occurs to me. Where are you getting the -devel libraries from? If you're downloading RPMs from around the net, they might be installing the libraries in the wrong place. You might check to see if they're being installed to /usr/local/lib instead of /usr/lib, etc. The two RPMs you mentioned should be on the YDL 5.0.1 install disk, IIRC. If they are in /usr/local/lib or alternate directories - you should be able to symbolically link them - or copy them if you're brave - to the equivalent /usr location.

Does this XFCE installer let you run ./configure manually? Sometimes the output of that command can really help you troubleshoot errors.

Cheers,
Paul

[uncooldude]

Yes, I do know that

up-to-date < > buildable

as I found out with the VLC....but I don't have much of a choice, if I want an XFCE desktop that is newer than 3 years old. (@#$!!).

I've been getting the rpms from the Fedora repositories, and nowhere else.

As for the installer: well, it's all in one package called xfce...something...installer.run, and to install, you just run it as root using the ./ notation. So, there's no ./configure command possible (as far as I know). There's probably some other way to get the configuration settings to print out, but I dunno what it is.

I'm gonna try to get the build sources for gtk-doc and gstreamer-plugins-base, and then compile them in /opt, like I did for GTK+ and GIMP.

Say, I was just thinking: if you buy me a new(er) computer, I'll stop bothering you guys with inane posts about a legacy OS (:

[ppietro]

Say, I was just thinking: if you buy me a new(er) computer, I'll stop bothering you guys with inane posts about a legacy OS (:

Or - since XFCE doesn't really change much, you could just download the XFCE RPMs.

BTW - compiling in /opt might be part of the issue. Normally, you'd use /usr/local instead. That's the standard Linux default for non-system, user generated libraries - I've used that when I've had to compile non-standard build trees. You would just add /usr/local/lib to your LD_LIBRARY_PATH environment as necessary, etc.

/opt is generally reserved for non-BSD, System V Unixes like Solaris - Linux doesn't usually look in there very often.

I'm not saying you can't use /opt - it's a valid directory. It's just not a Linux standard - that's all. Unless using /opt is an XFCE build thing - I readily admit - I'm not familiar with their installer.

If you've been using /opt, then - yes - you should try building your libraries there. Best to stay consistent, etc.

Cheers,
Paul

[ppietro]

I've been getting the rpms from the Fedora repositories, and nowhere else.

Hmm - I had another thought. I would have downloaded RPMs from YDL's 5.0.1 repositories first (including the 5.0.1 DVD), then Fedora. Especially for gstreamer-plugins-base - that shipped with YDL 5.0.1 if I remember correctly. The -devel libraries for that from Fedora might not match the installed 5.0.1 YDL libs.

(checking on YDL 5.0.1 disc)

Yeah - they're there: gstreamer-plugin-base & gstreamer-plugin-base-devel. Looks like there's a version of gtk-doc on the 5.0.1 disc as well - although it's listed as an fc5 RPM.

Don't know if you want to try those first - may or may not make a difference. Settting up a Linux build environment can have a lot of external variables.

Cheers,
Paul

[uncooldude]

Well, I believe I've fixed this problem.

*smug smirk, undue feeling of superiority*

Now, many moons ago, when I was trying to find out why a package wouldn't compile because a library it depended on was allegedly missing (when it wasn't), somebody told me to run

pkg-config missing-lib-name

and then report the output. And, of course, since I didn't read the man page for pkg-config, I typed that in, and when nothing happened, I gave up.

Anyway, now that I am so much older (as much as 12 months older!), I finally have the patience to go and read the man pages. So, THIS time, I ran

pkg-config gstreamer-plugins-base --modversion

and when a message printed out saying that there was no such library, I knowed what were the matter.

Pkg-config relies on *.pc files in the /usr/lib/pkgconfig directory for information on what libraries/packages are installed. Since I know that Gstreamer (as well as Gstreamer-plugins-base) IS installed, AND is the proper version number, I went and got the gstreamer-plugins-base.pc.in file from the source tarball for my particular version number (which is still available). I then replaced the @-delimited variables in the file with their proper values (since it hadn't been compiled as part of the source package), and moved it to /usr/lib/pckgconfig/gstreamer-plugins-base.pc.

Problem solved, sort of. Only problem NOW is that the installer chokes half-way through and tells me I ain't got intltool 0.31 or greater installed, but I think that's easily taken care of (it really isn't installed).

P.S., yes, I know that /usr/local is the usual place for user-installed stuff, but /opt was an empty directory, and it's easier to type. (In case the fact that I don't read man pages didn't tip you off,...I'm LAZY!)