Flatpak is not the only option, you can also build from source. It does take some work to set up the dependencies for building and the build tools, but once done, you should be able to easily build each new version as they come out. Setup should take maybe 15-30 minutes depending on any errors or stumbling blocks. (which as you know can translate into lots of research time)

It is a good way to learn the various install tools though, which are useful in any case. The GnuCash wiki building instructions are very thorough and (from what I find) complete. You do have to read them carefully. I'd read them all (with links) at least through to the end at least once. Then you can see your starting point and start issuing commands to set up the build environment and then the build itself.

Flatpak avoids that with the caveat of a larger download and the aforementioned sandbox quirks you'd need to work around. (if they present a problem)

With both approaches, you won't get automatic updates. You'll have to either build again, or download a new Flatpak and install it. There are ways to 'tell' apt about manually built software, but I've never done it and am not sure what advantage there is in doing so. I don't think there is anything similar for Flatpak.

The executable path on Debian (and likely most distros) is:

  /usr/bin/gnucash

Concerning your error message, that looks like you were in the process of building the app and it didn't complete.

Do you have source code repos turned on? You shouldn't need them. A simple:

  apt install gnucash

should do the trick.

And if that install works correctly, you should see a GnuCash entry in whatever App menu your desktop provides. If the standard Gnome, hitting the Super (Windows) key will give you a search field where you can type "Gnucash" and it will display the launcher. You can also click the dot grid on the dock for an overlay of all apps. (XFCE, LXQt, KDE, etc. all provide more traditional 'start' menus) If you don't see an entry for GnuCash after installation, something went wrong.

Finally, you might be in a situation where your system is in such a state that you either need to trace down and fix any installation/upgrade issues with the base OS, or do a backup and fresh install from a newly downloaded ISO. Be certain to do a full backup. Config and Preference files you may have changed over the years can lurk in unexpected places, and you'll be glad you have a copy to refer to. Also investigate how to obtain a list of all installed software. At the least, it gives you a reference to work from when re-installing, but some procedures even make it easy to re-install everything. (just newer versions)

Regards,
Adrien

On 8/24/20 9:56 PM, John Angelico wrote:
Thanks Adrien.

Is Flatpak the only way to get 4.x onto a Debian system?

I have cleared out my 2.6.12 version (a local build which apt did not see
at all) by hand, after uninstalling 3.4 from the repo.

I then reinstalled 3.4 using apt but it won't start. I see my cursor
indicating something waiting but nothing appears on screen.
The Task manager doesn't show any activity either. When I start from a
terminal (still can't find the path to the executable, though) this is what
I see:
---
~$ gnucash

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.047: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5597:11: Not using units is deprecated. Assuming 'px'.

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.047: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5597:14: '0' is not a valid color name

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5831:14: '202020' is not a valid color name

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5846:20: Junk at end of value for border-width

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5871:20: Junk at end of value for border-width

(gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
gtk.css:5898:20: Junk at end of value for border-width
**
gnc.gui:ERROR:/build/gnucash-9jHHoN/gnucash-3.4/gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-main-window.c:3676:gnc_main_window_setup_window:
assertion failed: (filename)
Aborted
---

Do I have an incomplete install?

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