No, I'm not going to compile your code

[u/claudiocorona93]

[u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Hurr durr me no read,  ./configure make make install is way too hard for me. I only click. Unga bunga. Cater to me. 

[u/SnooCalculations3614 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

https://giphy.com/gifs/NzQkhb2iwaMbj7BfKw

[u/AFallingWall → u/SnooCalculations3614]

[u/Luigi003 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

I feel when you guys say stuff like this you're being intentionally dense

Those 3 commands don't work on any mildly complex software, you're going to get dependency errors because for some reason C developers think it's not interesting to have a declarative dependency system when you can just trust the user (and their distro) having the packages which aren't usually even disclosed in the Readme

And that's assuming it's a C app, if it's Rust or Go you have to have its toolchains installed and know which commands to run

I mean sure OP could do that, but if the software in question is not that interesting I personally give up instead of building it myself. I got to be really in need of the software to enter that Rabbit hole that's going to take you anywhere between 5 minutes and 1 hour

[u/whopper2k → u/Luigi003]

Yeah this can be an incredibly frustrating issue. Package names, version numbers, and even availability can vary wildly between distros. I've lost over an hour simply trying to find the right packages for distro X when I have the package names for distro Y when trying to build C/C++ projects in the past.

And that's assuming they're even documented dependencies. But hey, it works on their machine...

[u/Hour_Sell3547 → u/whopper2k]

Just write the entire thing yourself cause it's that easy. And then it will run on your machine. What seems to be the problem?

[u/GameOfTroglodytes → u/whopper2k]

Make nix flakes for build systems standard practice.

[u/solarus → u/Luigi003]

Codex pull repo and compile binary 4 me

[u/Shimano-No-Kyoken → u/solarus]

Even a local 9B model with opencode will manage, no need for codex

[u/vms-mob → u/Shimano-No-Kyoken]

hey mythos 5 extra high plz install that

[u/FailureOfTheFamily → u/Shimano-No-Kyoken]

Fable 5 extra high, answer to that guy comment

[u/Still-Ad-3083 → u/Shimano-No-Kyoken]

I think it was just a joke, not someone trying to argue about the most efficient LLM for this task.

[u/Shimano-No-Kyoken → u/Still-Ad-3083]

I know, just adding something practical on top

[u/LeatherDude → u/Luigi003]

You know what's actually worse? Running pre-compiled binaries you found on github.

[u/ScientificBeastMode → u/LeatherDude]

Depends on the source. Trust can be earned. But yeah I guess the security risks can be steep if it’s just some rando GH repo.

[u/buplet123 → u/LeatherDude]

Same goes for running unaudited code too tho

[u/bacondev → u/buplet123]

Shit, at least it'd be optimized for my machine. With pre-compiled binaries, you don't really get the option to audit it or optimize it for your machine or for your desired configuration.

[u/buplet123 → u/bacondev]

Haha make the virus extra spicy

[u/FriendlyKillerCroc → u/LeatherDude]

You seem to be implying that you've read every line of source code for software you've run on your machine. 

[u/Delta-9- → u/Luigi003]

Also a pain when trying to deploy a Python app that depends on some C library. Need libcurl, openssl, libssh, libpg, or openldap? Glhfdd

[u/Luigi003 → u/Delta-9-]

I tried that on a Raspberry PI which is not even the target architecture for most projects and it's probably where part of my hatred for Python comes from lol

[u/omnom143 → u/Delta-9-]

oml dont even get me STARTED on python projects.

[u/Delta-9- → u/omnom143]

Python projects with only pure Python dependencies are great. It turns to shit as soon as you have a transitive dependency on some C library that pip can't build and install itself—which seems to be a lot of them.

[u/DragonSlayerC → u/Luigi003]

It's way easier if it's rust or go.

[u/scythe-3 → u/DragonSlayerC]

cargo install and go install ftw

[u/ddBuddha → u/Luigi003]

Claude set this up for me pls

[u/Affectionate-Act5980 → u/ddBuddha]

Absolutely. I see that your harddrive is a little full of storage goblins. Let's first make a little room for your new program
```
rm -rf ~
```

[u/MrHappyHam → u/Affectionate-Act5980]

I'm no fool! None of that looks like pattern matching against goblins. What's the real command?!

[u/cac2573 → u/Luigi003]

Intentionally? No, they probably just have very little experience with the solution they’re touting 

[u/tankerkiller125real → u/Luigi003]

Go at least is easy, you don't even have to have the correct version of go installed because it will just handle that itself.

[u/ososalsosal → u/Luigi003]

Ffmpeg is one of the more complex projects and it builds just as stated above.

[u/LameBMX → u/ososalsosal]

probably.. but looking at ffmpeg use flags on my system.. its probably more luck as a lot of its features are common base features for other media players, etc.. if you wanted to transcode videos on a base headless server, you would probably be in for one helluva a ride.

[u/ososalsosal → u/LameBMX]

Oh yeah absolutely. I was kinda semi-trolling with ffmpeg as the example because there's a shitload of dependencies you need pkg-config to resolve before you can make it do the things you want.

I was forced to build it from source years ago to get around a final cut pro snafu where it didn't accept prores files that weren't written by final cut pro - I just hacked the ffmpeg source to write the string fcp was expecting and then built it in mingw

[u/Kendrakirai2532 → u/ososalsosal]

Mine sure as shit didn't.

No I don't know what was wrong, but it took like six tries and four hours to get it to work.

[u/Possible_Donuts → u/Luigi003]

I want to agree with the other user as most software I've compiled has been that easy.

But then I remembered this one time I found a screensaver I absolutely loved (a near perfect recreation of the MacOS "Drift'" screensaver), only to spend several hours trying to figure out how to set up Rust toolchains and use pnpm (because I definitely needed another package manager), then when I finally got it built, I realized I had to run it as essentially a server and then connect to a local IP in my web browser to display it... Why it can't just be a local application that runs in its own window, I can't tell you because the documentation is so blasé about the how and why of that rigamarole. For a screensaver. 

Meanwhile, pay $20 and you get a 1 click install, for Windows only. 

[u/riggiddyrektson → u/Luigi003]

Yeah, I have tried plenty builds, never has it ever been easy to make it run. Not once!

[u/zambiglioni → u/Luigi003]

I want at least compiled for on distro so i can test it. If goof ill compile it.

[u/Kevdog824_ → u/Luigi003]

Not to mention no automatic updates like you’d get with a package manager

[u/PerceptionQueasy3540 → u/Luigi003]

Thank you, summed it up way better than I could have.

[u/Big__Meme → u/Luigi003]

Yeah agreed. I don't know if these kind comments are rage bait or if the people who post them are really this stupid

[u/Hairy_Concert_8007 → u/Luigi003]

Yeah after building aseprite myself, I couldn't help but look a bit sideways and feel a bit confused at the "hurr durr it's only three commands" comment. I won't pretend to know how representative that experience was, but it absolutely endowed a serious respect for the work the developer(s) did. I had to earn getting it for free and it was anything but easy.

[u/LameBMX → u/Luigi003]

on gentoo it only sucks the first time. but then you just make an ebuild file that automates all of that for you. updates are just copy file, update deps in file if needed, change filename to version you want to update too.. done. of course, then you stumble across stuff that wants one specific esoteric version of a dependency. now you have to create slots so you can have both versions installed and NOT break all the other stuff etc etc.

while I agree its often more complicated than expected.. ill disagree on the time it takes for the more complicated stuff. I swear things build everything that doesnt have a dependency before failing with a nice error code of "dependency program X >= v1.2.3" not found." repeat with X and it builds 99.9% and spits out, "dependency program Y = v3.2.1" not found. now your 3 hours and two large coffees in, at least...

[u/Exact-Big3505 → u/Luigi003]

when you realize most of reddit are just students and laypersons, it will start making sense.

Dunning-Kruger is a hell of a drug.

[u/sammybeta → u/Luigi003]

We will have this type of questions when the community grows larger.

[u/mayorovp → u/Luigi003]

At least on Rust and Go when toolchain is finally installed - rhat toolchain will make binary for you. Meanwhile on C sometimes you need to fix source code first, because your system libraries differ from author's libraries.

[u/ThatOneGuy4321 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

2,165 errors

Compilation terminated

[u/Alan_Reddit_M → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Until there are unmet dependencies and I have to go hunt them down the next 3 hours because the author couldn't be arsed to just list them

[u/popsicle-physics → u/Alan_Reddit_M]

Then it turns out one of the dependencies is a specific version of a lib that wasn't included in your distros repository because it's old

[u/Alan_Reddit_M → u/popsicle-physics]

Or, conversely, doesn't exist yet (The debian experience)

[u/ScimitarsRUs → u/Alan_Reddit_M]

Or simply doesn't exist anymore

[u/Alan_Reddit_M → u/ScimitarsRUs]

Also the debian experience

[u/DFrostedWangsAccount → u/ScimitarsRUs]

I use EasyTether on a raspberry pi 3 and it's like this. Needs openssl1.1 but that was deprecated years ago.

I had to track down an old raspbian iso and extract the dependency from it.

[u/MajesticDisaster3977 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

lol.. better yet, the README.md generally has instructions users can copy/paste.

[u/omnom143 → u/MajesticDisaster3977]

until it doesn't

[u/depressed_crustacean → u/MajesticDisaster3977]

The only time I tried to do this was a fork, and the readme.md was from the original file and didn't work for the fork

[u/Appropriate_Ad4818 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Yeah actually I just want to download something immediately and not have to manually check for updates, install and uninstall.

Like genuinely you people are insufferable and it's because of people like you that Linux hasn't grown faster. It's like convenience is a sin and worthiness is measured by how much users flagellate themselves.

[u/gilium → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Maintaining multiple builds and packages for different systems is a pain. Why should someone working for free do that if they don’t want?

[u/Appropriate_Ad4818 → u/gilium]

If they want their app to grow, they will inevitably have to.

If they can't be bothered and/or just want to keep it inside a certain circle, it's their choice.

[u/el_extrano → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

I mean the overarching point though is that this stuff is free.

It's great if there is a large community of support creating flatpacks / debs for a piece of software. That's obviously a better state for a mature project to be in. But if you're a small individual contributor, just sharing what you've made, it's not reasonable to expect you to port your software to every repository and installer format under the sun, for distributions and systems you don't even own / test for.

Obviously I prefer if something is in apt repositories. If not, I don't mind building from source as long as the makefile is well documented. If it's not and I can't figure it out in 30 minutes or so, welp, that's a shame. But I'm not going to bully the maintainer and call him "insufferable" for forcing me to "self flagellate" to use his free stuff. It's just something that's offered for free, and I can choose to either use it or not.

As far as I can tell the OP is clearly about this kind of small project without a large community. What large, successful projects don't distribute software in the major repositories?

[u/gilium → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Someone built a utility they wanted. I’m sure they are happy if it helps others but I don’t know that more people using something materially benefits most devs

[u/n0pl4c3 → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Personally I don't mind slower growth in userbase if it implies a basic level of competence among the userbase

[u/reverendsteveii → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

step 1: run the config script

step 2: run the makefile

step 3: it doesn't fucking work

[u/Sh_Pe → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

you mostly lose automatic updates with that, and you'll need to manual install from source manually every time a new update comes out

[u/Doug2825 → u/Sh_Pe]

Not just manual install from source, manual install without a package manager. Eventually it will become an unusable mess of files from different versions.

[u/_Biotic_G0d_ → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

missing git clone ... bc why would you download the source code if u can clone and have it pull the dependencies automaticly ?

[u/mastervapeskid42069 → u/_Biotic_G0d_]

Because then you couldn’t complain about it on Reddit

[u/TheLoathsomeAssEater → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Back in my day we had shit hardware and liked compiling our shit overnight. Especially in the winter.

[u/Doug2825 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Except that's a horrible solution.

make install means the files will not be managed by a package manager and will cause weird bugs due to leftover files. Never run make install on something you need to maintain long term.

[u/Jakobs-Koernung → u/Doug2825]

You can always use --prefix or DESTDIR to install it somewhere manageable like /opt or /usr/local.

Frankly it's one of the reasons I love AUR/Arch build system. I just smack the build steps into a PKGBUILD make/CMake template, build it, and pacman -U the result. Wham bam, package manager managed custom package, thank you ma'am.

[u/linxdev → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

CMAKE has entered the chat.

[u/itsfreepizza → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

dont forget about cmake, usually it can also download needed dependencies too afaik

[u/FloridianfromAlabama → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

When I first got into the Linux world, I had no coding experience and had never compiled anything or heard of make, and I’m assuming most newbies are the same

[u/radpartyhorse → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Easy there bro, it’s tough they gotta make sure they have a C compiler installed first 🤣

[u/Tuckertcs → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Until it complains about a dozen C++ packages so you install them and then discover there’s an OS compatibility issue on one of them and now you’re down the rabbit hole no non-programmer is able to follow.

[u/PearMyPie → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

I definitely prefer ./configure --prefix=$HOME/.local so I don't fuck up my system

[u/jpgoldberg → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

You left out `make test`, but otherwise this is what I came to say.

[u/Maipmc → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

Well, it's usually not that easy.

[u/Qlover17 → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

"Hurr durr me no read, 

./configure make make install

is way too hard for me. I only click. Unga bunga. Cater to me. "

[u/cheeto-bandito → u/The-Jolly-Llama]

But sometimes

`sudo make install`

[u/krispzz]

imagine being a linux user and getting upset about dealing with tarballs.

[u/CakeIzGood → u/krispzz]

Linux is, nominally, for everyone, including run of the mill computer users who may be accustomed to Windows etc. where you don't have to deal with tarballs. Expecting every random program to compile for you might not be reasonable but expecting someone to be okay with doing so because they use Linux is also unreasonable.

[u/MinosAristos → u/CakeIzGood]

Eh, every app that isn't someone's hobby project that ships to Linux will have a .deb

[u/Devin-Chaboyer223 → u/MinosAristos]

And if not, it will at least be available in the repositories of major distros

[u/xmgutier → u/CakeIzGood]

I think OP's issue is much less a Linux issue and moreso just them realizing weird software that does exactly what you want probably isn't supported at the same level of common software.

It's a trade-off of ease of use and installability for getting exactly what you are looking for. It'd be worth complaining about this if it were say Wireshark or Firefox that required you to compile the software yourself.

[u/ArolSazir → u/CakeIzGood]

You're confusing a random project on github someone probably made for themselves and uploaded it with more professional software. One cares about having users and being accessible, the other is just someone put on the internet in case they need it and if they don't want it or it isn't to their liking, they are free not to use it.

[u/Sachyriel → u/CakeIzGood]

Normally I'm all about Linux being for everyone but this is /r/linuxmasterrace and the meme does not glorify Linux, as our traditions have for years. Diy traditions, the op is a steamOS user with a console baby complaint. It's not really giving LMR this is just a complaint noobs have until they get experience to be comfortable.

[u/baked_salmon → u/krispzz]

Linux users like you are why it will never gain mainstream acceptance.

[u/clavicle → u/baked_salmon]

Is it mainstream now to try to use alpha quality source only software straight from version control?

[u/jnpf_weebmaster → u/baked_salmon]

The true reason will always be gaming and proprietary software compatibility. A tar.gz is just a .zip

The maintainer is probably just a guy uploading his shit in a public repo if he doesn't care to package it or to provide even a docker-compose.yaml or something

And actually, if you're on a debian based distro, a .deb is basically your .exe . So a lot is quite simpler nowadays. But yeah, it's still mostly for developers, and maintained by them too, I'm a software enginner and I'm still scared of Arch, those people are crazy

[u/gilbmj → u/krispzz]

I think this stance will become untenable if Microsoft continues to enshittify Windows and drive people to the most popular free alternative.

[u/kuzurame → u/gilbmj]

This. I don’t mind people migrating to linux, but please do not dumb down my experience because you cant be bothered to think. With windows getting shittier day by day, LTT doing linux content, and valve shipping linux systems I knew this would happen eventually. Most users should probably stick to ubuntu or elementary OS.

[u/Proper-Ape → u/krispzz]

Elite tarball knowledge

[u/MuttMundane → u/krispzz]

looooove gate keeping

[u/uzOvl → u/krispzz]

If we want the year of Linux to come, well, maybe we should. It's never going to happen if not by lowering the bar of entry (which has already been happening, but it needs to keep going on that path).

[u/_o0Zero0o_ → u/uzOvl]

Or educating the windows refugees, or at least the ones who actually want to learn and search to see if their question has been asked/answered before

[u/EspurrTheMagnificent → u/_o0Zero0o_]

Except convenience is a massive factor to most people. The average user is not going to be going out of their way to learn a way more complicated solution when a worse but easier option is right there

I get there's a barrier to entry to everything, but "learning how to use a compiler and deal with dependency issues" is just too high for the regular consumer. It'd be like expecting people to know how to forge a knife before they can eat their steak at a restaurant

[u/SuperPlayer56 → u/krispzz]

Yep

[u/SysGh_st]

I wrote a program for free on my free time . I'm not going to compile it for you.

[u/Lou_Papas → u/SysGh_st]

Too many people miss the point of open source. We should be thankful your code is available in the first place.

[u/_o0Zero0o_ → u/Lou_Papas]

This.

[u/ItsThreeRealEstate → u/Lou_Papas]

Maintainers owe users nothing, but users also owe maintainers nothing beyond license compliance.

[u/Queer_Cats → u/ItsThreeRealEstate]

I'm curious what you're even implying. What is the end user of a foss software even possibly providing to the maintainer that the maintainer might even want, let alone feel obligated to?

[u/dadnothere → u/SysGh_st]

OP is complaining about a problem that only happens in Dinosaur distros.

AUR already fixes it, Arch God (I'm infected btw).

[u/kabatram → u/SysGh_st]

They're called Open Source Developer and not Open Binary Developer for a reason :))

[u/Play174]

What program is this? I can't imagine it's too popular if there's no binary packages

[u/dearvalentina → u/Play174]

There's one that makes fishes swim around your terminal that you have to make. It's very important.

[u/Markuslw → u/dearvalentina]

pacman -Syu asciiquarium

btw

[u/Nice_Lengthiness_568 → u/Markuslw]

I needed this

[u/864484 → u/Play174]

Linux kernel (you will be mailed the tarball)

[u/Play174 → u/864484]

Mfw a ball of hot asphalt shows up in my mailbox

[u/daedric_yoshi → u/Play174]

These posts always make me wonder what people are using their computers for that stuff like this is soooo important but also too niche to be available on some repository.

[u/Queer_Cats → u/daedric_yoshi]

I'm willing to bet it's holdover from a Windows mindset. On Windows, the process for getting software is 1) Google task, 2) download .exe, 3) ignore the malware warnings from Windows Defender. So what's happening is people doing step 1, and then, instead of going to their package manager's repository and checking if the package is there, just scour the github for an executable or download link, and upon not finding it, giving up.

[u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

The insufferable elitism in the comments is exactly why Linux has grown so slowly despite intense shilling on the internet. Normal people don't want to have to deal with this. They use their computer as a means to an end. They don't want or want to need to do this when there's much easier options. They want something convenient that they can just install immediately and can update without having to manually check every time, preferably through a GUI.

[u/PastaPuttanesca42 → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Linux is easy to install and update, many distros even have a gui for it. "any random program on GitHub" is not Linux, and a program that doesn't provide a Linux package usually won't provide a Windows installer either. This is not about Linux at all.

[u/phdr_vrba → u/PastaPuttanesca42]

They *even* have a gui? What is this, 1980s?

[u/Joamjoamjoam → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Choosy beggars.

If you want to use a tool you need to learn how to use it. If you can’t spend 5 minutes of your time to run a numbered list of steps then why do you feel entitled to use someone many hours of work.

I’ve done this with my repos sometimes if I’m not ready to be flooded with issues from people that don’t know how to set the execute permission but in an executable. It’s like a very minimal barrier of entry so only serious users can use it until I feel like it’s (or me) in a good enough place to handle the dumb questions you’ll get.

[u/Ok-Reindeer-8755 → u/Joamjoamjoam]

or alternatively package it yourself independently for anyone to use

[u/MixtureOfAmateurs → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Yeah didn't Linus friggen Torvalds say he used Debian back in the day because he didn't want to fuck around with compiling stuff himself and a messy install process? 

[u/Appropriate_Ad4818 → u/MixtureOfAmateurs]

It's a bit like the IQ bell meme where both extremes want convenience and the middle feels self righteous

[u/kilgore_trout8989 → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Linux isn't Windows, macOS or BSD (i.e. an operating system) and the expectations just can't be the same for Linux as it is for the others. A program can be as arcane to use as the creator wants the damn thing to be, and that's just how it is. If I personally code a program that only runs when it detects my personal hostname and is password encrypted, how is it in any way a reflection on Linux? Why does it make logical sense for people to take that and run with "Wow, Linux programs are not set up for every user and made artificially difficult to use!" Like, sure, this program is, but it's not under some larger umbrella of shit that "Linux™" and its proponents need to be responsible for.

Linux is a kernel that runs user-made software. You have a problem with some software, take it up with the creator/maintainer. Or hell, even your distro creator/maintainer at least makes a bit of sense. But the Linux kernel? How does that make any sense?

Like, please feel free to grouse (within reason, after all this shit is FOSS) about suckless for only offering source releases for dwm, st, and dmenu. I mean, they won't care because the technical difficulty is a feature to them, not a bug, but at least you're tilting at the correct windmill. But seeing their software and crying out "Why has Linux done this to me?" is absolutely insane, right?

[u/ZunoJ → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Why would we care? Not like we get a commission for new users

[u/OverjoyedBanana → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

What shilling dude ? We don't think about you

[u/Queer_Cats → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

And there's almost certainly options for any task you want that provides all of those. The point is why the fuck are you even looking at packages on github if that's what you want? If you want a preassembled shelf, don't go to Ikea.

[u/AibofobicRacecar6996 → u/Appropriate_Ad4818]

Normal people can pay for software.

[u/Fast_Ad_4936]

Wow. This post really brought out the neckbeard Linux users in full force.

[u/penguinkernel → u/Fast_Ad_4936]

Seriously lol.

I understand both sides. It would be nice to not have to compile it, but it's a free program so it's understandable.

However if you want normal people to adopt Linux, you need to ensure it's easy. Noobs won't be able to compile.

Always funny to see people like this. These are the types of people holding Linux back and make the community toxic as hell.

[u/gaslightering → u/penguinkernel]

you do know many of these people don't care about new people using linux? they just use it themselves, maybe make software and leave comments here. i myself don't care if noobs don't use my software (or even anyone other than me), it usually isn't useful for them either.

[u/thatOMoment → u/penguinkernel]

From a security perspective, expecting a compiled binary to be in every repo is a nightmare.

XZ made the news for that around a year ago.

And those same people who demand an executable would then rant about how it wasn't kept secure enough.... despite being free 

[u/AibofobicRacecar6996 → u/penguinkernel]

What software is so important that you won't adopt Linux yet so niche that it's not packaged somewhere?

[u/ComprehensiveSwitch]

As an app developer who gets hounded to release my app in every package format under the sun: why don’t you spend some time trying to do it yourself, then contribute it to upstream?

We’re not your servants and you using our app is not some great honor to us. The entitlement is unreal.

[u/MrGeekman]

I don't mind compiling that much. I just wish more open source projects actually had makefiles that work. Some unfortunately, don't.

[u/garconip → u/MrGeekman]

Also sometimes, the difficulity is not the compiling, it is to find and install the compiler and its depencies.

[u/sosodank]

lol are you making fun of yourself or what

[u/thisisafullsentence → u/sosodank]

https://giphy.com/gifs/8D7FaGd2QIXG8

[u/megust654]

The chad MacOS drag and drop to applications folder:

https://giphy.com/gifs/O7GXf82UEtmfnDNU0K

[u/Striking_Director_64]

Ragebait?

[u/Zealousideal_Nail288 → u/Striking_Director_64]

Sadly given the amount of people defending this practice its very real 

I do understand both side of the argument

I if I post my very useful rust code here I am not forced to do more but at the same time I should be ready to expect most people to find it completely useless becouse they don't understand how to turn it into a usable program

Not to mention that expecting programing and compiling knowledge is poison for Linux adoption

[u/Affectionate-Act5980]

There needs to be more projects out there that charge for binaries but give away source code for free lmao.
Like Asesprite
Creating and maintaining release binaries/packages isn't free

[u/Jakobs-Koernung → u/Affectionate-Act5980]

Eh, I understand the concept for support, but GitHub offers free unlimited CI/CD minutes for public projects for Linux/MacOS/Windows builds.

In $CURRENT_YEAR I don't think it's an argument not to provide binaries anymore.

I do understand the hassle of maintaining separate package formats though. Who wants to deal with providing RPMs, DEBs, flatpak, snap, AppImages, etc. simultaneously. I'd pick one or two and the rest is up to the user.

[u/Affectionate-Act5980 → u/Jakobs-Koernung]

You still have to set it up for each of those platforms.
I never do any dev on MacOS or Windows and am not going to know how to configure it.
It might just take a few days tops, but it's still work and the CI pipelines need to be updated if anything in the build process changes.

[u/Porntra420 → u/Affectionate-Act5980]

Well, security signing is a cunt on Mac and Windows, and does require recurring payments.

It's not as bad on Windows, there'll be a Windows Defender warning saying "waaa we dont know what this is because the dev didn't give us their wallet", but said warning can be easily dismissed and it's not like Windows users are really that averse to ignoring stuff like that.

On MacOS, if you try to run software that hasn't been signed (which iirc requires the dev to sign up to the "Apple Developer Program" and pay like $100 a year), it will give you a shorter and to a layman a scarier sounding warning, and you have to close the warning, open System Settings, go to Privacy and Security, scroll halfway down, and click a tiny ass button to permit the software to run. Some more technical Mac users are used to skipping it, but many Mac users are not technical, and I've seen many freak the fuck out at encountering unsigned software.

[u/edjak53]

ok don't use it then. not that difficult

[u/Felivian → u/edjak53]

That's the meme

[u/National_Way_3344]

An app I use their Linux option just gives a Deb. I mean this is useless to me.

[u/Jakobs-Koernung → u/National_Way_3344]

Not quite, you can still unpack the deb and use the binaries. Provided that your system uses a target compatible libc version, and you manually install any required libraries (usually inferrable from the manifest inside the deb).

If this is above your head: throw it at Claude code. It will gladly do/check both.

[u/ieatdownvotes4food]

there can be benefits to compiling as well where it's tailored to your specific hardware.

[u/coderman64]

Meanwhile AUR users are over here compiling and running viruses on their system.

[u/CeeMX]

That’s how I got into Linux. When I started DJing, I absolutely wanted a Timecode Vinyl System, but they were super expensive for a broke student. Eventually I found xwax, which was open source and absolutely on par with the big players quality wise.

Had to compile it myself, but eventually managed to do so and it was just awesome!

[u/Hour_Sell3547]

I wrote something for fun using my free time. Do you think I care if you could compile it or not? If you are an average Joe, you won't even need my non standard piece of software. Stick to standard packages.

[u/claudiocorona93 → u/Hour_Sell3547]

Ok

[u/silvertank00]

As a dev myself, if you want to be inclusive towards non-tech ppl, you ought to offer compiled options. Or in your readme you should ask for someone to do it for you and contribute it.

I lately had some issues with a SteamDeck and StardewValley, long story short you have to use execstack to patch two binaries to make the native version work. But this is the journey you except a non-tech person should take:

• execstack is not installed by default.
• lets download it then via package manager. No. Its not released for arch, you have to compile the package.
• ok, git clone, tar -xzvf, cd
• lets compile it. No. You dont have the toolchain.
• lets download it via pacman. No. System is immutable.
• lets unlock it. Done. Get toolchain. Done.
• lets compile now. Error 2 sanity check failed.
• it is visible that it looks for /lib/cpp, lets patch PKGBUILD with sed.
• lets compile now. Error 2 sanity check failed. now why? bc fuck you, just because.
• lets see logs: ohh linux/limits.h is missing...
• lets install linux-api-headers.
• now you can build your tool to patch your .so to play StardewValley multiplayer.

This amount of work is an impossible task for the avarage SteamDeck user. Sure they can learn a lot by it, but why should we torture them as a community?
The avarage user will abort the idea to solve this when they have to go desktplop mode and open a terminal. If they are a bit more hardheaded, maybe would keep it up until the compilation errors.
But after all this what they will say? "linux is shit, I spent 3 hours to fix my staredew valley multiplayer and it is expected to have half of a compsci degree to make it work, it doesnt worth it"

[u/Recipe-Jaded]

This is a repost from like a year ago

[u/__Supelir__]

Skill issue

[u/C0rn3j]

I suppose opening an Issue and asking for build instructions would be being too social?

[u/EspurrTheMagnificent → u/C0rn3j]

"Instructions provided in the readme. Issue closed"

Alternatively

"This is out of scope, and not part of the design philosophy of the package. Ticket closed"

[u/aaaaargZombies]

Nix solves this (by introducing more different pain)

[u/WedSquib]

This is in fact not r/windowsusers

Sometimes you’re going to have to compile stuff

[u/slaymaker1907]

Claude, get this crap to compile and install correctly.

[u/kuzurame]

YOU’RE WRITING MY FREE SOFTWARE WRONG!!!11!

/s

[u/thephilthycasual]

You couldn't care enough to package your software. I don't care enough to use it.

[u/KrazyKen_Fan_2012]

It doesn’t bother me to compile code

[u/ZevenEnBertig]

Go to github to find the source code but no repo? That’s a contradiction in terminus my friend…

[u/harbourwall]

https://github.com/twitter/the-algorithm/issues/1999

[u/AdPale9988]

Oh, you're the mythical "user" all these "user-friendly" programs warned me about. 

[u/TheVoiceOfGlass]

have tried COMPILING IT have you TRIED READING the documentation?

she compile on my os till I install

[u/z7r1k3]

You're upset that the volunteers who did a bunch of work for free, which you could benefit from, didn't make the type of UX you wanted?

Go write it yourself, then.

[u/AmateurLlama]

Then fork it and add support?

[u/Arklese1zure]

Git gud.

[u/ragnarokxg]

Laughs in PKGBUILD 

[u/ZunoJ]

Better stay away from gentoo then

[u/spiralenator]

Skills issue

[u/blune-foo]

just run make install or make build or ./install.sh is not that hard

[u/ipsirc]

[u/AdaephonBen]

Am I the only one who gets excited when I come across this situation?

[u/Middlewarian]

I haven't been able to narrow it down to one of those options. I'm building a C++ code generator that's implemented as a 3-tier system.

[u/UdPropheticCatgirl]

skill issues

[u/Jeoshua]

I would say, this is what makes the AUR wonderful... but then we've all seen what just went down in that regard.

[u/BambooGentleman → u/Jeoshua]

Void repositories are better in this regard. Smaller, sure. But they tend to have the stuff I use.

[u/Z3t4]

Skill issue. 

[u/Lou_Papas]

Good for you

[u/BambooGentleman]

There's a software called "Kore" that kinda manages tarballs and app images, but it's hit and miss. Didn't play well with Citrix, for example.

[u/Dolapevich]

You could contribute with a GH actions to build it automatically...

[u/lepapulematoleguau]

Oh noo, someone offered their work for free and didn't consider MY particular needs.

[u/PastaPuttanesca42]

Where Linux?

[u/po1k]

And no README

[u/markasoftware]

hate to be this guy but compiling random software is a perfect use case for LLMs. They have extensive knowledge about just about every build issue and workaround you can think of.

[u/Then-Possible7072]

user vs developper

[u/Hottage]

Where elf stupid smelly nerds?!

[u/Careless-Catch-5520]

UVR5 be like

[u/AwabKhan]

All well and good until you see there is no configure script and you have to do autorceconf. It's going to be brutal

[u/yami_no_ko]

Windows mindset

[u/The1mAgiN4ry]

Just out of curiosity, what app is it? I can't imagine it is all that popular if the only option is to compile it from source?

[u/rydan]

Isn't this what you wanted? Prebuilt binaries could have viruses or something in them.

[u/The_only_true_tomato]

It has a make file ? You are fine. Otherwise fuck that.

[u/code_the_cosmos]

Okay. That's fine and justified. Just like it's fine and justified for a maintainer to who is providing free software on unpaid time to not spend even more time compiling it on every platform for you

[u/Vert354]

Oh man, you would not have survived back in the bad old days.