CentOS - Jul 2008 - You didn't give me some packages, so now I'm giving you some! R, TexLive, LyX, Gnumeric, etc.

I want up-to-dateish versions of TexLive, R, gnumeric, emacs, but on a
more-or-less stable base of Centos-5.2.  I asked for packages in this,
but got no answers. So now I've built them and will let you try them
if you want. I used the source packages from Fedora 8 and 9.

I wanted TexLive because many of us have jumped ship to Ubuntu Linux
8.04 and it does offer TexLive, and the compatability across systems
became an issue.  With Centos5.2 shipping the years-out-of-date tetex,
we were seeing things compile differently across systems. Making
TexLive compile and install required a re-build with a newer version
of poppler, but not with the absolutely newest version of poppler.
Replacing poppler required a rebuild of evince.  After emerging from
dependency hell, it all seems OK.  I uploaded the src.rpm files for
the packages that I actually had to re-configure, even in the
slightest.  Otherwise, everything is in Fedora 8 or Fedora 9.

We use LyX to edit LaTeX, so I had to have a newer version, along with
pybliographic (which required recode).  We also use Emacs and auctex
to edit LaTeX, so those had to be built as well.

All of these packages were built on a stock Centos 5.2 system, with
all components as usual EXCEPT for the ones I provide below or the
packages that can be downloaded from EPEL.  As far as I can tell,
everything works as well as it does on Fedora, no better.

Go here in your web browser to look it over.

http://pj.freefaculty.org/Centos/

My PGP key is in the top directory

http://pj.freefaculty.org/Centos/PaulJohnson-BinaryPackageSigningKey

And under i386 you should see I've created an RPM repository.

I don't have any i686 machines for which I'm doing this work, sorry.

To use yum, I think you should specify the repository as

[kups]
name=Extra Packages for Centos Linux 5 - $basearch
baseurl=http://pj.freefaculty.org/Centos/$basearch
enabled=1
gpgcheck=1

Here is a package list (look under i386/kups/packages).

 R-2.7.0-5Centos5.2pj..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01  25.5M
 R-debuginfo-2.7.0-5C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   5.8M
 R-devel-2.7.0-5Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    93k
 aiksaurus-1.2.1-15.i..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   350k
 aiksaurus-debuginfo-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   283k
 aiksaurus-devel-1.2...> 22-Jul-2008 08:03     6k
 aiksaurus-gtk-1.2.1-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03    39k
 aiksaurus-gtk-devel-..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59     5k
 cairo-1.6.4-1.i386.rpm  17-Jul-2008 07:23   554k
 cairo-debuginfo-1.6...> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   904k
 cairo-devel-1.6.4-1...> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   168k
 dkms-openafs-1.4.7-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   958k
 dvipdfm-0.13.2d-30Ce..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   135k
 dvipng-1.9-30Centos5..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   103k
 emacs-22.2-4Centos5...> 22-Jul-2008 08:01   2.0M
 emacs-auctex-11.85-8..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   500k
 emacs-auctex-doc-11...> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   1.0M
 emacs-auctex-el-11.8..> 17-Jul-2008 22:31   355k
 emacs-common-22.2-4C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03  19.3M
 emacs-debuginfo-22.2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   4.6M
 emacs-el-22.2-4Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01  11.0M
 emacs-nox-22.2-4Cent..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   1.7M
 evince-2.20.1-1Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   1.2M
 evince-debuginfo-2.2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   1.1M
 gnome-doc-utils-0.12..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   275k
 gnome-doc-utils-styl..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   123k
 gnome-icon-theme-2.1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   3.4M
 gnumeric-1.8.2-2Cent..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03  11.7M
 gnumeric-debuginfo-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   5.9M
 gnumeric-devel-1.8.2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:05   102k
 goffice-0.6.2-1Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   1.4M
 goffice-debuginfo-0...> 22-Jul-2008 08:04   1.8M
 goffice-devel-0.6.2-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   301k
 info-4.11-5.i386.rpm    22-Jul-2008 08:01   166k
 kmod-openafs-1.4.7-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:10   228k
 kpathsea-2007-30Cent..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04   113k
 kpathsea-devel-2007-..> 22-Jul-2008 07:58   177k
 libRmath-2.7.0-5Cent..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01    93k
 libRmath-devel-2.7.0..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   121k
 libgsf-1.14.8-1Cento..> 17-Jul-2008 23:08   126k
 libgsf-debuginfo-1.1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01   416k
 libgsf-devel-1.14.8-..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   123k
 libgsf-gnome-1.14.8-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    15k
 libgsf-gnome-devel-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03     9k
 libgsf-python-1.14.8..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59    17k
 lyx-1.5.5-1.i386.rpm    22-Jul-2008 08:04   9.4M
 lyx-debuginfo-1.5.5-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02  31.7M
 lzma-4.32.0-0.6.beta..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    69k
 lzma-debuginfo-4.32...> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   207k
 lzma-devel-4.32.0-0...> 22-Jul-2008 08:00     6k
 lzma-libs-4.32.0-0.6..> 22-Jul-2008 08:05    20k
 mendexk-2.6e-30Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:05    44k
 openafs-1.4.7-1.1Cen..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   3.2M
 openafs-authlibs-1.4..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   186k
 openafs-authlibs-dev..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   226k
 openafs-client-1.4.7..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   508k
 openafs-compat-1.4.7..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02    14k
 openafs-debuginfo-1...> 22-Jul-2008 08:04  12.7M
 openafs-debuginfo-1...> 22-Jul-2008 08:10   4.2M
 openafs-devel-1.4.7-..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   946k
 openafs-docs-1.4.7-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04   3.4M
 openafs-kernel-sourc..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   971k
 openafs-kpasswd-1.4...> 22-Jul-2008 08:04   104k
 openafs-krb5-1.4.7-1..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01   132k
 openafs-server-1.4.7..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01   1.7M
 pixman-0.10.0-1.i386..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01    75k
 pixman-debuginfo-0.1..> 17-Jul-2008 07:22   274k
 pixman-devel-0.10.0-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    10k
 poppler-0.6.2-1Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   3.1M
 poppler-debuginfo-0...> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   3.2M
 poppler-devel-0.6.2-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   232k
 poppler-qt-0.6.2-1Ce..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01    28k
 poppler-qt-devel-0.6..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02    12k
 poppler-qt4-0.6.2-1C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04   143k
 poppler-qt4-devel-0...> 22-Jul-2008 08:05    22k
 poppler-utils-0.6.2-..> 17-Jul-2008 18:08    79k
 pybliographer-1.2.11..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   851k
 python-bibtex-1.2.4-..> 22-Jul-2008 07:58    38k
 python-bibtex-debugi..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00    90k
 recode-3.6-26Centos5..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   839k
 recode-debuginfo-3.6..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   1.2M
 recode-devel-3.6-26C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    13k
 teckit-2.2.1-3.i386.rpm 22-Jul-2008 08:02   322k
 teckit-debuginfo-2.2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:02   599k
 teckit-devel-2.2.1-3..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01   501k
 tex-preview-11.85-8C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08    53k
 texinfo-4.11-5.i386.rpm 22-Jul-2008 07:59   841k
 texinfo-debuginfo-4...> 17-Jul-2008 22:20   676k
 texinfo-tex-4.11-5.i..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   135k
 texlive-2007-30Cento..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   1.9M
 texlive-afm-2007-30C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    45k
 texlive-context-2007..> 22-Jul-2008 08:04    54k
 texlive-debuginfo-20..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   8.3M
 texlive-doc-2007-30C..> 22-Jul-2008 08:01    37k
 texlive-dvips-2007-3..> 22-Jul-2008 08:03   186k
 texlive-dviutils-200..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59   286k  ecd
 texlive-east-asian-2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:00   384k
 texlive-latex-2007-3..> 22-Jul-2008 07:59    76k
 texlive-texmf-2007-2..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   3.5M
 texlive-texmf-afm-20..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   6.2M
 texlive-texmf-contex..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08   3.1M
 texlive-texmf-doc-20..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   185M
 texlive-texmf-dvips-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09   388k
 texlive-texmf-east-a..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08   800k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08     3k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 17-Jul-2008 19:24     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:09     4k
 texlive-texmf-errata..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08     3k
 texlive-texmf-fonts-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08  56.6M
 texlive-texmf-latex-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08   6.2M
 texlive-texmf-xetex-..> 22-Jul-2008 08:08   227k
 texlive-utils-2007-3..> 17-Jul-2008 19:00   213k
 texlive-xetex-2007-3..> 17-Jul-2008 19:00   2.9M


-- 
Paul E. Johnson
Professor, Political Science
1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504
University of Kansas

On Thu, Jul 24, 2008 at 4:12 PM, Paul Johnson <pauljohn32 at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I want up-to-dateish versions of TexLive, R, gnumeric, emacs, but on a
> more-or-less stable base of Centos-5.2.  I asked for packages in this,
> but got no answers. So now I've built them and will let you try them
> if you want. I used the source packages from Fedora 8 and 9.

You might want to take a look at joining up with rpmrepo for
distribution of packages. Folks are (sometimes with good reason)
reluctant to use packages from individuals. Rpmforge/rpmrepo are
respected repositories, and you'll be able to take advantage of plenty
of developer expertise.


-- 
During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.
George Orwell

On Mon, Jul 28, 2008 at 6:39 AM, Brent L. Bates <blbates at vigyan.com>
wrote:
>     You might want to check out Scientific Linux:
>
>                https://www.scientificlinux.org/
>
> They include a number of things that CentOS doesn't, like `R'.  I
don't know
> if or how many of the other items you are looking for are on their site. 
Just
> check them out for yourself.  They seem to try to be more up to date on
some
> things than CentOS.  I hope this helps some.
>

I tried Scientific Linux and found I had to re-build the same things
that I rebuild for CentOS, including R, because their versions lagged
behind the cutting edge.  I switched to Centos hoping that the larger
user community would generate more contributions of updated packages
for other things, like gnumeric or such.  So far, that's not panning
out, but I still  have hope.  I am trying to find my way into the
rpmforge rpmrepo or rpmfusion or whatever it will be called.

You can compare the stuff I had to build with it

http://pj.freefaculty.org/ScientificLinux/5/i386/kups/packages/

and it is basically the same stuff I had to build for Centos:

http://pj.freefaculty.org/Centos/i386/kups/packages/

For Scientific Linux, I even had to build Firefox, which required
rebuilding yelp.

Maybe people will find this thread and suggest I try the Debian
off-shoots, like Ubuntu or Mint.  I've been doing that too.

I'm running Ubuntu on my laptop and it is closer to what I need than
Fedora or CentOS. It has a slower-changing kernel than Fedora, but
more up-to-date applications than Centos.  However,I am not installing
it  in our labs or on public machines because I find it harder to
secure.  On a workstation that I use personally, it is OK.  For
someone making the switch from Windows to Linux, Ubuntu may be the
preferred option.  But in a lab or on a widespread basis, there are
some things that hold me back.

1. The basic install of Ubuntu is less security conscious.  There's no
firewall in the default installation. (That is justified on the
grounds that no public services are offered in the default
configuration. The default iptables framework allows everything.
However, users can easily install services, without realizing that
there is no firewall.)  It doesn't (by default) secure the bootloader
with a password.  I noticed that default users have more privilidges
in Ubuntu than Fedora (they can use fuse file system).  Without having
a comprehensive knowledge of Ubuntu, I'm not sure how many other
"gotchas" are waiting. Maybe I've not found the CentOS gotchas
yet.

2. It includes too many invitations to ordinary users to add/remove
packages. If somebody tries to run something that is not installed,
the shell replies "you can install that if you type sudo apt-get
install xyz".  They can't do that, they don't have privileges.  The
Applications menu has an add/remove package program.  I don't want
users to be asked to do things for which they don't have privileges.
The whole design of the package manager is to not be automatic, but
ask for constant user intervention.  Not good with many machines.

3. I do not have as much faith in the deb packaging process.  For me,
this the biggest reason I'm hanging around in the RPM distributions. I
learned RPM building from the classic Maximum RPM, which is emphatic
about keeping the 'pristine source code.'  If you have never built a
Debian package, you will will be in for a surprise.  You can't even
build a Deb package unless you manually untar the source code and
create a directory inside it.  My experience is that it is much harder
to rebuild a debian package than it is to rebuild an SRPM.  Most of
the time, if you find an SRPM and you want to build it on your system,
it is as simple as "rpmbuild --rebuild whatever.src.rpm".   I
can't
find anything comparable to that for Debian.  It is always necessary
to open up the source package.

-- 
Paul E. Johnson
Professor, Political Science
1541 Lilac Lane, Room 504
University of Kansas