Build libxp6 on Ubuntu 24.04

build-libxp6-guide.sh

#!/bin/bash

# WARNINGS:
# (1) Do not run this script with sudo permissions
# (2) Ideally, run this script line by line (the sed commands span multiple lines, please run all the sed commands at once)
# (3) You should change the NAME_EMAIL value accordingly.
# (4) The libxp6 package is old and unmaintained. It may have security issues.
# (5) The package build scripts are getting old and unmaintained as well. They are using more and more deprecated features.
# (6) Warning (5) means that for 26.04 this script may not work anymore without changes
# (7) I am not really interested in making the changes for 26.04.

# Feel free to comment in this gist if you like

# Please write here YOUR name and email in "Full Name <[email protected]>" format.
# This information is included in the package metadata.
NAME_EMAIL="Sergio Oller <[email protected]>"


CURRENT_DATE=`date -R`

# Install dependencies
sudo apt update
sudo apt install devscripts nano debhelper quilt pkg-config libx11-dev x11proto-xext-dev libxext-dev libxau-dev xutils-dev

# Create a directory where sources will be downloaded, extracted and compiled. Packages will be built here.
mkdir workdir
cd workdir

# Download x11proto-print. This is a dependency from libxp6 that was removed from the archive as well.

dget -xu "https://launchpad.net/~zeehio/+archive/ubuntu/libxp/+sourcefiles/x11proto-print/1.0.5-2ubuntu2~22.04/x11proto-print_1.0.5-2ubuntu2~22.04.dsc"

# Modify debian/changelog:
# sed is used here as a "find and replace" tool
# We use -i to specify "inline", so the file is modified in place
# We use -e several times with several find-replace commands: "s/<find>/<replace>/g" (the /g means globally)
# We finally specify the debian/changelog file, which is what we want to modify here.
sed -i \
  -e "s/jammy/noble/g" \
  -e "s/22.04/24.04/g" \
  -e "s/Sergio Oller <[email protected]>/${NAME_EMAIL}/g" \
  -e "s/Thu, 29 Sep 2022 07:13:17 +0200/${CURRENT_DATE}/g" \
  "x11proto-print-1.0.5/debian/changelog"

# Build. The "-us -uc" options are to skip signing the package, if I recall correctly.
# Since you don't plan to publish the package you can skip creating a signature and signing it
(cd "x11proto-print-1.0.5" && debuild -us -uc)

# Install it
sudo apt install ./*.deb

# Download sources for libxp6
dget -xu "https://launchpad.net/~zeehio/+archive/ubuntu/libxp/+sourcefiles/libxp/1:1.0.2-2ubuntu1~22.04/libxp_1.0.2-2ubuntu1~22.04.dsc"

# Modify debian/changelog:
sed -i \
  -e "s/jammy/noble/g" \
  -e "s/22.04/24.04/g" \
  -e "s/Sergio Oller <[email protected]>/${NAME_EMAIL}/g" \
  -e "s/Mon, 19 Sep 2022 07:22:34 +0200/${CURRENT_DATE}/g" \
  "libxp-1.0.2/debian/changelog"

# Build
(cd "libxp-1.0.2" && debuild -us -uc)

# Install
sudo apt install ./*.deb