Arch Linux User Repository

I tried to compile mepo but I end up with this error with makepkg :

==> Starting build()...
path/to/package/mepo/src/mepo-1.2.0/build.zig:16:34: error: expected struct or union; found '[]const u8'
        .source_dir = .{ .path = "scripts" },
                                 ^~~~~~~~~
referenced by:
    runBuild: /usr/lib/zig/build_runner.zig:232:22
    usage__anon_5129: /usr/lib/zig/build_runner.zig:242:13
    remaining reference traces hidden; use '-freference-trace' to see all reference traces

==> ERROR: A failure occurred in build().
    Aborting...

I guess the problem come from zig, but I don't get how to correct it ?

midv: The zig dependency version numbers have been temporarily removed, the build flag updated, and pkgrel bumped. I tested the updated pkgbuild on my system and it works as expected. Thanks for the heads up!

I managed to install 1.2.0 but it took a while to get there. I had to install zig-bin from AUR to satisfy the zig>=0.11 dependency. Then I had to change two things in PKGBUILD:

diff --git a/PKGBUILD b/PKGBUILD
index 96c3d1c..0a61a4e 100644
--- a/PKGBUILD
+++ b/PKGBUILD
@@ -8,8 +8,8 @@ arch=('i686' 'x86_64' 'arm' 'aarch64')
 url="https://git.sr.ht/~mil/mepo"
 license=('GPL3')
 depends=('jq' 'curl' 'zenity' 'xorg-xwininfo' 'geoclue' 'ncurses' 'findutils' 'sdl2_gfx' 'sdl2_image' 'sdl2_ttf')
-makedepends=('zig>=0.11' 'sdl2')
-checkdepends=('zig>=0.11')
+makedepends=('zig' 'sdl2')
+checkdepends=('zig')
 changelog=
 source=("$pkgname-$pkgver.tar.gz::$url/archive/$pkgver.tar.gz")
 sha512sums=('e01b19a578f9ffa340eac62e1db75495b424fe9bff98b9d25cf2c3cd6a402e8c756463582757bbd979aa927cd2e8c1ded2c25f6746851fb2a39a1257794fbbf3')
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ sha512sums=('e01b19a578f9ffa340eac62e1db75495b424fe9bff98b9d25cf2c3cd6a402e8c756
 build() {
   cd "$pkgname-$pkgver"

-  zig build -Drelease-safe=true
+  zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseSafe
   zig-out/bin/mepo -docman > mepo.1
 }

I had to temporarily remove the numbers because somehow zig-bin 0.11 couldn't satisfy version constraints in makepkg.

sayo: that would check out, considering i pushed a new pkgrel with updated checksums (i always run updpkgsums before pushing) on mar 22, then they changed again on april 1st. brycehenley reported the checksums changing back on the 3rd, so they shouldn't change now. i've validated this by building using the current pkgbuild and it passes the latest pushed checksums. a temporary fix would be to just skip the integrity check if this issue persists, but this wouldn't be ideal.

tl;dr the checksums shouldn't change again until the next package release

Regarding the checksum validation failures, it may be related to an issue SourceHut had with archive checksums between March 22nd and April 1st:

https://lists.sr.ht/~sircmpwn/sr.ht-announce/%3CCRM6OWV7GTWL.27CDG91BBXGW%40taiga%3E

The checksum of downloaded mepo archive keep changing somehow. About several weeks ago, my downloaded mepo archive doesn't pass checksum check of sha512sums=('bc65abf5d6fc4433d8b6ce4d7efa78f09239f70cc2ef816706ad81d5748132bcf3fa9ba50147cd7e633a9fd306fdb00e886b31b6645444b1b1e5906bf28e4eb7'). I waited about a week later and remove the old archive and re-downloaded it, somehow it passed. Then today I see the comments and find out the checksum of newer downloads changed again. This is very weird and I have no idea why.

All those mepo archive file I talked about are the same version from the same source. Unfortunately I already removed old files, otherwise we can compare those and see what's wrong.

brycehenley: that's embarrassing, i've updated the package sums and tested it myself now, the validity check should pass now. let me know if it doesn't and i can do some deeper debugging.

Validating source files failed

==> Retrieving sources...
  -> Found mepo-1.1.2.tar.gz
==> Validating source files with sha512sums...
    mepo-1.1.2.tar.gz ... FAILED
==> ERROR: One or more files did not pass the validity check!
 -> error making: mepo

got it, thank you for your detail. i've added the other two sdl packages as dependencies

... The other two will remain make dependencies unless this still breaks anything for you....

It does break things. As I have said previously, you need not just one, but all 3 of them. I've tested this again, after your PKGBUILD update.

pacman -Qi mepo

Name            : mepo
Version         : 1.1.2-2
...
Depends On      : jq  curl  zenity  xorg-xwininfo  geoclue  ncurses
                  findutils  sdl2_gfx

pacman -Rns sdl2_gfx

checking dependencies...
error: failed to prepare transaction (could not satisfy dependencies)
:: removing sdl2_gfx breaks dependency 'sdl2_gfx' required by mepo
 -> exit status 1

Ok. We understand and already know that.

Now let's remove the other 2. It doesnt matter which one first.

pacman -Rns sdl2_ttf

And then let's try to start mepo

    $ mepo
mepo: error while loading shared libraries: libSDL2_ttf-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Right. Let's put it back and restart mepo.

pacman -S sdl2_ttf.

Restart mepo. No problems

Let's try to remove the other one.

pacman -Rns sdl2_image

And then start mepo

    $ mepo
mepo: error while loading shared libraries: libSDL2_image-2.0.so.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory

Put it back. Start mepo. No problem.

Actually, even in this PKGBUILD, I notice they used to be "run" dependencies. It was only with, https://aur.archlinux.org/cgit/aur.git/commit/?h=mepo&id=1b1d6c2c643c645b39b030d14bae383f2f47aabd

2022-11-13  update dependencies

That this situaton was changed from

-   depends = sdl2_image
-   depends = sdl2_ttf
-   depends = sdl2_gfx

to

+   makedepends = sdl2_image
+   makedepends = sdl2_ttf
+   makedepends = sdl2_gfx

Can you still remember why ?

Also, as I can see in the mepo code repo it self, https://git.sr.ht/~mil/mepo/tree/master/item/src/sdlshim.zig

pub usingnamespace @cImport({
    @cInclude("SDL2/SDL.h");
    @cInclude("SDL2/SDL_revision.h");
    @cInclude("SDL2/SDL_image.h");
    @cInclude("SDL2_gfxPrimitives.h");
    @cInclude("SDL2/SDL_ttf.h");
});

There are these mentions of "ttf" and "image". I'm not a programmer. Have zero knowledge of Zig.

I cant help any further. Just report you that it doesnt run on my system without them.

So you might want to talk with the mepo developer himself. To clarify what is and what is not a dependency of mepo. Which one is a "make" dependency. And which one is a "run" dependency.

Actually he is not very explicit about that either, https://mepo.milesalan.com/installguide.html. It only says it is "written in Zig" and that it "renders on SDL". There is mention of different packages for different Linux distros. But as far as I can se there is no "INSTALL.md" or a file specifically aimed at packagers, not users. A fle or document detailing what is needed to compile and/or run.