blender for linux via apt -> 3.34-4 :-(

konrad_ha · Post by **konrad_ha** » Tue May 17, 2005 1:08 am

This might mean nothing to the majority of blenderheads out there but I had the most disappointing experience today.

Having switched to Linux recently (and luvving it) I am using apt (or rather apt4rpm) to install software packages. The apt-sources normally point to the most recent stable releases of an abundance of software-packages, and of course they include blender as well.

But the most recent release I got via apt is 3.34-4 !!!

This made me wonder if anybody closely involved with development actually takes care of distribution methods apart from CVS and the downloadable binaries.

apt and apt4rpm seem to be the thing for aquiring and installing packages on most distros right now and I wish I could keep my system as clean and organized as it is now by aquiring software with this great tool.

Any comments on the more general topic of releasing, spreading and providing blender is highly welcome under this thread. I couldn't think of a more elegant way then preparing an RPM and putting it into some apt-repository, but go ahead and convince me of the benefits of downloading the binary, I just can't see them right now.

kAinStein · Post by **kAinStein** » Tue May 17, 2005 3:18 am

Hmm... I don't get the point. What's wrong with the binary tarballs?

theeth · Post by **theeth** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:08 am

Blender doesn't instal anything, it's "unpack and run", why would you need rpm/apt packages?

Martin

mongrol · Post by **mongrol** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:05 am

apt is the package system for Debian. Debian repositories are notories for being out of date as they contain only the most stable (by debian standards) packages. There are more "unstable" repositories but I've no idea what version of blender they contain. Apt is a great package system but its certainly not "the thing" for all linux distros as each distro has its own.

konrad_ha · Post by **konrad_ha** » Tue May 17, 2005 11:14 am

One example of the usefulness of rpms is the fact that yafray gets automatically installed along with blender when using apt. The same could work for other packages (new renderers, drqueue or even, in a distant future, python itself).

The modularity of software-packages seems to be a major benefit of the linux-software-management, so why not use it right away?

-efbie- · Post by **-efbie-** » Tue May 17, 2005 1:17 pm

And packages can auto-updates themselves. Since i installed yafray via apt, i got two updates, it was a nice surprise, those updates even aren't available on the official website.

It would be nice if blender were present on big repositories.

OTO · Post by **OTO** » Tue May 17, 2005 5:43 pm

Is Mandriva/Mandrake big enough?

ftp://fr2.rpmfind.net/linux/Mandrakelin ... a/contrib/

-efbie- · Post by **-efbie-** » Tue May 17, 2005 6:34 pm

it's big but debian seems bigger

Well, in fact i'm using ubuntu and i'm glad that a recent version of blender is available on urpmi, it's not the case on debian

ox · Post by ox » Tue May 17, 2005 7:32 pm

Debian is not the only distro to use apt. Fedora Core uses apt as well. Along with Yum. Same system only different pkgs. Apt for FC uses rpms instead of debian packages.
I am going through a problem with blender at the moment that might be related. I have mesa and opengl libs on my box. My glxinfo dump says I'm using my nvidia drivers while blender says I'm using the mesa drivers. I'd like blender to use the nvidia driver and I don't have a clue

Perhaps if I installed with apt it would configure blender to use the nvidia driver?
Hope I'm not highjacking this thread. If I am ignore me. I won't take offense.

kidb · Post by **kidb** » Tue May 17, 2005 7:57 pm

ox wrote: My glxinfo dump says I'm using my nvidia drivers while blender says I'm using the mesa drivers.

ldd /path/to/blender
libGL.so.1 => /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 (0x00002aaaabce3000)
ls -la /usr/lib/libGL.so.1
lrwxrwxrwx 1 root root 17 2005-05-17 17:57 /usr/lib/libGL.so.1 -> libGL.so.1.0.7174
libGL.so.1.0.7174 = nVidia

ox · Post by ox » Wed May 18, 2005 8:14 pm

Downloaded the non-static build and I am now flying with the nvidia drivers thanks to fweeb and basse.
I just got the nvidia drivers loaded this week and hadn't thought of the version I was using.

konrad_ha: I have been using linux for years and never had a need to upt apt or yum to install it BUT you might want to talk to krich located at http://www.frontiernet.net/~krich/. He was building rpms for blender from cvs for a while.

konrad_ha · Post by **konrad_ha** » Thu May 19, 2005 11:13 am

I wonder how complicated building an RPM can be. Adding it to an APT-repository is pretty simple actually.

ox · Post by ox » Thu May 19, 2005 5:38 pm

konrad_ha wrote:I wonder how complicated building an RPM can be. Adding it to an APT-repository is pretty simple actually.

first google hit http://howtos.linux.com/howtos/RPM-HOWT ... arch.shtml

konrad_ha · Post by **konrad_ha** » Sat May 21, 2005 10:32 pm

you might want to talk to krich located at http://www.frontiernet.net/~krich/. He was building rpms for blender from cvs for a while.

I couldn't get hold of him so I guess I'll try creating an RPM myself. I already read some howtos on the subject and it should be possible even for a linux-newcomer like me. However, it'll take some time as I have a pretty busy schedule right now.

More info here once I get going.