Post by Chris Date<< I think that even if the package isn't in a standard repository it can still be fairly easily installed if we have a ".deb" package. >>
That's true. However, the only OORexx 5.0.0beta .deb files are compiled for Ubuntu and Raspbian, neither of which I would trust to work with Debian. Both are derivatives of Debian, not the real thing.
It's the same with Regina Rexx, which only has Ubuntu .debs.
Hence my desire to compile them myself.
Like many people, I use Debian for its stability. This is a product of its development cycle, whereby each package passes through the Unstable and Testing branches before acceptance into the Stable release. Ideally, I wouldn't want to install anything that isn't from Debian Stable. Compiling from source is the next best thing, though still an imperfect solution. The alternative is to stop using Rexx.
The Debian builds of ooRexx, either 32 or 64 bit, uses the CMake definitions for Debian and just
happen mostly on Ubuntu. As such they should work on Debian and then use the shared libraries of
Debian, independent on which Linux the interpreter got created.
Just consult "CMake-build-readme.txt" and try to create the ooRexx interpreter. The CMake control
file that covers the building of ooRexx for all supported distributions/platforms is
"CMakeLists.txt". If you do not have cmake installed yet, then issue something like "apt-get install
cmake".
Just try it out: if everything goes fine you should have the latest ooRexx built in less than a
minute! E.g. after downloading the sources (e.g. to "~/dev/oorexx"), create some "~/work/oorexx"
directory, switch to it and issue the commands (as per the directions in CMake-build-readme.txt):
cmake -DBUILD_DEB=1 -DOS_DIST=debian-X-Y ~/dev/oorexx/main/trunk
... the above will check out your build environment and creates CMake definitions for the project
make
... the above will use the CMake definitions and create the interpreter
... you could issue "bin/rexx -v" to get the version information from the freshly built interpreter
cpack ./
... the above will create the deb package that you can then use to install the interpreter with
dpkg -i (do not forget to uninstall any previously installed interpreter with "dpkg -r oorexx")
Also note, the latest versions of ooRexx 5 allow to run different versions of the ooRexx interpreter
with different bitnesses at the same time on the same machine without interfering with each other,
quite some cool feature! :)
Should there be any problems or showstoppers than please do not hesitate and report them and/or ask
for explicit help.
There is at least one outspoken Debian expert (Enrico Sorichetti) hanging out on the ooRexx
developer list who has been extremely knowledgeable and helpful.
Here the link to the ooRexx mailing lists: <https://sourceforge.net/p/oorexx/mailman/>.
Here the link to the developer mailing list archive:
<https://sourceforge.net/p/oorexx/mailman/oorexx-devel>. Do not hesitate to ask questions there!
---rony