Re: GNUstep Build Guide

[Riccardo Mottola]

Hi Riccardo,


Riccardo Canalicchio wrote:
> After some years not playing with it, I am trying to setup a new linux 
> environment with GNUstep and I got lost with the different guides and 
> repositories, I hope this is the right place to ask for some support.
>
> My goal is to build it from source, so that I can also try to 
> contribute. If possible I would like to use an ubuntu image as base. 
> In case you think Ubuntu is not the best base image, please feel free 
> to suggest a different setup.
>
> Where would it be the best place to look to get started?

Ubuntu is fine, as is Devuan (which I would suggest) or Debian.
Or Gentoo Linux. All work fine to build from source and are very easy. 
They all work the same if you don't have particular needs.

NetBSD is easy too.

Really, installing GNUstep is not hard.

In short, it is little more than "configure" and "make install" in the 
correct order of packages... the rest should be only dependency issues.
You can follow the guides on the Wiki

http://wiki.gnustep.org/index.php/User_FAQ#How_do_I_compile_GNUstep_on_my_machine.3F

You can use Gregory's scripts if you prefer: 
https://github.com/gnustep/tools-scripts


Or you can do it the hard way, as I always do.

Do yourself a favour, use GCC. It just works (TM)

Then it is a matter of configuring and compiling gnustep make, gnustep 
base, gnustep gui, gnustep back in this order.

I configure gnustep make with:
./configure --prefix=/GNUstep --with-layout=gnustep

--prefix is the "root" where /System /Local etc should be created. Use 
"/" for a NeXT/MacOS like experience, the default is /usr/GNUstep

gnustep layout should just be default, just trust me :)

then source the GNUstep script. In my case it is:
$ . /GNUstep/System/Library/Makefiles/GNUstep.sh

the prefix varies if you changed it

then do "configure && make install" / (assure to have rights of 
installation in the target root). If configure breaks, you need 
dependencies, install, retry... and bang your head learning!

You need development version of all libraries. Off-head you need

1) make: gcc + gobjc, gnu make
2) base: libffi, ICU, iconv, gnutls - optionally libxml libxslt
3) gui: jpg, tiff, gif, png
4) back: X headers, xft and cairo or art

then install apps, most of them do not even need to configure!


Regards,
Riccardo