Building from source -- how to remove installation?

zfsd · 2010-01-13 20:12:21

Greetings.

I am relatively new to the world of Linux, and while google has helped me thus far, I can't seem to solve this one: How do I effectively keep record of all the files being installed, when building from source?
When everything is done through Pacman or the AUR, it's all in a system; however, not when building it manually..
Some sourcefiles has an "make uninstall"-function, but not all.
I kinda feel that I don't have control over what's happening on my system, how do I solve this?

Thanks.

Ashren · 2010-01-13 20:21:33

The best practice is always to create PKGBUILDs for all source-based installs - this ensures that pacman will keep track of your packages i.e that you can uninstall easily and at will.

My best advice is to learn to write PKGBUILDs.

zfsd · 2010-01-13 20:30:40

Thanks for replying. I've thought about it, but hoped there was an easier way. Guess I'll have to just dive into it, then
I was hoping the sourcefiles had a filelist, but so far I haven't located it.

drcouzelis · 2010-01-13 21:59:05

I only recently learned how to create my own packages. It was so easy! You can read about it here: http://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Building_Packages That link also provides a simple example "PKGBUILD" file.

As you can see, the "build" function in the PKGBUILD file is nothing more than what you would do to build the package by yourself. But, by creating a PKGBUILD file, using the "makepkg" command, and then installing it with "pacman -U package.pkg.tar.gz", you can easily uninstall it in the future.

If you want, you can then upload your PKGBUILD file to the AUR, and feel good as an Arch Linux contributor.

I found it interesting that Arch Linux doesn't even setup "/usr/local/bin" in the PATH by default. It's probably for the best. It keeps me from being naughty.

shacristo · 2010-01-14 03:55:00

If you don't want to make a PKGBUILD some software is nice enough to come with an uninstall script or an uninstall make target (ie: make uninstall). Making a PKGBUILD isn't hard and can come in handy so I'd still recommend that though.

Xyne · 2010-01-14 03:57:52

+1 for learning to create your own packages. This will keep your system clean and provide a sane way to manage what you have on it. As mentioned above, submitting your packages to the AUR is also a great way to contribute to the community.

tomk · 2010-01-14 06:56:28

Not a coding question, moving to Newbie Corner.

timetrap · 2010-01-14 11:39:39

Package creation is a really simple process. Just go to AUR and find a package that's close to your own: JAVA, C, Python, etc. all have little idiosyncrasies that others have solved before. And there's always IRC, if you need "real time" {help|mocking}.

zfsd · 2010-01-15 20:30:11

Thanks guys -- I've played around with ABS and makepkg, and it's brilliant!
Fantastic stuff.
Arch is very well documented. Indeed, all you need is a bit of patience to switch over.
>Microsoft in <10 years?

Arch Linux

#1 2010-01-13 20:12:21

Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#2 2010-01-13 20:21:33

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#3 2010-01-13 20:30:40

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#4 2010-01-13 21:59:05

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#5 2010-01-14 03:55:00

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#6 2010-01-14 03:57:52

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#7 2010-01-14 06:56:28

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#8 2010-01-14 11:39:39

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

#9 2010-01-15 20:30:11

Re: Building from source -- how to remove installation?

Board footer