Generate a .deb file

[janos-r]

This PR makes it possible to generate a fully working .deb file with a one line command, thanks to cargo-deb which is a prerequisite for running it.

The .deb integrates well into a debian/ubuntu based system

• system wide through a script that calls the binary together with the env runtime path
• completions for bash, fish, zsh
• .desktop file
• icon (Though I didn't see that one used. Cinnamon has its own preferred theme icons)

Tested installing in a VM on Mint21.3 and all looks well!

If the maintainers agree, a cargo-deb could be added to the release workflow to generate the .deb.

[janos-r]

[David-Else]

Brilliant! I tried it on Debian Trixie and it worked perfectly, desktop and bash completion work great.

I used a fresh VM that had not had Rust or Helix on it, installed Rust and cargo-deb, and then just ran cargo deb in the Helix source folder.

The only problem seems to be the error messages regarding the grammars. They all seem to be working/present and correct inside /lib/helix/runtime/grammars, any idea what these error messages mean or how to get rid of them?:

arning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gas.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/passwd.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/prql.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/llvm.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/pem.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/log.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/lpf.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/pest.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gherkin.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/blade.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/make.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/cue.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/git-commit.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/markdoc.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/blueprint.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/cylc.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/git-config.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../contrib/hx
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ada.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/git-rebase.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gitattributes.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/adl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/scheme.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gitignore.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gleam.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/c.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/cairo.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/capnp.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/amber.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/query.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/slint.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/cel.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/dbml.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/quint.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/circom.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/devicetree.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/clojure.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/r.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/dhall.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/glsl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/regex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/diff.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/pkl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gn.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/rego.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/po.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/go.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/mermaid.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/smithy.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/meson.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/comment.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/cpon.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/dot.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/dtd.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/robot.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gomod.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gotmpl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/move.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gowork.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/nasm.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/gpr.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/graphql.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/edoc.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/nginx.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/groovy.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/solidity.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/eex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/elisp.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/bass.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/spade.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/elixir.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/spicedb.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/prisma.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/proto.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/json5.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/sshclientconfig.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/strace.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/nix.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/hurl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/bibtex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/nu.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/elvish.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/hyprlang.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/erlang.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/embedded-template.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/iex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/esdl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ini.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/fidl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/inko.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/heex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/just.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/hocon.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/kdl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/latex.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/java.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ld.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/forth.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ldif.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/jjdescription.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/jq.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/hosts.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/jsdoc.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/jinja2.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/opencl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/json.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/openscad.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/thrift.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/todotxt.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/toml.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ledger.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/llvm-mir.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/textproto.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/verilog.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/pascal.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/tact.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/uxntal.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/vhdl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/twig.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/task.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/vala.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/vhs.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/typespec.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/wit.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/wat.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/xit.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/wgsl.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/xml.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/xtc.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/ungrammar.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/yuck.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/zig.so
warning: Failed to find dependency specification.
         No $auto deps for /home/david/source/helix/helix-term/../runtime/grammars/wast.so

PS Debian is built for Trixie officially and just waiting in the new queue before it passes into testing:

https://salsa.debian.org/debian/hx
https://ftp-master.debian.org/new/hx_24.07+20241227-1.html

[janos-r]

error messages

Yeah, this only LOOKS scary. It would be suppressed by adding depends = "" but then there would really be no package dependencies generated, which is not ideal. And I think it's definitely better to have them generated than written manual. Also, you can notice that the amount of grammars that didn't return any dependency (the number of warnings here) is much smaller than the actual number of grammars. In other words, a good number of grammars did add to the dependencies, just not all.

It is late for me here, but if I have some time tomorrow, I will make another commit to the workflow to really have the .deb generated during the release process.

[janos-r]

and then just ran cargo deb in the Helix source folder

Well, the recommended way is to cargo build --profile opt --locked, and then the cargo deb --no-build. The locked is kinda important, and the opt is recommended in the docs and should make an even slightly better binary, which is then picked up by the --no-build.

But for some reason, maybe some maintainer can explain here to me, in the official release workflow

helix/.github/workflows/release.yml

Line 159 in 917174e

run: ${{ env.CARGO }} build --release --locked --target ${{ matrix.target }}

helix doesn't use this --profile opt, I wonder why. Is it not recommended anymore? If not, it should be taken out of the manifest and the building-from-source.md

[stappersg]

Nice addition to what all ready exists.

Thanks for making cargo deb possible.