Full document of installation and updating Lazarus on Linux lazarus / 1-Linux ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dolemi · 2016-01-01 16:39 Lazarus-IDE has a very low rating (10) on Software Manager of Linux Mint, comparing with MonoDevelop rating (108) and CodeBlocks (158) The latest version of Lazarus is 1.6, however the Software Manager of Linux Mint installing Lazarus version 1.0.  It also asks FPC source location when starting Lazarus IDE. Most of people do not know where is the location of FPC source. 1.   Can configure Lazarus IDE automatically search possible FPC source locations if the IDE cannot be found? 2.   Can anyone tell us the possible FPC source locations on the Linux system? 3.   Can anyone manages or updates the repository of Lazarus-IDE for Linux when Lazarus-IDE has a newer version, or a newer version of FPC? 4.   Can anyone tell us the commands to update the latest version of Lazarus IDE onto Linux Mint? I have tried using commands apt-get update and apt-get upgrade, then Linux Mint loads heaps of Ubuntu files and the system gets all kind of troubles. 5.   When we load Lazarus IDE using Software Manager, please include the latest version of FPC as well. 6.   We need a full document of installation and updating Lazarus on Linux., step by step with screen shots, so that, makes easier for people to install Lazarus. Thanks in advance. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- marcov · 2016-01-01 17:00 First, there is no universal "linux". Many things are distribution dependent, sometimes down to the exact version. There are some specifications (like LSB), but they are mostly defaults or minimal requirements for system parts. The same with packaging.  The distributions prepare packages of external software, it is their main raison d'etre.  Most of the defaults are as such chosen by the packagers, not by the external software package. So all your questions are better directed towards Debian and Mint packagers. That being said, educated guesses can be made: 1. Afaik lazarus searched a default location. In general newer versions are better in this, so your priority would be getting the latest version. 2. /usr/src/fpc is the most logical location. Sometimes a place under /usr/share (since sourcecode is architecture independent) /usr/share/src/fpc is also used. 3. As said this is a job for Mint people. 4. That is a question for Mint people too. Since mint is APT based it probably requires adding some newer branch to the sources file of apt. 5. See 3. 6. there is no one "linux", it is all version and distribution dependent. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- guest58172 · 2016-01-01 18:04 4. The rule of thumb to setup Laz on Linux is "do not use the distro package manager and setup from the package distributed on SF". By the way on Mint you must setup the .deb packages ! laz+fpc+fpc-src. The three are always in a distinct folder for each release. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- dolemi · 2016-01-02 11:45 Marcov, thanks you for providing information.  I believe the tasks of Lazarus installation to all operation systems and different versions belong to Lazarus team. Let us use Microsoft Windows as an example. When Microsoft updates a new version of Windows, Microsoft does not have any responsible to make sure all other millions of software should work correctly. Microsoft has responsible for the operation system.  When Microsoft release a new version of operation system, millions of software companies have to test or update their software to make sure they are running correct on new Windows. Let us look Firefox installation process, it almost clicks, clicks and goes through to the end and it works. Most of other Microsoft software is same, the installation processes are perfect for dummy, Any advance users can change the configuration late on, but at least it can start and run. The number of operation systems and versions are limited, however the number of software is huge. Those are my suggestions to Lazarus team: 1) Need an integration team, specialised testing all supported operation systems and versions, cooperate with installation development team to make simple installation processes. 2) Need a documentation team, create, maintain and update comprehensive documentation and help files.. Marcov, you may right that the packaging is Linux team's task. However, it should be Lazarus team's responsible to cooperate with Linux teams, and make sure the latest version of Lazarus can run on latest versions of Linux operation systems. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Leledumbo · 2016-01-02 12:14 Quote from: dolemi on January 02, 2016, 12:45:40 pmI believe the tasks of Lazarus installation to all operation systems and different versions belong to Lazarus team. Let us use Microsoft Windows as an example. When Microsoft updates a new version of Windows, Microsoft does not have any responsible to make sure all other millions of software should work correctly. Microsoft has responsible for the operation system.  When Microsoft release a new version of operation system, millions of software companies have to test or update their software to make sure they are running correct on new Windows. Let us look Firefox installation process, it almost clicks, clicks and goes through to the end and it works. Most of other Microsoft software is same, the installation processes are perfect for dummy, Any advance users can change the configuration late on, but at least it can start and run. The number of operation systems and versions are limited, however the number of software is huge. Windows is a wrong example since Linux distribution isn't managed that way. If you want to have your package in official debian repository, you have to become debian developer. Same goes to ubuntu and most other distributions. The best thing 3rd party can do, is to provide installers outside the official package repository or a 3rd party package equivalent understood by certain distribution. This is what the SF mirror does. There used to be a PPA, too but I don't think it's up to date. If you use arch based distribution, it's possible to submit packages to AUR, but that's very-damn-specific to arch linux derivatives. Firefox is also a wrong example since it's adopted by (nearly?) every Linux distribution. If you change that case to, say, Android Studio, the story will be different. There's no official debian/ubuntu package for it (though there are PPAs out there) and Google doesn't document every Linux distribution way of installing it. They only list one manual way, not system managed in any way so every update whatsoever is completely user's responsibility. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- marcov · 2016-01-02 13:43 Quote from: dolemi on January 02, 2016, 12:45:40 pmMarcov, thanks you for providing information.  I believe the tasks of Lazarus installation to all operation systems and different versions belong to Lazarus team. Maybe, but it is the task of the OS guys to make it doable. QuoteLet us use Microsoft Windows as an example. When Microsoft updates a new version of Windows, Microsoft does not have any responsible to make sure all other millions of software should work correctly. Microsoft has responsible for the operation system.  When Microsoft release a new version of operation system, millions of software companies have to test or update their software to make sure they are running correct on new Windows. Microsoft has one new OS in every 3-4 years or so, and often the changes are more in the installer package  (inno-setup), so using an updated inno already works. QuoteLet us look Firefox installation process, it almost clicks, clicks and goes through to the end and it works. (actually firefox is customized by Linux distros too, nearly all "big" packages are, so that is a bad example) QuoteThose are my suggestions to Lazarus team: 1) Need an integration team, specialised testing all supported operation systems and versions, cooperate with installation development team to make simple installation processes. 2) Need a documentation team, create, maintain and update comprehensive documentation and help files.. One of the reasons it is so hard to find people that do (1) and stick around for a while is because it is so utterly frustrating. With the average distro version having a lifetime of just 18 months and there being so many versions and spins. QuoteMarcov, you may right that the packaging is Linux team's task. However, it should be Lazarus team's responsible to cooperate with Linux teams, and make sure the latest version of Lazarus can run on latest versions of Linux operation systems. Yes, and we actually do. We realize that FPC and Lazarus are difficult ports, so there are often prototype .debs and .rpms from FPC and Lazarus, typically for Debian and Fedora. The Debian ones should be ok as basis for most debian derive distros, and Fedora for the RPM ones. All the distros have to do is just to customize to their default locations, manage their own versioning. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- crsc · 2016-01-10 14:03 Quote from: dolemi on January 01, 2016, 05:39:55 pm4.   Can anyone tell us the commands to update the latest version of Lazarus IDE onto Linux Mint? I have tried using commands apt-get update and apt-get upgrade, then Linux Mint loads heaps of Ubuntu files and the system gets all kind of troubles. I created current packages (trunk) for Linux Mint 17.3 64-bit. Feel free to use them, if you want: > https://rt.fm/pub/linuxmint/17.3/packages/x86_64/fpc-lazarus/ To install, download the *.deb files, uninstall existing fpc, fpc-src and lazarus packages. Then do following: 1.) sudo dpkg -i fpc_*_amd64.deb 2.) sudo dpkg -i fpc-src_*_amd64.deb 3.) sudo dpkg -i lazarus_*_amd64.deb 4.) sudo apt-get update && sudo apt-get install -f Edit: You can also skip point 1 to 4 and install via double click the *deb files in your filemanager. First fpc, then fpc-src and then lazarus.