"Install" failes due to fatal error

[Delphi123]

Dear friends:

After downloading the latest Linux source tarball version of XNView, I discovered a fatal error in the installation routine. Here is the error:

[root@localhost XnView-1.68-x86-unknown-linux2.x-static]# ./install
OS : Linux, version 2.6.9-5.0.5.EL
./install: line 26: syntax error near unexpected token `('
./install: line 26: ` uid=*(root)*)'
[root@localhost XnView-1.68-x86-unknown-linux2.x-static]#

I wrote to the author, but his message said that he was on vacation. So, I wrote to the Fedora mailing list (fedora-list@redhat.com) to ask for help. I received a message from Paul Howarth who instructed me how to correct this as follows:


Edit the install script and change the line:

uid=*(root)*)

to:

uid=*\(root\)*)


I edited the "install" file and XNView installed properly.

Thank you.

Benjamin

[David S.]

If you are using Fedora, the RPM might be the better choice for you because it is easier to uninstall later. But anyway, you could also have copied the files manually where they belong, I would have recommended to do that and copied the files below /usr/local because the install script copies them below /usr, but that is typically reserved for RPMs. But anyway, it its not even necessary to install XnView at all, it runs very well from its own directory if you use the included wrapper script instead of running the binary directly.

[Guest]

Dear David:

I prefer where possible to recompile the source. At any rate, with the error corrected, XNView installed perfectly. Just wanted to let you all know about the install error. An excellent program. Thank you.

Benjamin

[David S.]

I prefer where possible to recompile the source.

Where did you get the "source" to "recompile"?

At any rate, with the error corrected, XNView installed perfectly.

Yes, it's a shell script that copies the binaries to their location.

The RPM contains exactly the same binaries, but offers easier maintenance.