Score:4

How to install .tar.gz lacking both ./configure and ./bin?

cn flag

I want to install Chaotica https://www.chaoticafractals.com/download on Ubuntu 20.04.2. It does not contain an installation instruction. There is a README, but it contains only license and thanks, nothing on installation or launching.

I've found several instructions for using tarballs with ./configure and make, but the unpacked folder does not contain a ./configure file. Then I found instructions using bin, but there is neither a bin folder nor a bin file in the unpacked tar. Are there other ways to install? Thanks!

Soren A avatar
mx flag
Maye it would be better asking on their forum on the website.
raj avatar
cn flag
raj
The tar file is labelled on their site as "Archive", opposite to "Installer" that you have for example for Windows and MacOS version. So no installation at all - simply unpack to any directory and run.
Danny27 avatar
cn flag
@SorenA I've tried, but no answer.
Score:4
zw flag

On Microsoft Windows such applications are called portable.

So you can simply download the archive and then run main executable as follows:

cd ~/Downloads
wget -c https://www.chaoticafractals.com/dist/chaotica_x64_v2.0.36.tar.gz
tar -xf chaotica_x64_v2.0.36.tar.gz
cd chaotica_x64_v2.0.36
./chaotica

If you want to install it to, for example, /opt, then use commands below:

sudo mkdir -p /opt/chaotica
sudo cp -ar ~/Downloads/chaotica_x64_v2.0.36/* /opt/chaotica
sudo ln -s /opt/chaotica/chaotica /usr/local/bin/chaotica

And finally create desktop-file for it:

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/icons
cd ~/.local/share/icons
wget https://www.chaoticafractals.com/sites/all/themes/chaotica/favicon.ico -O chaotica.ico

mkdir -p ~/.local/share/applications/
cd ~/.local/share/applications/

cat <<EOF > chaotica.desktop # copy from this line to EOF, then paste
#!/usr/bin/env xdg-open
[Desktop Entry]
Version=1.0
Type=Application
Icon=/home/$USER/.local/share/icons/chaotica.ico
Exec=chaotica
Name=Chaotica
EOF

and then launch it from dash/menu.

pk flag
if you don't like the command line, you can presumably also just [double-]click on the file "chaotica" in the file browser to run it.
Danny27 avatar
cn flag
@user253751 I've tried that (with and without executable bit) and it does not work. It asks with which application I want to open chaotica.
Danny27 avatar
cn flag
@N0rbert haven't had time to try, but looks very promising!
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