Is there a decent installer for Linux?

[snorkel]

Is there a decent installer for linux that does not have a huge learning curve or cost a arm and a leg?
I wrote this nice app with Lazarus and I want to package it up, but trying to figure out how to deploy on Linux is taking more time than writing the app did.

Creating debian or RPM packages is a pain in the rear, sorry to say it, but it is.

[Leledumbo]

Try this one: http://sourceforge.net/projects/mseinstaller/

[snorkel]

That looks good for MSE apps on linux as they don't have deps other than a xserver.
Guess I will have to figure out the nasty debian and RPM mess :-(

[BigChimp]

Strange section to post in (why not post in the Linux section) but well...

FYI: Bernd/prof7bit is working on a Debian installer package for Lazarus that lets you package up a project and create .deb files; it is easily adaptable to at least windows/inno setup and should be adaptable to rpm as well, I'd think.
When I looked at it, it was quite far along, but I don't know whether he has finished it.

He mentioned it on the Lazarus mailing list, if you want more info.

Code:
https://github.com/prof7bit/LazPackager

[snorkel]

Strange section to post in (why not post in the Linux section) but well...

Because I was hoping a third party company or what not had come up with something...guess not.
Anyway I have seen the Lazpackage thing and it does have promise, but it still has a lot of issues, for example it will not work if your
project path has spaces in the names, no support or documentation on how to create a menu entry for gnome or kde.

There is this: http://installbuilder.bitrock.com/  but holy wow is it expensive....

[BigChimp]

http://wiki.lazarus.freepascal.org/Inno_Setup#Inno_Setup_for_Linux.2FOSX.3F
and
http://www.lazarus.freepascal.org/index.php/topic,14789.msg78576.html

If you don't want to write rpms or debs, you can write a shell script to install your program (e.g. install.sh) and package up the entire result in a .tar.gz.
Personnally, I would just follow one of the many tutorials for building debs and/or rpms... or more likely try to remove some bugs Bernd's work

[fabienwang]

Here is my point of view:

Just make a great app. People will make the package for their distro if your app is good.

[TurboRascal]

In my opinion, the best tool ever for installing on linux/Unix is still make When not using native package management that is... It's quite pleasant to use if you're not fearful of the console.

I was quite pleasantly surprised however when I saw you can actually base an entire package management on make (e.g. ports and pkgsrc on BSD systems).

[theo]

http://openbuildservice.org/
(not tested by myself)

[snorkel]

Thanks guys,
Coming from a Delphi/Windows world packaging for Linux is pretty foreign. When you are used to Inno setup which
is super easy and effective it can be pretty daunting.
My issue with most of these is they build from source, why can't I simply build a package from my already compiled exe file?
All my apps only have the exe and maybe a DLL or two. 

I guess I will just google around and see if I can find any decent walk through on how to create a binary only debian package.

[fretty1]

install jammer is an option,  but it does not make RPM or DEB files
it is discontinued but still available
http://www.installjammer.com/

[Ocye]

I guess I will just google around and see if I can find any decent walk through on how to create a binary only debian package.

Don't forget to run Lintian on the built deb package to make shure all requirements are met. IMHO, it's not the script that makes packaging difficult.
And if you try theo's recommendation about openbuildservice.org please report your experience.

[tonyw]

There are two very good installers for Linux - the Debian Package Manager and the RPM (nee  Red Hat) Package Manager. Like anything, including Lazarus, they do have a learning curve associated with them but compared with Windows Installer, they are easy...

It is important to be able to use them because if you are going to check dependencies on install and set all permissions correctly, etc, you need to use the package manager appropriate for your distribution (e.g. deb for Ubuntu, rpm for Fedora).

In practice both are really just extensions of GNU autotools (autoconf, make, etc) that build a project and install them into a virtual location and then package up the result into an archive that can be extracted and installed straight on to your target system.

Having used Installshield under Windows and the more powerful Wix before coming to debs and rpms, you wonder why MS made such a mountain out of installation. Once you understand what is going on, they really are easy to use.

[fredycc]

Maybe this works for you: http://code.google.com/p/laz-cross-setup-builder/

Regards

[BigChimp]

What tonyw said.