[Slackbuilds-users] Howto for slackware tgz

Eugene Nine enine at ninefamily.com
Tue Jan 11 03:15:59 UTC 2022


A Slackware _package_ is just an archive and does not have any 
parameters and structure its self in order to keep with the philosophy^1 
of maintaining the software as close to what the original author 
intended and not adding any extra layers or complexity.

A Slack_build_ is a script that is bundled within the package archive 
(tgz) that simply runs the configure/make and install process as 
described in the overview process 
https://docs.slackware.com/slackware:slackbuild_scripts

Imagine you found a software project that was not in the Debian or 
Devuan repositories and wanted to use it on one of your existing 
systems. You would download the source from that project, extract it and 
peruse the documentation to see if it has any dependency requirements 
and if you have everything it requires follow the build and install 
process for that software. That build/install process is what the 
Slackbuild does. The Slackbuild script will have a standard format to 
help with ease of re-use and long term maintenance.

A brief layout of a Slackware install can be found here 
https://docs.slackware.com/slackbook:working_with_filesystems but in 
general it follows what the Linux / Kernel foundation and developers set 
forth as standards, again per the Slackware philosophy

You can extract any Slackware package and see the internal structure is 
that of the software's completed build/install laid out as the software 
author intended.

There are a number of tools to help automate bulk building packages for 
deployment to multiple systems if that's something you are in need of.

1: https://docs.slackware.com/slackware:philosophy

On 1/10/22 21:18, Beco via SlackBuilds-users wrote:
> Hello there, Slack users,
>
> I just joined.
> I hope you are all doing well, and that this list is still active.
>
> I am migrating from Debian systemD. I tried Devuan as well. It is
> difficult to change distros when you have many computers/notebooks and
> you want them to share the same distro.
>
> Some of my small scripts and programs need to adapt. It is not a big
> deal, but I want them to keep organized. I think the best way is to
> reorganize them within the parameters and directory structure of a
> slackware package.
>
>
> Please, what is a good updated detailed source of explanation about
> the format and internals of a tgz tar-ball (package)?
>
>
> Thanks and still in time, happy 2022.
>


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