Packaging for Linux Distributions

[hyperdriveguy]

This issue will be on hold until 1.0. Packages will need to be made for various distributions, or maybe even an appImage

[probonopd]

Providing an AppImage would have, among others, these advantages:

• Applications packaged as an AppImage can run on many distributions (including Ubuntu, Fedora, openSUSE, CentOS, elementaryOS, Linux Mint, and others)
• One app = one file = super simple for users: just download one AppImage file, make it executable, and run
• No unpacking or installation necessary
• No root needed
• No system libraries changed
• Works out of the box, no installation of runtimes needed
• Optional desktop integration with appimaged
• Optional binary delta updates, e.g., for continuous builds (only download the binary diff) using AppImageUpdate
• Can optionally GPG2-sign your AppImages (inside the file)
• Works on Live ISOs
• Can use the same AppImages when dual-booting multiple distributions

Here is an overview of projects that are already distributing upstream-provided, official AppImages.

[jcarroll]

Another benefit of packaging would be to expand the user base by making installation easier.

Today I was able to install and run OpenGospel for the first time. My previous attempts failed. Here's what worked for me (Ubuntu 20.04 LTS):
To satisfy dependencies:
Python 3
sudo apt-get install python3
WebKitGTK
sudo apt-get install gir1.2-webkit2-4.0
Python GObject
sudo apt-get install -y python-gobject

Download and extract OpenGospel

• Green "Code" button > "Download zip"
  After following the instructions in the Readme file, OpenGospel ran but with no content.

To get the scripture text, I download and ran the "generator script."
Then, I moved the new "scriptures" folder into the following OpenGospel folder:
OpenGospel-master/generated-standard-works/

Now it's working!
I hope this is helpful to others who come after me.

[Crilum]

@jcarroll You can also just move the files in OpenGospel-master/scriptures.nephi.org into OpenGospel-master/generated-standard-works/scriptures, and rename index.html to main-menu.html.