Getting dependencies for a package? I need stable stuff [Solved]

[davidlondonuk]

Hi,

I recently had a problem finding the correct dependencies for Gnucash under VL 6 std gold. I seem to have solved the problem and have gnucash up and running, but it did involve a lot of trial and error and I'm still not sure if the program will be stable. I have to say that's not a good thing to say about a distribution that prides itself on stability.

For anyone intersted I had to download libxml2-2.6.31 (i486) & slib-3b1 from slackfind. I started out with gnucash 2.2.8 installed with gslapt, that kept crashing so downgraded to 2.2.5 which does appear stable for the moment.

Is there a way from the command line to list the dependencies for a package so I don't have to make guesses and cross my fingers and hope the program will work? I have assumed that if a package is in the stable repo (I am not using testing at all) it will work?

Solved: There isn't a way in VL6 to get deps for a package. Having come from other distros, VL6 is not meant to be tinkered with-which is why it's so stable.

[The Headacher]

I recently had a problem finding the correct dependencies for Gnucash under VL 6 std gold. I seem to have solved the problem and have gnucash up and running, but it did involve a lot of trial and error and I'm still not sure if the program will be stable. I have to say that's not a good thing to say about a distribution that prides itself on stability.

Agreed.

For anyone intersted I had to download libxml2-2.6.31 (i486) & slib-3b1 from slackfind. I started out with gnucash 2.2.8 installed with gslapt, that kept crashing (see what I mean) so downgraded to 2.2.5 which does appear stable for the moment.

One thing I noticed here on VL6 SOHO, is that libxml2 seems to be installed, but there's no package for it. I don't know what the package was built on, but if something like that was going on on the build system I guess that would explain why there is no libxml2 dependency.

Is there a way from the command line to list the dependencies for a package so I don't have to make guesses and cross my fingers and hope the program will work?

In this case: no, because the dependency information in the package is not complete.

I have assumed that if a package is in the stable repo (I am not using testing at all) it will work?

That sounds like a reasonable assumption to me.

[bigpaws]

I recently had a problem finding the correct dependencies for Gnucash under VL 6 std gold. I seem to have solved the problem and have gnucash up and running, but it did involve a lot of trial and error and I'm still not sure if the program will be stable.

The problem seems to be that gnucash requires alot of gnome dependencies.

[bigpaws]

I recently had a problem finding the correct dependencies for Gnucash under VL 6 std gold. I seem to have solved the problem and have gnucash up and running, but it did involve a lot of trial and error and I'm still not sure if the program will be stable.

The problem seems to be that gnucash requires alot of gnome dependencies.

I have to say that's not a good thing to say about a distribution that prides itself on stability.

What does a added package have to do with stability?

s there a way from the command line to list the dependencies for a package so I don't have to make guesses and cross my fingers and hope the program will work?

Such a program does not exist at this time. However that is being worked on. If you wish to know the deps of a program you may use ldd. The place to
get all of that information would be the programs web site. You can also invoke gnucash from a terminal and look for errors.

I have assumed that if a package is in the stable repo (I am not using testing at all) it will work?

Agreed

[davidlondonuk]

Hi,

Thanks for the comments, now I know there is no way to check a programs deps. Again, I assumed that whoever built the package would list the deps they built against-otherwise how did they build it?

ldd does not work for gnucash, give it a try. I realise that it is not easy building a distro like VL, but it does advertise itself as bulit on the ever so stable slackware- which nearly put me off installing it.

I have been very impressed to date with VL 6, I have had no real problems at all apart from when I need to install certain kinds of software. I managed to build mnemosyne myself and it works fine, although the build system and package management is no where near as sophisticated as arch linux-but then arch tends to the other extreme.

All I am really saying is that if a package is in the stable repo and shows up in gslapt then it should be stable and work also gslapt should install the deps by default. Maybe those improvements will turn up in VL 7 or 8.

[newt]

Not really commenting on any package specifically, but many times you will find a package in a stable repository while it's dependencies may be spread throughout stable and/or testing/unstable repos. It's always been a recommendation to have the 'testing' repo enabled in slapt-get/gslapt for normal package installations, however not for full system upgrades. Lastly, the unstable repo is true to it's name and not recommended unless you're into helping test/fix package issues.

[bigpaws]

I assumed that whoever built the package would list the deps they built against-otherwise how did they build it?

Ask and you shall receive. Here are the sources:

http://vectorlinux.osuosl.org/veclinux-6.0/source/extra/x-apps/gnucash/2.2.8/

All of our sources are available upon request.

Bigpaws

[davidlondonuk]

Hi,

Thanks for all the advice, as you can tell I am still working my way around VL 6.

How do you work with the testing repo, I tend to use gslapt for updating-how do you use the testing repo without messing up your system?