[Cialug] Custom distro CD's

[Nathan Stien]

On 1/30/07, Matt <cialug at flash.shanje.com> wrote:
> 3 - I dunno, the biggest drawback I find with packages is that it
> sometimes takes several weeks (from what I can tell) to get the latest
> version of SpamAssassin and ClamAV.  Building from source (make/make
> install) I can put it up live the day it's released.  Currently it's all
> done by hand, but I think I could automate it.

You can also download the source and build your own packages for it.
There is a handy tool called checkinstall [1] for some package
managers (rpm, deb, slackware) that can intercept system calls when
you're doing the "make install" step and automatically construct a
package for it.  You can then uninstall your custom-compiled app with
your normal package manager, or take that package to another machine
and install it there.  It's already packaged in Debian/Ubuntu, and
probably most other reasonable distros.

[1] http://checkinstall.izto.org/

So you could then have your CD be almost completely distro packages,
and then build your own SpamAssassin from source and build this
package.  Usage is simple:

cd proj-src/
make
sudo checkinstall make install

Above, proj-src is where you keep your source code for whatever
project you like to build from source.

I think it defaults to .deb, or maybe it's just smart enough to
realize I'm running Debian.  There are some commandline arguments to
have the "make install" command get its output redirected to a
temporary directory, so it just builds the package without really
writing any files to your system.

- Nathan

-- 
"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying
to find easier ways to do something." - Robert A. Heinlein