Keeping gnumeric current on Fedora Core 3



Fedora Core 3 comes with a 1.2.x version of gnumeric, but the requirements listed on the gnumeric site suggested that the requirements for the latest 1.4.x were satisfied. To preserve the sanity of the system, I decided that I should build an RPM although I have never done a project this large in rpm. To guide this task, I got the Source RPM for the version that was installed so that I could examine the gnumeric.spec. The comparison between that file and the one in the 1.4.x tarfile was instructive:

(1) You say, "don't even think about making a gnumeric-devel", but they create one anyway.

(2) They seem to exclude optional features to avoid having to require them for the binary RPM.

(3) You built a manpage and installed it in the right place, but forgot to include it in your list of files for the package.

Other than that, it was clear that both files were aiming to do the same thing.

Before starting, I installed all packages mentioned on your site, in the README file of the tarfile, or as a requirement in the spec file. These three lists weren't completely in sync, though most of the differences appear to be among optional features. I think I managed to get a successful build, but I haven't tested it yet. The requirements for the 1.5 include newer versions of some packages than are included in Fedora. Can these packages be upgraded without breaking something? (I ask because upgrading the freetype2 library on my previous system broke gnomeprint.) Since the 1.5 series is supposed to be a "testing" version, can it live beside a stable 1.4.x that is used for production work?
--RT Bumby
 Rutgers Mathematics Department




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