InstallSoftwareWithStow.md

Using Stow to install software

This recipe was the result of discovering that the version of mtr available on my old-ish buster system was out-of-date. Unfortunately, once a release transitions from stable to oldstable, packages aren't routinely updated. And even in the stable release, RPi packages typically lag behind their upstream sources more than I like.

This isn't a complaint really - it's a statement of fact: building and maintaining the Debian packages used for RPi is a labor-intensive process! I am on the (very) low end of the learning curve for packaging, and it's not a high priority objective for me personally. But I digress...

I discovered that mtr on my buster system was at 0.92, and the latest was 0.95. I didn't have days to spend (at my rate) updating the package, and so I began searching for alternatives. I could have just cloned the upstream mtr repo, and built, but I've learned this may lead to unpleasant surprises. Another way of saying, "I love the quality of Debian packages, but they are a PITA to maintain". I began searching & shortly stumbled across this informative Q&A on the U&L SE site that provided several alternatives. I rank them here in order of increasing difficulty:

1. Stow: A GNU utility for managing the installation of software packages.
2. Pragmatic packaging: The Pragmatic Debian Packaging Guide by Vincent Bernat; ver. 2019.
3. Backporting: Even Debian recognizes the issues with aging packages & offers a solution.

This recipe focuses on stow - IMHO the simplest of the three alternatives for getting up-to-date packages for a minimum investment in time and effort. Like all things Unix/Linux, it only sounds difficult until you see how it's done. Here's what worked for me with a couple of tips to help avoid the traps:

TIP 1: directory positioning is all-important; executing the correct command from the wrong location leads to tears (well. OK - not tears, but frustration).

TIP 2: if your older package was installed with apt, remove it before you go any further; e.g. sudo apt purge mtr-tiny

1. Everything happens in /usr/local: the directory where locally compiled applications are installed by default — to prevent them from mucking up the rest of the system.

2. Let's have a look at /usr/local in buster before we start mucking about :)

   ~ $ ls -l /usr/local
   total 32
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 bin
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 etc
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 games
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 include
   drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 May 27  2020 lib
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root    9 May 27  2020 man -> share/man
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 sbin
   drwxr-xr-x 4 root root 4096 May 27  2020 share
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root 4096 May 27  2020 src

3. Let's add a git folder - a place to house the repo(s) we'll clone & build:

   ~ $ sudo mkdir /usr/local/git
   ~ $ sudo chown pi:pi /usr/local/git

4. Install stow if you don't have it already:

   ~ $ sudo apt update
   ~ $ sudo apt install stow

5. Let's take another look at /usr/local; note the new folders git & stow:

   ~ $ ls -l /usr/local
   total 40
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 bin
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 etc
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 games
   drwxr-xr-x 3 pi   pi    4096 May 26 13:25 git
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 include
   drwxr-xr-x 4 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 lib
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root     9 Sep 25  2019 man -> share/man
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 May 26 16:55 sbin
   drwxr-xr-x 6 root root  4096 Feb 17 16:54 share
   drwxr-xr-x 2 root root  4096 Sep 25  2019 src
   drwxrwsr-x 3 root staff 4096 May 26 16:39 stow

6. Clone the GitHub source repo in the git folder:

   ~ $ cd /usr/local/git
   /usr/local/git $ git clone https://github.com/traviscross/mtr.git

7. Move to the mtr folder & build iaw instructions from the GitHub README & stow SOP:

   /usr/local/git $ cd mtr
   /usr/local/git/mtr $ /usr/local/git/mtr $ ./bootstrap.sh       # ref README
   /usr/local/git/mtr $ ./configure --prefix=/usr/local/stow/mtr  # 
   /usr/local/git/mtr $ make   # creates exe files mtr & mtr-packet; can test at this point
   /usr/local/git/mtr $ sudo make install # creates folder mtr in /usr/local/stow 

8. Create stow package:

   /usr/local/git/mtr $ cd /usr/local/stow
   /usr/local/stow $ sudo stow mtr
   # what happened??
   /usr/local/stow $ ls -l /usr/local/sbin
   total 0
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 20 May 26 16:55 mtr -> ../stow/mtr/sbin/mtr
   lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 27 May 26 16:55 mtr-packet -> ../stow/mtr/sbin/mtr-packet 
   # stow has created links in /usr/local/sbin to the actual binaries in /usr/local/stow/mtr/sbin !! 
   # also created links in /usr/local/share/man/man8 to the man pages at /usr/local/stow/mtr/share/man/man8

9. Why is this exciting?

   A. It's easy

   B. You don't have to remember where this stuff came from or how to remove it

   C. You can remove the package from your PATH with sudo stow -D mtr; this removes the links - not the binaries or man pages in /usr/local/stow/mtr. If you're done with the entire package, you may delete the package folders in /usr/local/stow/mtr, and your git repo at /usr/local/git/mtr.

   All kinds of other options from here. For any git operations, first: cd /usr/local/git/mtr; to clean the repo of non-tracked files: git clean -i; sync the remote repo: git pull. After a git update, rebuild the package, and then sudo stow -R mtr to refresh all the links.

   See man stow for general guidance, or info stow for all the details - or online.

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REFERENCES:

1. How to install more recent versions of software than what Debian provides? Great Question & Answer!
2. How to use GNU Stow to manage programs installed from source and dotfiles
3. Q&A: How can I install more recent versions of software than what Debian provides?
4. How to use the Linux mtr command
5. Q&A: traceroute command: replacement or alternative
6. Debian -> mtr; Debian's GitLab repo for mtr
7. mtr GitHub site