On Mon, Jun 05, 2006 at 05:22:44PM EDT, Marvin Renich wrote: > * A.J.Mechelynck <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> [060605 03:04]: > > cga2000 wrote:
[..] > > Compiling is not hard, but there are already Debian packages with Vim > 7.0, so you can simply install them (they may not be quite as up-to-date > as the svn repo, but they should be very close ATM). > The default debian vim package is probably quite suitable. I encountered problems when I decided I couldn't live without a 256-color terminal. And I couldn't find a 256-color terminals available as a debian binary. > I will assume that you, as a relatively new Debian user, are running > stable (sarge). Yes. But the main reason is that I am a new Debian user on a laptop :-( I spent a couple of months trying to convince that I have a NIC - some 3Com PC card that's pretty much standard on 5-year old laptops and that sarge has no problems with.. I gave up.. > The vim 7.0 packages are in unstable, and were compiled > against a libc6 which is in testing, which complicates things just a > bit. > > There are two ways to attack this problem. The first is to download the > .deb files manually (from a web browser), and then install them with > dpkg. The second is to adjust your /etc/apt/sources.list to include > testing and unstable, then just use aptitude to do the work for you. > > First, the dpkg way: > > 1. Download the .deb file for vim (or vim-gtk, vim-perl, or whichever > variant you want). > > a. Browse to http://package.debian.org/vim (or vim-gtk...). This > will show the versions available in oldstable, stable, testing, > and unstable. > b. Click on unstable, which will take you to the page for that > version of vim. > c. Halfway down the page it says "Download vim" and has a table > with the different architectures. Click on your architecture > (perhaps i386 or amd64?). > d. This will bring you to a page with a list of mirrors. Click on > the mirror of your choice to download the .deb file. > > 2. Repeat step 1 for vim-common, vim-runtime, libc6, and libncurses5, > downloading all of the .deb files into the same directory. You can > use the version in testing for libc6 and libncurses5, I believe. > > 3. Type "dpkg -i" followed by the filenames of all of the downloaded > .deb files (all on one line). If I have not made any mistakes in > manually following dependencies, this will give you Vim 7.0. ;-) Very clear explanation. What I am worried about when doing this sort of thing is that since I don't know the debian packaging system this may have side-effects that will bite me at some point in the future. In other words I do not understand the implications. Such as what happens to my current vim 6.4 install? Obviously you would know how to handle any problem that might crop up at some point in the future.. I wouldn't. > > If you occasionally want newer versions of some packages, but want to > keep most packages from stable, you can add testing and unstable to > your sources.list file, but identify stable as your preferred > distribution: > > 1. Edit /etc/apt/apt.conf (this file may not yet exist). Add the > following line: > > APT::Default-Release "stable"; > > It is important to use stable rather than sarge, due to how apt > identifies which release a package is from. Also note the > semicolon at the end. > > 2. Edit /etc/apt/preferences (this file probably will not yet exist). > Add the following three lines (if there are already other entries, I > think you need a blank line between this group of three lines and any > other group of lines): > > Package: * Pin: release a=testing Pin-Priority: 700 > > The purpose of this entry in preferences is to make sure that if > you select a package from testing, it doesn't try to automatically > upgrade it to unstable the next time you run aptitude. > > 3. Edit /etc/apt/sources.list. Add the following lines, substituting > your favorite mirror for ftp.debian.org: > > deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian etch main contrib non-free deb > http://ftp.debian.org/security etch/updates main contrib non-free > > deb http://ftp.debian.org/debian unstable main contrib non-free > > You can omit contrib and non-free if you wish. If you want to use > apt or aptitude to download source, duplicate each line, replacing > deb with deb-src. > > 4. Now run apt-get update or aptitude update or just run aptitude and > type u for update. It will download a whole bunch of new Packages > files. > > 5. Run aptitude (if you are not already there!) and navigate to vim > normally. Press enter to see the package info for vim (or vim-gtk, > etc.). At the bottom will be a list of available versions; select the > version you want (1:7.0-017+5) and press + to select it for > upgrade/install. The rest is normal aptitude usage. I've never used aptitude. I find the full-screen interface confusing so I settled on command-line apt-get. I can follow the above and globally it all makes good sense. What bothers me is that I don't like doing things that I don't understand. I think that running a debian system means that you must invest in seriously learning the packaging system. > > If selecting vim for upgrade results in some broken dependencies, you > may have to manually select some other packages for upgrade to fix the > dependencies. > > If you are going to add testing and unstable to your sources.list, I > highly recommend upgrading aptitude to the version in testing. This > version of aptitude has some very nice enhancements that are well worth > it. Not least of these enhancements is a dependency problem resolver > that makes it much easier to upgrade packages with dependency issues due > to mixed stable/testing/unstable systems. > > If you do upgrade aptitude, be sure to run "aptitude update" afterwards, > otherwise it will think that all of your packages are from untrusted > sources. > > If my instructions get you into hot water, let me know (on list or by > private mail) and I will try to help you out. Thanks. Excellent mini-howto. But this comes at a time when I just don't have even a few hours to dedicate to an upgrade. The only thing I can do right now is add Vim 7.0 to my Todo list. cga
