Building and Packaging Applications for SUSE Linux

From Developer Community

1 Building C and C++ Applications
2 Building Java Applications
- 2.1 GCJ and GIJ
- 2.2 Ant
3 Creating RPMs
4 Build.RPM
5 openSUSE Build Service

Building C and C++ Applications

SUSE Linux includes a very powerful suite of development tools for C and C++ development from GNU. Some of these tools include:

GCC - The GNU Compiler Collection, which is used for compiling C and C++ applications
GNU Make - A GNU utility that reads and interprets Makefiles to build applications
GDB - The GNU Debugger, used to debug C and C++ applications
GNU Autotools - A suite of GNU tools, including automake, autoconf, and libtool, that simplify the process of addressing platform dependencies in applications

If you are planning to develop C or C++ applications for SUSE Linux, you will definitely want to become familiar with gcc, gnu make, and gdb. We also recommend you take a serious look at the GNU autotools, especially if you believe that your software will need to run on different architectures or platforms.

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Creating RPMs

The standard packaging mechanism for software packages on SUSE Linux is RPM. RPM provides a database of installed packages so you know what software is installed on your system, and which files were installed as a part of a package. It also helps you to manage dependencies between packages and greatly simplifies the installation process. Other products for SUSE Linux, like ZenWorks Linux Management and YaST, make use of RPM technology to simplify software installation and maintenance.

Whether you are writing open source software, proprietary software for sale, or enterprise software to be used only in house, we believe you will want to learn and leverage the power of RPM for your applications. Doing so will greatly simplify the installation and maintenance procedures and make your software more appealing to your audience.

Read Building Packages for Novell's Linux Products for detailed information on creating RPMs.

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Build.RPM

SUSE Linux includes a tool called Build.RPM (or sometimes just "build"). Build.RPM is used in the development and testing of RPMs to make sure they are enterprise-ready.

One of the problems in creating an RPM is that it is usually done on a workstation that does not necessarily represent the target environment for the RPM. Build.RPM helps you address this problem by attempting to rebuild and repackage your RPM in a pristine environment. This helps to make sure that your RPM includes all of the correct source code, that the build process is correct, and that you have specified all of the appropriate dependencies for your RPM.

For more information, read Beginner's Guide to Using Novell SUSE Linux's Build Utility and Using Build.rpm to Package an Open Source Project.

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