[MPlayer-users] Re: Recoring this *.ram to WAV with mplayer works while logged in but not from at.

[The Wanderer]

Adam Funk wrote:

> On 2006-04-11, Corey Hickey <bugfood-ml at fatooh.org> wrote:
> 
>> The Wanderer wrote:

>>> Unless you try to install Debian packages which depend on the
>>> MPlayer package (unlikely, since the MPlayer package itself is
>>> unofficial), there should be no problems with having MPlayer
>>> installed via a non-deb means; I've certainly never had any
>>> problem with it.
>> 
>> It's very easy to compile your own Debian package of mplayer.
>> 
>> 1. Get mplayer source as usual.
>> 2. Run ./configure and look at what drivers/codecs are enabled.
>> 3. Install libraries and -dev packages for drivers/codecs you want.
>> 4. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until you're happy.
>> 5. $ export DEB_BUILD_OPTIONS='--options-you --pass-to-configure'
>> 6. fakeroot debian/rules binary
>> 7. Install any necessary debian-building packages if step 6 fails.
> 
> But what would be the advantage to me of doing all that to make and
> install a binary package over just compiling the source code and
> doing make install?
> 
> The benefits of binary packages for distribution are obvious to me,
> but what are the benefits of making a package for the machine you
> could just directly compile install the software on?

There is only one benefit that I know of: if you later want to install a
package which claims to depend on the program you have compiled
yourself, it will see that you have installed a package containing that
program and *may* accept that as satisfying its dependency.

IO (though possibly not less cunfusing) W: if you later want to install
such packages as xmms-xmmplayer or mozilla-mplayer (which contains
mplayerplug-in) or the like, having created and used the .deb file and
installed that should tell the installing program that MPlayer is
already on your system.

I do none of it, myself - I just compile the source and "su -c 'make
install'". The principles are the same, though.

-- 
       The Wanderer

Warning: Simply because I argue an issue does not mean I agree with any
side of it.

Secrecy is the beginning of tyranny.