This post is part of the Google Code in 2015. The task was to Build the dekko app and run all testsuites. You can see the task here.
My System
Xubuntu 15.10 Wily Werewolf :
Dependencies Installation
First of all, I downloaded Ubuntu SDK with the help of this guide.
Then, I got the source code URL from Ubuntu Developers Site :
git clone https://git.launchpad.net/dekko
The source code was about 29 MB.
Next thing I did was read “HACKING.md” file. There was a section called “Building” in it. There were two steps :
- ensure we have the armhf click chroot created
- the click chroot is up to date and has required dependencies installed
The first step was not clear. So, I went to the “README.md” file and found that there is a group for Dekko in Telegram.
I chatted and found this page. Thanks to Dan Chapman. I also learnt that the “HACKING.md” file is no longer valid.
To build, the doc said :
If you just want to build & run Dekko on your desktop then you should use the run-desktop script with the --setup option.
<span class="pln">$ </span><span class="pun">./</span><span class="pln">scripts</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">run</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">desktop </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">setup</span>224 MB of archives need to be retrieved. It were the dependencies. That took a while :
The dependencies were successfully installed in a single try.
Building
I ran :
<span class="pun">./</span><span class="pln">scripts</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">run</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">desktop </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">with</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">uitk</span>It started to build :
There was this awesome little loading icon using ASCII chars to indicate the build process :
/ - | \ | /
Never saw such thing before. I should make a SVG animated image of this.
The building caused and error :
E: You must put some 'source' URIs in your sources.listI looked over the script file and found why the error is coming. It was because I have disabled all the “source code” repositories.
So, I reloaded the package list and tried again. This time it worked. After that, I ran :
<span class="pun">./</span><span class="pln">scripts</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">run</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">desktop</span>
to run Dekko app. Now, it was compiling :
And finally Dekko ran :
Running Testsuites
As per the doc, I ran this :
<span class="pun">./</span><span class="pln">scripts</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">run</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">desktop </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">tests</span>The tests were started :
The testsuites was successfully finished :
Problems Faced
-
The file “HACKING.md” was outdated in the Git repo. I had to find the better documented page from Dan Chapman – maintainer of Dekko
-
<span class="pun">./</span><span class="pln">scripts</span><span class="pun">/</span><span class="pln">run</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">desktop </span><span class="pun">--</span><span class="pln">with</span><span class="pun">-</span><span class="pln">uitk</span>The requirement of the above command to work is that the “Source Code” repository should be enabled.
I had them disabled and it didn’t work on my system. Everything worked after it was enabled and when package list was updated
Suggestions
-
The “HACKING.md” file should be removed or updated
Dan Chapman said that he was planning to remove it. So, that’s OK
-
The doc should mention that the “Source Code” repository should be enabled for the building to be done successfully.
Conclusion
Dekko is neat, beautiful and well written. I could only find Dan Chapman active in the project. Still, the Dekko doc site and project looks awesome.
Can’t wait to get an Ubuntu Touch Phone.