jeffery fernandez

To check what all libraries is an application linked to, run the ldd tool (available on most Unices):
ldd /usr/bin/qbittorrentThis should return you a list of libraries like:

linux-gate.so.1 =>  (0xffffe000)
libtorrent.so.0 => /usr/lib/libtorrent.so.0 (0xb7e98000)
libQtXml.so.4 => /usr/lib/qt4/lib/libQtXml.so.4 (0xb7e61000)
libQtGui.so.4 => /usr/lib/qt4/lib/libQtGui.so.4 (0xb7a43000)
libpng.so.3 => /usr/lib/libpng.so.3 (0xb7a1d000)
libSM.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libSM.so.6 (0xb7a14000)
libICE.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libICE.so.6 (0xb79fc000)
libXi.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXi.so.6 (0xb79f4000)
libXrender.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXrender.so.1 (0xb79ea000)
libXrandr.so.2 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXrandr.so.2 (0xb79e6000)
libXcursor.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXcursor.so.1 (0xb79dd000)
libXinerama.so.1 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXinerama.so.1 (0xb79da000)
libfreetype.so.6 => /usr/lib/libfreetype.so.6 (0xb7971000)
libfontconfig.so.1 => /usr/lib/libfontconfig.so.1 (0xb7941000)
libXext.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXext.so.6 (0xb7932000)
libX11.so.6 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libX11.so.6 (0xb7866000)
libQtCore.so.4 => /usr/lib/qt4/lib/libQtCore.so.4 (0xb7753000)
libz.so.1 => /lib/libz.so.1 (0xb7740000)
libdl.so.2 => /lib/libdl.so.2 (0xb773c000)
libpthread.so.0 => /lib/i686/libpthread.so.0 (0xb76ea000)
libstdc++.so.6 => /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6 (0xb760d000)
libm.so.6 => /lib/i686/libm.so.6 (0xb75e8000)
libgcc_s.so.1 => /lib/libgcc_s.so.1 (0xb75dd000)
libc.so.6 => /lib/i686/libc.so.6 (0xb74ae000)
libboost_filesystem.so.1 => /usr/lib/libboost_filesystem.so.1 (0xb749f000)
libboost_date_time.so.1 => /usr/lib/libboost_date_time.so.1 (0xb7492000)
libboost_thread.so.1 => /usr/lib/libboost_thread.so.1 (0xb7486000)
libXfixes.so.3 => /usr/X11R6/lib/libXfixes.so.3 (0xb7481000)
libexpat.so.0 => /usr/lib/libexpat.so.0 (0xb7461000)
/lib/ld-linux.so.2 (0xb7f9e000)
librt.so.1 => /lib/i686/librt.so.1 (0xb744e000)

qbittorrent being a QT based application and as you can see it clearly depends on libQtXml, libQtGui and libQtCore. Based on this information, I can now add those dependencies for the qbittorrent package alongside the libtorrent library. Most of the other libs are sub-dependant libraries.

NOTE: This also means qbittorrent is not statically linked to any of the above libraries. So if libQtGui was statically linked in qbittorrent, then it won’t appear in the above list and you don’t have to worry about it being a dependency for the qbittorrent package.

Ever built a Software which takes more than 8 hours to compile ? Well I had the opportunity to do so. I needed to build a project which was dependant on qt4.1.2 and there was no release for it being made in any Mandriva Repositories except Cooker.

So I embarked on the journey of building my own package for qt4. I managed to get hold of a spec file from the Mandriva CVS repository and then was shocked to see that it contained 27 sub-packages. There was no way I was going to sit down and do a trial and error build for this project. So I did some googling around and found this cool tool which could possibly do all the hard work for you. Its called checkinstall.
(more…)

Ever built an RPM as root user? Have you wondered about the implications if something goes wrong in your RPM spec file? Building RPM’s as root is dangerous, because the binary files are installed on the system before being packaged, thus you must always build as normal user so you won’t accidentally pollute your system. Over here I will show you how to setup your “own” RPM build environment.

To make this happen, RPM needs to use your own environment definitions rather that of the root user. You need to override the default macros RPM uses. The most important one is the %_topdir (which by default would point to /usr/src/redhat) macro. There are a few more customizations you can make to speed up your Spec file generation. Open up a shell and create a rpmmacros file:
(more…)

Often when you download and install software from the internet as an RPM package, have you thought about how trust worthy the packge is? Most download sites if they are genuine, list along side their downloads a link to a “trusted key”.

This trusted public key may belong to a vendor or an individual itself and be part of a “web of trust“. By being part of a trusted group we can make sure that any packages signed (GPG signed) by the owner of that key is authentic.
(more…)