How to properly install a Linux desktop app?

[Mikhail T.]

On 19.06.20 04:52, Tijl Coosemans wrote:
> You should not use USE_LINUX_RPM. It's meant for infrastructure ports.

Yes, this is the current stance, but it seems like an unnecessary 
limitation... :( Software distributed by vendors in RPM-format should be 
easier for ports to install.

Please, consider changing this.

> You can look at astro/google-earth as an example. It also installs an 
> rpm with an /opt directory. Basically the /opt directory goes to 
> ${STAGEDIR}${LINUXBASE} and everything else goes to ${STAGEDIR}${PREFIX}

Thanks, this is an informative example. Because of the limitation on the 
USE_LINUX_RPM, google-earth port has its own do-install :-( And it 
installs things into ${LINUXBASE}, which /should be/ just as wrong as 
installing into ${LOCALBASE} instead of ${PREFIX}.

Clearly flz@ (or you?) have struggled with the same dilemma I'm now 
facing :-)

And zoom will have to do the same for the time being...

> You should not need an ld conf file or ldconfig or LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

I don't know, how one of the above -- ld.conf or LD_LIBRARY_PATH -- can 
be avoided. Indeed, Google's own /opt/google/earth/free/googleearth sets 
the LD_LIBRARY_PATH before invoking googleearth-bin. The port's own 
little wrapper (${PREFIX}/bin/googleearth) is calling Google's (bigger) 
wrapper, which is then finally calling the actual binary :(

I guess, I'll use the approach google-earth is taking for now, and file 
a PR to change the setting of DESKTOPDIR to be derived from LOCALBASE -- 
or for the actual native PREFIX to remain somehow accessible (as 
NATIVEPREFIX, perhaps?) even when USE_LINUX_PREFIX is defined.

Thank you for your help! Yours,

    -mi