Prof Brian Ripley
2004-Nov-30 10:09 UTC
[Rd] Please don't assume a display for package installation
SciViews is the latest of several packages that need an X server to complete package installation. Please bear in mind that packages may get installed on a server with no display, yet run on client workstations with displays. If your package is intended to start a window when it starts up, please test for a display first (e.g. via capabilities("X11")). There are ways around this (running Xvfb, arranging a remote display) but they are tedious at best (and few machines come with Xvfb installed). -- Brian D. Ripley, ripley@stats.ox.ac.uk Professor of Applied Statistics, stats.ox.ac.uk/~ripley University of Oxford, Tel: +44 1865 272861 (self) 1 South Parks Road, +44 1865 272866 (PA) Oxford OX1 3TG, UK Fax: +44 1865 272595
Dirk Eddelbuettel
2004-Nov-30 14:09 UTC
[Rd] Please don't assume a display for package installation
On Tue, Nov 30, 2004 at 09:09:23AM +0000, Prof Brian Ripley wrote:> SciViews is the latest of several packages that need an X server to > complete package installation. > > Please bear in mind that packages may get installed on a server with no > display, yet run on client workstations with displays. If your package isOr are built in a chroot / batch mode setting without $DISPLAY. I had two or three CRAN/BioC packages fail as well when I auto-built over 500 packages (i.e. all not yet available as Debian binaries) for the newest Quantian (which is currently being uploaded; takes some 20 to 24 hours on my capped domestic broadband line).> intended to start a window when it starts up, please test for a display > first (e.g. via capabilities("X11")). > > There are ways around this (running Xvfb, arranging a remote display) but > they are tedious at best (and few machines come with Xvfb installed).Yes, would be nice to fix this. Dirk -- If your hair is standing up, then you are in extreme danger. -- usafa.af.mil/dfp/cockpit-phys/fp1ex3.htm