Debian Question

[chip33az at netscape.net]

Matt Graham wrote:
> From: Mike Bydalek <mbydalek at compunetconsulting.com>
>   
>> chip33az at netscape.net wrote:
>>     
>>> Most of the programs I can use the default Etch with no issues, but 
>>> there are some I would like to either install myself or compile myself. 
>>> For example, I would like the latest GNUCash (helping me with my 
>>> accounting class) and Iceweasel and Icedove.
>>>       
>
>   
> https://wiki.ubuntu.com/PackagingGuide/Basic?action=show&redirect=HowToBuildDebianPackagesFromScratch
>
>   
>> and http://www.debian.org/doc/maint-guide/index.en.html
>>
>> * Download the latest tarball
>> * Apply the patches from either Debian or Ubuntu (usually I do Ubuntu 
>> but you can try the Debian ones since you're concerned about stability, 
>> etc.)
>> * run dpkg-buildpackage -rfakeroot
>> * Check for errors, etc.
>>     
>
> One caveat with the latest GNUcash:  IIRC, it required a bunch of newer
> GTK+/GNOME packages.  At least building GNUcash 2.2.3 on Gentoo had a
> lot of dependencies.  And you're going to have to install a large number
> of *dev packages to build it from source.  Also, I haven't seen any real
> functional improvements in going from GNUcash 2.0.n to 2.2.3.  Then
> again, I'm not using the more complicated things that it can do.
>
>   
I brought up a new Debian Etch machine today to see how it would handle 
the GNUCash 2.2.4 and besides being a lot of dependencies to add, it was 
able to build the newest version and I was able to test the "closing 
books" feature.  Very nice.  All Income and Expense accounts were 
written to the Equity account.  This shows what happened last year and 
also zeros the accounts so it looks better for this year.

I was also able to get Truecrypt 5.0 installed, a little difficult to 
do, but it worked.

I'm psyched.

Thanks.