[indiana-discuss] A Returning User With a Few Questions

[Kevin Monceaux]

Indiana Fans,

Or, is it just OpenSolaris now?

I've tried out Indiana a few times under VMware and have just about 
convinced myself to switch my desktop box from Linux to OpenSolaris. 
And, I have a few questions.  Many of these are package related so feel 
free to direct me to the pkg-discuss list if I should be asking these 
questions over there.

I've been a Linux user since the 1.xx kernel, and 486 PC, days.  I've 
tried numerous distributions, which each have their strengths and 
weaknesses.  Currently I'm running Debian.  Yes, I've tried out Nexenta. 
I feel about it as I feel about Ubuntu.  If I'm going to be running a 
Debian based distro I'd prefer to run the real thing.  Not to mention that 
I don't like Ubuntu's "every six months take a snapshot of Debian testing" 
release cycle.  I just run Debian's testing branch and get frequent 
package updates.

I've played around with pkg search but can't figure out how to search by 
package name.  Is there a way to do that?  Is there a way to search 
package descriptions?  pkg info displays a short package description.  Do, 
or will, packages have a long description?

I'm at best a novice developer but while trying out various Linux 
distributions I've managed to create some simple packages for personal 
use.  I've created packages on SourceMage, Arch, CRUX, Wolvix and perhaps 
one or two others I'm forgetting at the moment.  I haven't attempted 
creating a Debian package from scratch but have gotten decently proficient 
at rebuilding Debian packages to adjust them for my needs.

So, if I switch to Indiana I'd like to take a stab at learning how to 
create packages, or at least learn how to modify existing packages.  I've 
come across the IPS intro on OpenSolaris.org, but most packages involve 
actually building software.  Creating one text file and packaging it up 
isn't really all that useful.  Is there a tutorial that covers creating an 
IPS package from a typical configure -> make -> make install type project?

And, is there a way to rebuild an IPS package if needed?  On Debian, for 
example, I rebuild the available ffmpeg package to remove the 
--disable-mmx configure flag in order to tripple ffmpeg's performance. 
The process amounts to:

$ apt-get source ffmpeg

change to the source directory

edit debian/rules and remove the --disable-mmx configure flag and the 
CFLAGS that keep ffmpeg from building with mmx enabled.

$ dch -l "-mmx"

the above command invokes my prefered editor, vim, to edit the package's 
changelog and automatically adds an entry to the top with -mmx tacked on 
to the end of the current version.  I add a comment, save my changes, 
then:

$ dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -b -rfakeroot

which builds the package.I then copy the resulting *.deb files to my local 
repository, update my local repository, then:

# aptitude update

# aptitude safe-upgrade

to "upgrade" ffmpeg to my modified version.

Is there a way to install Indiana without Gnome for those of us who prefer 
a minimalist style window manager?  While I think gdm and Gnome, as 
shipped with the 2008-05 system, are georgeous I'm just not a Gnome fan. 
That's one thing that had me hesitating to switch to Indiana.  I know 
Gnome fans will probably think I'm nuts, but my current window manager of 
choice is DWM.  I'm also quite fond of SLiM, the Simple Login Manager.  I 
have DWM working nicely on Indiana.  As an added bonus, I have DWM set up 
so that it basically looks/acts like Linux virtual consoles.  I've been a 
virtual console user since the 1.xx Linux days and used to only switch to 
X windows for web browsing, and/or image/movie file viewing.  That's 
another reason I've been hesitating to switch to Indiana.  But, since 
discovering DWM I've actually stopped reaching for the Linux virtual 
consoles and have been doing everything in X.


Kevin
http://www.RawFedDogs.net
http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org
Bruceville, TX

Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.
Longum iter est per praecepta, breve et efficax per exempla!!!