Launchpad itself

How to download and install a source from Launchpad?

Asked by Emerson Prado

Hi all,
I'm an absolute beginner here, so this may be an obvious question.
I found out that there's one package which's funcional version is only available here - xdg-utils 1.1.0~rc1-3. Going to the project page (https://launchpad.net/debian/+source/xdg-utils/1.1.0~rc1-3), I found out 3 files for download, ending in rc1-3.dsc, rc1.orig.tar.gz and rc1-3.debian.tar.gz. Questions?
1.Which one should I download? I run Linux Mint Debian Edition, which is compatible to Debian Testing, so I guess the last file is the correct one, but I'm just not sure.
2.Is the installation the same as anything from source - ./configure, make and make install - or are there specific steps for building?
Many thanks,
Emerson

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Launchpad itself Edit question
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Curtis Hovey
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Best Curtis Hovey (sinzui) said : 		#1

This is not a question about Launchpad. I do not know of a project that that uses Lp answers to properly answer your question. The packages seen on +source are debian source packages...not tarballs of code. I think there is an easier way to get the proper package than you are thinking. The you link to lists
    xdg-utils_1.1.0~rc1.orig.tar.gz
which is the actual release and may contain a ./configure script. that does not have debian's patches which might be needed. The
    xdg-utils_1.1.0~rc1-3.debian.tar.gz
is the debian patches and contains the information to assemble a genuine package that can be built into one or more binary packages that you can install.

You really do want install a package so that the system can manage conflicts and dependencies. If you build from the original source, there is no guarantee that it will install/update everything needed to be used by Debian. You really want the .deb package for xdg-utils 1.1.0~rc1. I looked at the control file in the debian tarball and see the source if for all packages. You want xdg-utils_1.1.0~rc1-3_all.deb. Searching for "xdg-utils_1.1.0~rc1-3_all.deb debian mirror" I see several candidates. I think you want a package from http://ftp.acc.umu.se/mirror/cdimage/snapshot/Debian/pool/main/x/xdg-utils/

Revision history for this message
Emerson Prado (emerson-prado-eng) said : 		#2

Thanks Curtis Hovey, that solved my question.