Re: gtk+-1.1.15 installation problems.

[Owen Taylor <otaylor redhat com>]

"D. Emilio Grimaldo Tunon" <emilio_tunon@nl.compuware.com> writes:

> Michael Schwegel wrote:
> > 
> > I am trying to install gtk+-1.1.15, and I get the following error when
> > running configure:
> > 
> > checking for X... no
> 
>  Well, I have some feedback regarding the installation, out of the
> makefile (and its output) it is difficult to know what actually
> gets installed on your system so that you can remove it later
> (either forever or for clean upgrade or any other reason). 
> Luckily I have made an installation wrapper that would work
> quite well if one makes the following modification to the
> GTK/GLIB makefiles:
> 
>   1) Instead of using makedirs.sh directly defined:
>          MKDIR=src/helpers/makedirs.h
>      And then wherever makedirs.sh was used:
>          $(MKDIR) directories
> 
>      Now, I have checked several Un*x and all of them seem to
>      support 'mkdir -p' so what's the catch with makedirs.sh?
>      I have used "MKDIR=mkdir -p" without problems.
> 
>   2) Instead of using 'cp' explicititely:
>          CP=cp
>      And then the part that deploys all headers files:
>          $(CP) headers/* wherever/they/go/
> 
>   3) And as for the install program which is used in some
>      parts:
>          INSTALL=src/helpers/install-sh
> 
> Having done this the installation wrapper is easily setup
> to catch any GTK/GLIB stuff that gets installed on your system,
> it surely makes my life easier. I usually have two GTK/GLIB
> installations on my systems (out of the .tar). Even if the
> users are not going to use the wrapper it does not hurt to
> make the above changes.
> 
> So, I think it would be nice if this minor details are considered
> when the makefiles are updated. 

Two suggestions:

1) Make uninstall works pretty well.

2) Learn how to use RPM. (Or dpkg). Even if you don't use
   Red Hat or even Linux, RPM is a great tool for doing
   exactly what you are trying to do - keeping track of
   what files are installed, and removing them when necessary.

   BTW, RPM figures out what files the package installs by
   installing in a different prefix:

   You can do:

     make install DISTDIR=/tmp/somedir

   and everything will be installed under /tmp/somedir.

Regards,
                                        Owen