Debian Packages Build Again

2026-10-27

Dear Linux users and packagers,

(intended audience: anyone who wants to install Gridarta on Debian or Ubuntu
as regular packages)

The Debian packaging in the debian/ directory works again. It had not been
touched since 2014 and still asked for Java 6, so "debuild" stopped right at
the start. You can now build installable .deb packages from a git checkout:

1. gridarta-crossfire, gridarta-atrinik and gridarta-daimonin - one package
   per editor, each with a start command (for example gridarta-crossfire), a
   desktop menu entry and a manual page.
2. gridarta-common - the shared configuration file and the main manual page.

The packages depend on the system's default Java runtime, so no separate
Java installation is needed.

To build them you need a distribution that still ships OpenJDK 11, for
example Debian 11 (bullseye), Ubuntu 22.04 or Ubuntu 24.04:

    sudo apt install devscripts debhelper openjdk-11-jdk-headless
    debuild -uc -us
    sudo apt install ../gridarta-common_*.deb ../gridarta-crossfire_*.deb

The build runs offline and uses JDK 11 even when your default Java is newer.
See "How to Build Debian Packages" in INSTALL for the details.

NOTE: we do not publish ready-made .deb files, and Gridarta is not in the
Debian or Ubuntu archives. Debian 12 (bookworm) and newer cannot build the
packages yet, because the included Gradle 5.3 does not run on their JDK 17;
that needs the planned Gradle upgrade.

Related change: if your default Java is newer than 11, "./gradlew" fails with
"Could not initialize class org.codehaus.groovy.vmplugin.v7.Java7". INSTALL
now explains how to select JDK 11 for a single command or for every build
("Selecting the JDK").

--
Rick Tanner (leaf)
gridarta-devel mailing list: https://sourceforge.net/p/gridarta/mailman/