Getting Scribus on Ubuntu/Kubuntu up and running

"Debian" name here encompasses Debian proper (unstable/testing/stable or sid/etch/sarge) and Ubuntu breezy/hoary.

Installation

Scribus is packaged for Debian GNU/Linux by Oleksandr (Alex) Moskalenko <malex@tagancha.org>. Please contact me at that email if you have questions that do not belong in the Debian or Scribus BTS (Bug Tracking Systems) or for comments about this page.

If you'd like to stay on the leading edge of Scribus development please add our upstream repositories to your sources list file. Debian development puts a limit on how often a new scribus package can be updated. It could take weeks between consecutive uploads. Because of that the official packages are usually behind those available in our upstream repositories. Packages in our upstream repositories usually follow scribus development fairly closely via cvs snapshot builds. For instance, if you discovered a but you are advised to install the most recent package as the bug might have already been fixed and a fixed package is available. This is called "the Scribus magic (TM)". Please note that the two repositories listed below are IDENTICAL and provide the necessary bandwidth redundancy. They contain packages for Debian stable,testing and unstable and Ubuntu hoary and breezy branches. If you are using a different Debian-based distribution or your hardware is not x86-based such as PowerPC or AMD64 you can easily build a Scribus package from our source package.

To use our upstream repositories:

Select the appropriate two source lines from the following list to your /etc/apt/sources.list file. Note that the line starting with "deb" is for the pre-compiled binary package and the line starting with "deb-src" is for the source package that you can use to build a binary package for your distribution or build it with compiler optimizations if you so desire. Also note that there is only one source line. It points to the "unstable" Debian branch. This is done for the purpose of space and bandwidth conservation as our packaging efforts so far allowed us to build all the binary packages from the same source package.

Debian stable (Sarge):

# debian.scribus.net - Primary repository
deb         http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ stable main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
# debian.tagancha.org - Backup repository
deb         http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ stable main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib

Debian testing (Etch):

# debian.scribus.net - Primary repository
deb         http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ testing main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
# debian.tagancha.org - Backup repository
deb         http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ testing main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib

Debian unstable (Sid):

# debian.scribus.net - Primary repository
deb         http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
# debian.tagancha.org - Backup repository
deb         http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib
deb-src     http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ unstable main non-free contrib

Ubuntu hoary:

# debian.scribus.net - Primary repository
deb         http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ hoary main restricted
deb-src     http://debian.scribus.net/debian/ unstable main restricted
# debian.tagancha.org - Backup repository
deb         http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ hoary main restricted
deb-src     http://debian.tagancha.org/debian/ unstable main restricted

Ubuntu breezy:

Note that Ubuntu breezy package can be also used for Ubuntu "Dapper" branch. When Dapper will change enough to require its own scribus or scribus-cvs package we will provide it.

# debian.scribus.net - Primary repository
deb         http://debian.scribus.net/debian breezy main restricted
deb-src     http://debian.scribus.net/debian unstable main restricted
# debian.tagancha.org - Backup repository
deb         http://debian.tagancha.org/debian breezy main restricted
deb-src     http://debian.tagancha.org/debian unstable main restricted

Using cryptographic repository signatures:

Our repositories are cryptographically signed for added security. Add the gpg-keys for our repositories to avoid having to confirm your installation choice to the package manager each time you update a scribus or scribus-cvs package.

root$ gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys DA286F326C5F196B

root$ gpg --armor --export DA286F326C5F196B | apt-key add - 

or as a normal user (with an appropriate entry for apt-key in the sudoers file):

user$ gpg --keyserver wwwkeys.eu.pgp.net --recv-keys DA286F326C5F196B

user$ gpg --armor --export DA286F326C5F196B | sudo apt-key add - 

Final installation step

Once you added the relevant sources lines to your /etc/apt/sources.list you can run

aptitude install scribus scribus-cvs

or

apt-get install scribus scribus-cvs

in a root terminal or use your favorite graphical apt-get front-end such as synaptic or aptitude. Don't forget to "Reload Package List" in the synaptic. It's the equivalent of "apt-get (or aptitude) update" and has to be done to make new packages from our repositories available to your package management tools.

The "scribus" package is the 1.2.x stable series whereas "scribus-cvs" package will let you try the new 1.3.x series, which is pretty stable and much more featureful than 1.2.x. "scribus-cvs" package installs into /usr/local hierarchy, so it can be installed and used independently from the scribus package.

However, please DO NOT file bug reports about the scribus-cvs package or any packages in these upstream repositories into the Debian or Ubuntu BTS. Only use the distribution BTS for the package version that is in that distribution. If you have a Scribus issue that is not related to Debian packaging then use the scribus BTS at http://bugs.scribus.net for reporting bugs.

Step-by-step procedure:

You don't have to log on as root, but you have to have superuser privileges to edit the /etc/apt/sources.list file. Fortunately, on a Linux system you can do that with ease. Please open a root terminal or open a regular terminal and become root through a "su" command. You will have to provide root password when prompted. Then, you can launch your favorite text editor from that terminal and edit the sources.list file as outlined in the http://wiki.scribus.net/index.php/Scribus_on_Debian_GNU/Linux page. Alternatively, you can do a bit more work upfront to achieve a more permanent access to package manipulation system. If you are familiar with the VI editor you can do the following:

• Open a root terminal.
• Type "visudo".
• Type "o" to open a new line (vi command) and type the following line

(assuming your login name is "scribusoid"): scribusoid ALL= NOPASSWD: /usr/sbin/synaptic

• Press "ESC" to leave the editing mode in Vi and return to the command mode.
• Type ":wq!" to exit the editor.

Now you are ready to launch the very nice graphical apt-get front-end Synaptic with a "sudo synaptic" command at any time. If you are a new Linux user, Synaptic will help you get started easier than you probably would with command line tools.

Once you launch Synaptic select the "Settings/Repositories" menu entry. Click on the "New" button and type or paste in the appropriate source lines. For example for "Debian Sarge":

URI: http://debian.scribus.net/debian/
Distribution: stable
Section(s): main non-free contrib

Don't forget to enable that repository by selecting a checkbox in the leftmost column. Now you can reload repository information by clicking on the "Reload" button in the main Synaptic window. Then you click on the "Search" button and search for "scribus". Once "scribus", "scribus-cvs", "scribus-doc", and "scribus-template" packages are found you can mark them for installation by double-clicking on them or by right-clicking and selecting "Mark for installation". When you are done, click on the "Apply" button to proceed with installation. After that you should have the packages installed and may begin to use Scribus.

Building from a source package for other Debian-based distributions

Instructions below have been rendered mostly obsolete for the x86 architecture by the new repositories. If you have non-x86 hardware or would like to build an optimized package you can still use these instructions. You can submit packages for other architectures to me and I will place them into the repository. If you have a non-x86 arch or would like to optimize the packages for your CPT you can achive these goals by a very simple package rebuild. Make sure that you have the deb-src lines for scribus repositories uncommented and run the following commands:

---

The cool way (TM) - as root or set up sudo for yourself as a user:

apt-get install apt-build

Answer questions about your CPU and stuff - see an excellent document at http://julien.danjou.info/article-apt-build.html)

apt-build update

apt-build install scribus (or scribus-cvs)

---

An alternate cool way - as root or see the config setup below:

• Install "apt-src":

apt-get install apt-src

• Install the dependencies, build and install scribus from source:

apt-src -i install scribus

To streamline this process and build scribus as a user:

• Configure apt-src:

Add the following lines to /etc/apt/apt.conf or ~/.apt-src/config file:

APT::Src::RootCommand su -c;
APT::Src::BuildDeps

This is especially convenient if you set up the no-password su to root for yourself through pam. Otherwise you'll likely have to type a password.

---

Without apt-build or apt-src - as root:

apt-get source -b scribus scribus-cvs

apt-get build-dep scribus-cvs (or scribus)

---

Anoter way - as root:

apt-get install devscripts build-essential fakeroot

Note: This creates a minimal build environment.

apt-get source scribus-cvs (or "scribus" instead of "scribus-cvs")

apt-get build-dep scribus-cvs (or scribus)

cd scribus.... or scribus-cvs...

Use the actual directory names.

debuild -us -uc

cd ..

dpkg -i scribus_.... or scribus-cvs_....