thivnor
26th November 2008 00:26 UTC

Building NSIS on Debian / Ubuntu
I'm trying to compile NSIS on an Ubuntu 0.04 system. Everything is up-to-date, including scons, gcc, and python. I believe I have followed the instructions at http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Docs/AppendixG.html.

It seems the root problem is that I don't have an executable named "o" The key error is:

scons: Building targets ...
o build/release/makensis/build.o -c -Wno-non-virtual-dtor -O2 -Wall -m32 -D_WIN32_IE=0x0500 Source/build.cpp
sh: o: not found

I don't even know what "o" is ... there is no file on my system by that name. I suspect this is a scons glitch, and that somehow scons should be invoking cc or gcc. But I don't really know.

Does anyone know what is up with this?

I've attached a text file with all the details.

Also, FYI, I had to compile scons, as the package in the Ubuntu repository was just a twitch too old.

kichik
26th November 2008 07:01 UTC

It can't find gcc. But why build it on your own? NSIS is in Debian's package database.

thivnor
26th November 2008 21:49 UTC

Well, golly, using the Debian package would make things so ... simple. Where's the fun in that?

Seriously, kichik, you rock. Thanks for pointing out the error in my ways.

#apt-get install nsis

All set now, thanks!

thivnor
5th October 2010 15:34 UTC

This thread is old but still relevant.

Having NSIS available in Debian's package database is WONDERFUL.

However, it seems that only the most current Debian version is getting updates. For example Karmic Koala has NSIS 2.44, which lacks the Windows 7 fixes. My Debian, Hardy Heron, has NSIS 2.33 which is from 2007.

I don't know much about package maintainers or how to appropriately contact them. But it would be wonderful if we could be making current NSIS versions available for all supported Debian systems.

See https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/nsis or http://www.ubuntuupdates.org/pm/nsis for a listing of what Debian versions have what NSIS available.

Any suggestions on how to proceed?

kichik
5th October 2010 20:05 UTC

That's how Debian is. You never get the latest version of any package with Debian stable.

f0rt
5th October 2010 21:05 UTC

If you can not wait or update to Debian "Squeeze" respectively Ubuntu "Maverick Meerkat" then there is the option to build NSIS yourself.

Personally, I would recommend to take the latest available NSIS Debian source package from the testing ("Squeeze") repository as a basis for a so-called backport (recompiled package).

thivnor
5th October 2010 21:29 UTC

re: That's how Debian is.

Yuck.

re: there is the option to build NSIS yourself.

Yeah it sounds like I will have to do that.