Use update-alternatives in Linux to avoid direct symlinks
#7500
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markizano
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Mar 25, 2023
…inks to executable if available. Where possible, use `update-alternatives` instead to avoid hardcoding links in Linux. This will allow for downstream users to specify paths to their own executables with higher priority if they wish. Backwards compatibility is preserved by still using the symlinking route if the command `update-alternatives` is not available.
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I have opened PR #7501 for a fix to this issue and it's ready for review =) |
mmaietta
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Apr 7, 2023
* Issue #7500: Use update-alternatives instead of symlinks to executable if available. Where possible, use `update-alternatives` instead to avoid hardcoding links in Linux. This will allow for downstream users to specify paths to their own executables with higher priority if they wish. Backward compatibility is preserved by still using the symlinking route if the command `update-alternatives` is not available.
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PR Merged into master. Now Electron based apps will use Thanks much to the team for helping get this resolved! |
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What is the summary of the issue?
Electron app builder library should produce an app that leverages
update-alternativeswhen installing software to Linux.What is the expected results?
When compiling an app using
app-builder-lib, it should produce a packaged result that usesupdate-alternativesso userland developers can assign a higher priority alternatives that middleware software may want to run/override later.What is the actual results?
This library creates a hardcoded symlink to the binary executable when installing software. As a result, if a userland software wants a different script to execute in place of the binary, it'll get overwritten on each update.
What is an example of what you are seeking?
Example: signal-desktop
Each time I run
sudo apt updateto upgrade the software, I find myself needing to alsoupdate-alternativesimmediately after to restore the symlinks I have created in/usr/bin/signal-desktop.If this change is accepted, then I can simply set a higher priority script once and not need to worry about this maintenance on my system. This is also non-impactful enough to be accepted without much after-effects as a result of the change.
If
update-alternativesis not available, then as a fallback, it will continue to use the symlink approach as before so there won't be any misses to existing desired functionality.There are a few Electron-based apps that I use this would improve, so I figured I'd come to the source for a solution. Signal Desktop is just one of the few apps I would think this library update would help.
I have a Pull Request I will submit along with this ticket for a fix I hope is quickly reviewed and accepted without much of issues.
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