Installation documents for Linux users (non-developers)?

[kjcole]

A few weeks ago, I fought with installing Mu and got it working -- or so I thought. But apparently, my notes were not as thorough as I thought.

So, once again I started with https://codewith.mu/en/howto/1.1/install_with_python and it complained about black:

ERROR: Could not find a version that matches black>=19.10b0

But:

$ pip list | grep black
black                         20.8b1

looks >=19.10.b0...

So, I came back to the git repo and tried from that. Eventually, I got it working, but I don't exactly know what I did that made it work.

The point is that someone who runs Linux, but is a new Python user should be able to follow the directions on the Install with Python page -- even if it's not the latest and greatest version of Mu and it should just work.

[ntoll]

Hi @kjcole - thanks for the feedback.

Out of interest, which version of Linux are you using and (perhaps more importantly) what version of Python..?

I develop Mu on Linux (I've been a Linux user since 1997), so I'm painfully aware how difficult it can be to install packages given the complicated mix of versions, libraries, Pythons and so on. I hear ya..!

As you'll know, Linux packaging is in a state of "flux". What with flatpack, snaps, and all the rest, it's not clear which standard will become ubiquitous for the next decade (until someone re-invents packaging again, again). My general rule of thumb is to use the lightest base Linux I like (usually a Debian derivative like Ubuntu) and get the latest Python, then build up from there.

Of course, Mu is aimed at beginners for whom "open the console and create a venv" is like a slap in the face. Yet, until packaging settles down, it's hard to suggest something that isn't a pain in the neck in some sense.

As someone "in the field", it'd be really helpful for us to hear your thoughts on ways to move forward in this problem space... I think we can both agree that in an ideal world, a beginner Linux user would:

a) Visit codewith.mu/download
b) Download the clearly labelled Linux installer
c) Execute the installer
d) There's no an item in their launch menu labelled Mu
e) Clicking the item in the menu launches Mu

Thoughts..?

[kjcole]

Since the Raspberry Pi is generally Linux based, with a strong emphasis on Python, I would question the contention.

But I love the idea of using Debian packages and, as an alternate pip packages. (I don't know that I get a vote, as someone who's more of a bug filer than contributor, but "+1" just in case.)

[ZanderBrown]

I mean deb and rpm packages already exist for the stable release, if we want to offer first-party packages (vs telling people to use whatever distros have made) I'd still vote for flatpak, whilst people may not have flatpak preinstalled it should be available and work everywhere

Or of course just pip everything

[1oglop1]

Hi, I found this discussion because I tried to pip install mu-editor yestesterday and got bitten by missing SDL after doing the research, the first result returned SDL2 so I happily did apt install libsdl2-dev.

After which I later found out is no use because pygame < 2.0 has dependency on SDL v1 .
My current system is Ubuntu 21.04.

I do not know so much about packaging but IRRC deb package does not contain all dependencies but instead rely on downloading dependency from package repository.

Therefore I'm in favour of snap or flatpack ideally both since both of them support incremental updates and in case you get an inexperienced linux user, there is very high chance they will be using ubuntu so installing MU from the Software center is great option.

[carlosperate]

The latest releases of Mu have been betas, so they are marked as "pre-release" in PyPI. You can use the --pre flag to pip install the pre-release version, which uses pygame v2, so you can specify a version like pip install mu-editor==1.1.0b4.

That should get you one step closer.

Was there any Mu documentation that indicated to run pip install mu-editor instead of pip install mu-editor==1.1.0b4, if that's the case it would be great to know so that we can ensure the docs are up-to-date.

[1oglop1]

The latest releases of Mu have been betas, so they are marked as "pre-release" in PyPI. You can use the --pre flag to pip install the pre-release version, which uses pygame v2, so you can specify a version like pip install mu-editor==1.1.0b4.

That should get you one step closer.

Was there any Mu documentation that indicated to run pip install mu-editor instead of pip install mu-editor==1.1.0b4, if that's the case it would be great to know so that we can ensure the docs are up-to-date.

It was my bad, when I saw ==XXb I automatically ignored it and went for the pip install mu-editor version - skipping a lot of text around as I was a little bit in a time pressure to prepare.

[abixadamj]

Just for the record... I have installed fresh clean Ubuntu 20.04 LTS yesterday and now I am trying to run mu.
What need to be installed first:

sudo apt install python3-pyqt5
sudo apt install python3-appdirs
sudo apt install python3-pyflakes
sudo apt install python3-pycodestyle
sudo apt install python3-qtconsole
sudo apt install python3-pyqt5.qsci
sudo apt install python3-serial
sudo apt install python3-pyqt5.qtserialport
sudo apt install python3-semver
sudo apt install python3-virtualenv
sudo -H pip3  install adafruit_board_toolkit

After that python3 run.py works perfectly.

[carlosperate]

Technically you shouldn't have to apt install any of those packages in Ubuntu 20.04 (as long as it isn't running on Arm).

All the wheels should be available in PyPI for this platform, so creating a virtual environment (and maybe updating pip) should be enough for pip install mu-editor==1.1.0b4 to work, no?

[abixadamj]

With fresh Ubuntu install, I don't have vurtualenv, so I must install it via apt. I will try it later and write more info.

[tmontes]

All,

First attempt at AppImage Linux packaging for the current release of Mu just automatically built available at the bottom of this page.

Just tested it on Debian 10:

• Download.
• Make executable.
• Run it!

Wondering if the Linux users here would want to take it for a spin and see if it works for them. :-)