Does my DEB file contain any errors? [closed]

Question

I am a new user to Ubuntu in general but I love programming, alot!

Well, I recently made a small application so as to exercise on C++, but especially on packaging (see this thread: ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?p=12032829) which is called Unity Launcher Creator and what it does is to create launchers for the Unity Launcher on the left of our screen on Ubuntu 12.4!

So, I'd like to have a look to my application, see if the deb file installs OK, I need your feedback.

Also, please tell me if you had any problems using the application, any modifications that would be good for the program to be done, but, especially, whether the DEB files installs and runs correctly (it works for me, but you never know)... You will find everything on the link provided above!

Thanks!

Answer 1

The lintian answer from Dylan is right on target.

I'd also suggest that you look into creating your own PPA. It's a permanent place on Launchpad to store your application. See How do I create a PPA?

When you upload your source to your PPA, launchpad will rebuild your .deb files on their build farm, and only with the minimum software your .deb file says it requires--another good test of the quality of your packaging. It will also show others what changes in your code between releases. You can double check the build logs the Launchpad build farm creates when the .deb file is created.

It's probably easier for many people to test your package with a PPA simply because they are often used. You can refer people to What are PPAs and how do I use them? to tell them how to add your PPA to their system.

Answer 2

You can use an application called Lintian to analyze your package and check it for common errors.

To run Lintian, open a terminal and enter lintian your_deb_file.deb. Any warnings or errors will appear in the output.

For example, here is Lintian's output for a package that needs some minor adjustments:

% lintian brainbreak_1.0_amd64.deb 
E: brainbreak: missing-dependency-on-libc needed by usr/bin/brainbreak and 1 others
W: brainbreak: binary-without-manpage usr/bin/brainbreak
W: brainbreak: binary-without-manpage usr/bin/brainbreak-settings
W: brainbreak: executable-not-elf-or-script etc/xdg/autostart/brainbreak-helper-autostart.desktop

From that example you can see that I should add libc as a dependency, I should maybe write some man pages (though this isn't strictly necessary), and I accidentally marked some files as executable even though they are not.

Software Centre will also display certain errors when it installs packages. So, make sure you fix as many problems as you can so people have a happy experience when they install your software.