Add build instructions to README

[Michael Nagel]

I was trying to compile the latest version of Simple Scan and failed. I am not that experienced, but the docu is not too great. There is a generic INSTALL file, but that's all.

currently I did the following:
bzr branch lp:simple-scan
./autogen.sh
sudo apt-get install gnome-common
sudo apt-get install ubuntu-dev-tools
get-build-deps simple-scan
./autogen.sh

At that step I fail with natty "No package 'gtk+-3.0' found".
I also get the warning "configure: WARNING: no Vala compiler found. You will not be able to compile .vala source files."

I think these commands should be completed with
make
and possibly: make install

Is that correct? Does that work with oneric (or some other distribution) out of the box? Is it still possible to compile the latest Simple Scan on older Ubuntu releases? Could this information (possibly corrected/expanded) be put in the README/INSTALL file?

Thanks!

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

Hi Michael,

What is the 'get-build-deps' command? Is that the same as 'apt-get build-deps simple-scan'?

The way I'd recommend compiling it is:
bzr branch lp:simple-scan
./autogen.sh --prefix=$PWD/install
sudo apt-get build-deps simple-scan (brings in the dependencies of the available version of simple-scan - these may differ from the development version)
make
make install
./src/simple-scan

I just checked [1] and you can't compile it on Natty as the version of Vala is too old. You might be able to find a PPA with a newer version but I can't vouch for their quality. There may also be compatibility issues with the version of GTK.

We can't really add this into the Makefile as there's not a standard way of bringing in dependencies across distributions.

It's a bit of a cop-out answer but there's not really a good way of giving reliable information on how to build. Simple Scan follows the autotools conventions, but autotools is a big part of a wider issue about development tools friendliness. The way to check for dependencies is to look at PKG_CHECK_MODULES in configure.ac and then work out what packages provide these.

[1] https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vala-0.14

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

I'm going to close this "Won't fix" as I don't have a good solution for it. The build instructions are technically in INSTALL, but they're pretty indecipherable and they don't cover dependencies. Note that I am working on an autotools replacement [1] and I will switch simple-scan to that if that project is successful.

[1] https://launchpad.net/bake

[Michael Nagel (nailor)]

I conclude that while it does not work with natty and earlier it will work out of the box with oneric and later :)
I am going to try that soon.

However, I assume it will thus be non-trivial to install builds of the latest version on older Ubuntu releases :(

Regarding bake:
I am on the same page with you regarding the problems with autotools/make. But when I see something like this, I wonder if you know about:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Not_invented_here
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinventing_the_wheel
and
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_build_automation_software

I do not say bake is pointless, though -- if I were that kind of person, I wouldn't use Simple Scan instead of xsane, would I? However I think it needs to explicitly declare how and why it is different from the original make and why you cannot make the original make work that way.

[Michael Nagel (nailor)]

Sorry, after reading my message again, I feel the need to make it even clearer that it was not intended to be negative. It was intended to set the stage for you to explain why bake is so great!

[Robert Ancell (robert-ancell)]

It's valid criticism and it's why I took so long to start bake and I haven't announced it widely. I'm trying to get it in the state where it is notably better, well documented and I have the complete story of where it is better. It's very much a high risk / high reward type of project and I'm fully prepared for it not to fly.