[Scribus] Scribus 1.3.4 in Ubuntu amd64 repositories

Tue Aug 7 21:07:28 CEST 2007

* John Jason Jordan <johnxj at comcast.net> [2007-08-06 09:39:27 -0700]:

> > > In the instant case it depends on Ubuntu.  Ubuntu doesn't have the 
> > > stable version in its repository and therefore the user is stuck with 
> > > a mostly unusable unstable version.  Either he compiles from source 
> > > or does without Scribus.  
> > 
> > http://www.scribus.net/index.php?name=Sections&req=viewarticle&artid=4&page=1
> > 
> > indicates as Craig has outlined. debian and derivative users who want
> > stability should use the "scribus" package.
> 
> Oleksandr already pointed out that URL, and I had already found it
> myself. The problem is that the scribus.net and tagancha.org
> repositories do not work, at least not in my Feisty amd64 computer -
> the key is wrong, or Synaptic can't find the key. 

I don't provide amd64 package as my machine is i386. That's why I have the
source package rebuild instructions on the website. They should be pretty
straightforward and you'll end up with a package that can be installed without
polluting your system as could happen with self-compiled software in many
cases.

> I should also add that the screenshots of Synaptic and the detailed
> instructions on that URL are for a rather old version of Synaptic, or
> at least not the one I have in Feisty. This does not matter to me, as I
> know how to add a repository, but for less skilled debianistas it could
> be a problem. Even for me it was confusing, because when I was unable
> to add the repositories I scrolled down to the detailed instructions
> hoping to find that I had missed a step or something. But the
> screenshots and instructions were useless to me. Perhaps updating that
> page should be added to the to-do list.

I've used the latest Synaptic available in Debian/unstable for creating those
instructions/screenshots. If Ubuntu has modified their version a lot from the
Debian one I wouldn't know as I don't run Ubuntu on my workstation.

> I should add that the problem with the key is that current versions of
> Synaptic and System > Administration > Software Sources (the latter is
> just an extraction of the "add repository" code from Synaptic), do not
> allow me to paste in a key. The only way to add a key is to "import"
> it. The Import Key button expects a file on my hard drive. I think
> there is a file on my computer somewhere that contains the list of
> repositories, but I can't remember what it's called. 

No, I think it expect an ascii armored key file that you can create by
exporting the Scribus Archive key from gpg. Again, my instructions at
debian.scribus.net must work as they've been verified over and over again:

"Steps to import the archive gpg key

1. Fetch Scribus archive key:
 gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys EEF818CF
2. Import Scribus archive key into apt-key:
as root:
 gpg --armor --export EEF818CF | apt-key add -
or as a normal user via sudo:
 gpg --armor --export EEF818CF | sudo apt-key add -
Run apt-get update after this operation to check that the key has been installed correctly.
apt-key list
command will show the currently available keys. Make sure that it lists
pub 1024D/EEF818CF 2007-02-28
uid Scribus Debian Archive Signing Key <debian at scribus.info>
as one of the keys. For added assurance you may validate that you installed the correct key by comparing the key's fingerprint to
pub 1024D/EEF818CF 2007-02-28
 Key fingerprint = C434 E100 AEFC B7D8 7D6B D3EB 5BC4 CFB8 EEF8 18CF
uid Scribus Debian Archive Signing Key <debian at scribus.info>

> Perhaps I could
> add the key manually in there. As it stands, if I add (e.g.) the
> tagancha repository, when I reload the list I get a popup that says "W:
> GPG error: http://debian.tagancha.org feisty Release: The following
> signatures couldn't be verified because the public key is not
> available: NO_PUBKEY 5BC4CFB8EEF818CF."
> 
> As for the "scribus" package, for Ubuntians that would be 1.2.5-1,
> which is pretty old. But more importantly, the comment brings up a
> different issue: How stable is stable? In the world of commercial
> software upgrades are few and far between, but generally include a lot
> of new features. The pattern is to release a new version only every
> couple of years, with massive testing to ensure that only a minor patch
> or two will be needed after release. The open source world works on a
> different schedule. Upgrades tend to be very frequent, involving few
> new features each time, and there is little testing. Indeed, the early
> adopters *are* the testers.

This is partially my fault as I'm not very good at debugging mips/mipsel
gcc/libc problems on the assembly level which is where the build of "scribus"
package fails on those architectures, which in turn is why scribus is still
1.2.5 on Debian and as a consequence Ubuntu. I've been trying to work this
out, but this is a very complex problem.

> I am not complaining here. (I have to add that comment because so far
> everyone has assumed that I am complaining about Scribus, which is not
> the case.) I am merely noting that there is a difference in the way
> development proceeds. In the case of Scribus, it is difficult for me to
> tell how stable a given release is. Case in point: I was happily using
> 1.3.3.8 and it was pretty darn stable. There was an occasional glitch,
> but it never crashed and I felt confident using it for production work.
> I was using it to learn Scribus and I had two projects that were in
> progress. Both are relatively simple and could be redone in another
> program if it were absolutely necessary - a book cover and a four-page
> flyer.
> 
> And then Ubuntu's Update Manager announced that version 1.3.4 was
> available. That it had been added to the Ubuntu repositories signaled
> to me that it had reached the stability level of 1.3.3.8. Therefore, I
> let Update Manager install it, and now here I am with an unusable
> Scribus.* Even that is not such a big deal, if I only had the option of
> returning to 1.3.3.8, but Ubuntu has removed the 1.3.3.8 (amd64) .deb
> from the repositories, and I can't find it online anywhere. Not only
> that, but I can't find a .deb for 1.3.3.9 or 1.3.3.10 either. I did
> find a 1.3.3.6, but there's something wrong with the file, as it won't
> install. Perhaps resolving the problem with the tagancha and scribus
> repostories would help. 
> 
> *In 1.3.4 the problem is that styles are completely broken. Not just
> importing styles from a document created in 1.3.3.8, but I am also
> unable to create a new style in a brand new document correctly. No
> matter what I do I can't get font size and leading to work properly.
> That's a showstopper.
> 
> In sum, there are two issues I am talking about: solving my personal
> problem of getting back to 1.3.3.8, and a philosophical issue of when a
> new release should be added to repositories, how it is labeled, and how
> to make it easy for those using the ng releases to go back to a
> previous version when they discover that the new one is more beta
> testing than they are able to tolerate.
> 
> At the moment, I just want to find the 64-bit .deb for 1.3.3.8.

If everything else fails or you don't want to follow the instructions anymore
just use your browser to go to
http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/dists/feisty/main/source/. Grab 
scribus_1.3.3.9.dfsg-1.diff.gz
scribus_1.3.3.9.dfsg-1.dsc
scribus_1.3.3.9.dfsg.orig.tar.gz 
unpack and build your own amd64 package, which you can then install with dpkg.
Alternatively, ask on this list and someone can rebuild it for you. I know
some people here used to provide amd64 rebuilds to me, which I'd then put into
our repositories.

Alex.