[ code ]

Note: If you would like to take over as maintainer of one of these programs, plese let me know. I still try to find time to update these programs' web pages, apply patches etc, but lately I haven't been doing so well. I'm not using these programs myself, so maintaining them just isn't very high on my list of priorities. Please help.

setup.sh

introduction | download | status | instructions | license

Introduction

This program is useful for two things:

• Making open source software you distribute easier to install.
• Making open source software you download from the 'net cooperate with your system's package manager.

It is basically a large shell script, with built in logic to execute the "./configure; make; make install;" sequence and if successful install it with the local package management tools (e.g. rpm). It does this by tricking "make" into using it's own custom "install" program.

If you are a developer, then you can use this program along with Stéphane Peter's self-extracting archives to make downloading and installing your program merely a matter of point and click. A single self-extracting source archive would work for all the platforms you have ported your app to.

The need for binary packages might go away completely, if these tools improve enough...

---

Download

• setup.sh version 0.1.2
• Changelog

---

Status

The current version is 0.1.2.

I have tested the script on a few programs. Follow the link to see how I'm doing. If you have success/trouble using setup.sh to install a program, please let me know!

It is being developed on a RedHat Linux 6.0 system, so it may not work properly on other systems - but it is my goal to make it support as many different platforms as possible.

Please note that since I don't have access to a Stampede or Debian system, I won't be able to support those platforms without help. Please help!

This is an early release of the program - it is almost fully functional, but is missing the following important features:

• Doesn't check for conflicts with existing files.
• Can't create Debian packages.
• Can't create Stampede packages.

Other limitations:

• The GUI isn't really very impressive.
• My shell scripting is probably not as portable as GNU's. But it could be, if I got help...
• It isn't flexibile enough, it should at least allow the user to select what arguments to pass to configure and/or make.
• It doesn't know about different platforms' file systems etc, that's currently up to the person who writes the Makefile.
• Doesn't support complicated things like altering /etc/inetd.conf automagically - installing and removing files are it's current limit.
• If it was network aware, then it could upgrade itself! ;-)
• It hasn't been tested enough.

---

Instructions

Users

To use the script to attempt installation of a package you have downloaded from the 'net, type:

	setup.sh /path/to/source/directory/

If the application does not come with a valid .lsm file, you may need to supply other command-line arguments to get it to work. Use the "--help" argument for more information.

Obviously, the program will only work properly if the developer has done a good job porting the application to your platform, so the "configure" sequence or "make" will assume reasonable defaults for your system.

Developers

The script should work flawlessly with most stand-alone applications, assuming these rules are followed:

1. The "./configure; make; make install" mantra (or just "make; make install") should suffice to install your program on as many platforms as possible.
2. Your makefile must use the "install" program for all installations, or (even better) the "$(INSTALL)" macro.
3. Be sure your makefile respects the --prefix= configure flag, if you are using autoconf.
4. You should create a valid .lsm file for your application, and keep a copy of it in the same directory as setup.sh. It should contain at least the Title, Version, Description, Author and Copying-policy fields.
5. The build sequence shouldn't automatically modify any files already on the system (e.g. /etc/inetd.conf). If it does, setup.sh won't notice the change and the generated package will be incomplete (uninstalling won't work).

If these rules are followed, then just typing ./setup.sh from your application's source tree should suffice.

In general, I don't think these requirements are too much to ask - most free software packages appear to follow these guidelines already, especially the ones using GNU autoconf. If they are a problem for you, check if the command line arguments can resolve the issue (type ./setup.sh -help), or just hack the source.

---

License

This program may be used according to the terms of the GNU General Public License, version 2 or above.

Please note that this doesn't mean you have to GPL programs that use this installer - they are just data from setup.sh's point of view. This does means that you may not change the license on the installer itself or works derived from it - it is free software, and will stay that way.