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Do you have advice about installing emacs without package manager/ compilation tools into the linux system that currently cannot have those and probably will no

Do you have advice about installing emacs without package manager/ compilation tools into the linux system that currently cannot have those and probably will not have those. I am looking for the easiest and safest way to do it . I do not want to break or brick the running arm based linux system. I do not want to interfere with it's main function but still want to be able to try emacs there. What is the best way to achieve minimal dependency setup? I am still relatively new to gnu/linux and I understand that I can unpack package let's say debian package and install each lib. manually but it seems like a big headache, is there any easier way? I am looking for something like copy everything into one directory without a need to register each lib in the system?

stevekemp 5y ago
If you're experienced you'd download and install all the dependencies, perhaps via "/opt", where a local package-manager would not interfere. But honestly? If you're new to using Linux then you should use the supported approach by your system. If you're running Debian, for example, "apt install emacs". If you're running CentOS "yum install emacs". Trying to do things outside the confines of the package-manager seems like an odd-constraint. I can appreciate it might make some sense, but when there are so many dependencies installed - fetching/building/installing them all one at a time is going to be very fiddly and annoying, even for a somewhat-experienced user.
- lovelyviking 5y ago
  >But honestly? If you're new to using Linux then you should use the supported approach by your system. If you're running Debian, for example, "apt install emacs". If you're running CentOS "yum install emacs". Thank you for your advice. The system doesn't have package manager and installing one doesn't seem like safe option at least until I'll be fluent with what exactly package manager does. On debian machine I did what you've suggested. This is not debian nor CentOS. It's embedded solution. In such case it seems like easier to install only emacs. I've already installed some custom application with libs and it was a headache. I wrote my own custom application for it and there I just link statically everything I need to have less trouble with installing.
  - aulin 5y ago
    If you have SSH access the best solution would be to install emacs on your client and edit remotely. Tramp allows you to edit remote files transparently. Setup key based auth if you can, add an entry for you device in client's .ssh/config, then editing is as easy as opening "/ssh:hostname:/path/to/remote/file" with C-c C-f
NeutralForest 5y ago
I think a good starting point is to look at the wiki https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BuildingEmacs https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BuildingEmacs but Emacs should run on ARM, I've heard of people using it on a Raspberry Pi
ljm 5y ago
If your goal is to try out emacs on that system by working on files that you have inside it, you could install emacs on something else and then use the built-in TRAMP functionality to work on that system remotely, as if it was local. It works transparently over SSH. Might be an easy way to do it without changing too much on your restricted linux box.
- lovelyviking 5y ago
  Thank you vary much I'll try to explore TRAMP functionality and what it would mean in my case.
vindarel 5y ago
Maybe Portacle, a portable Emacs + Git & Magit + nice extensions (+ CL dev tools) ? https://portacle.github.io/ https://portacle.github.io/
elsjaako 5y ago
I agree with everyone else that usually you won't want to install this on a system without a package manager. However, I also hate it when I want to do something and everyone just tells me not to do it. So the general way to do it would be to get the source code and build it yourself. You will run into issues with versions of libraries being wrong, and this will be hard to fix. Here is a stack exchange story on the topic: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/472989/how-to-build-instance-of-emacs-to-run-on-an-x86-64-system-different-from-the-one https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/472989/how-to-build... If you try this, you will learn to appreciate package managers more.

stevekemp 5y ago

If you're experienced you'd download and install all the dependencies, perhaps via "/opt", where a local package-manager would not interfere. But honestly? If you're new to using Linux then you should use the supported approach by your system. If you're running Debian, for example, "apt install emacs". If you're running CentOS "yum install emacs". Trying to do things outside the confines of the package-manager seems like an odd-constraint. I can appreciate it might make some sense, but when there are so many dependencies installed - fetching/building/installing them all one at a time is going to be very fiddly and annoying, even for a somewhat-experienced user.

lovelyviking 5y ago
>But honestly? If you're new to using Linux then you should use the supported approach by your system. If you're running Debian, for example, "apt install emacs". If you're running CentOS "yum install emacs". Thank you for your advice. The system doesn't have package manager and installing one doesn't seem like safe option at least until I'll be fluent with what exactly package manager does. On debian machine I did what you've suggested. This is not debian nor CentOS. It's embedded solution. In such case it seems like easier to install only emacs. I've already installed some custom application with libs and it was a headache. I wrote my own custom application for it and there I just link statically everything I need to have less trouble with installing.
- aulin 5y ago
  If you have SSH access the best solution would be to install emacs on your client and edit remotely. Tramp allows you to edit remote files transparently. Setup key based auth if you can, add an entry for you device in client's .ssh/config, then editing is as easy as opening "/ssh:hostname:/path/to/remote/file" with C-c C-f

NeutralForest 5y ago

I think a good starting point is to look at the wiki https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BuildingEmacs https://www.emacswiki.org/emacs/BuildingEmacs but Emacs should run on ARM, I've heard of people using it on a Raspberry Pi

ljm 5y ago

If your goal is to try out emacs on that system by working on files that you have inside it, you could install emacs on something else and then use the built-in TRAMP functionality to work on that system remotely, as if it was local. It works transparently over SSH. Might be an easy way to do it without changing too much on your restricted linux box.

lovelyviking 5y ago
Thank you vary much I'll try to explore TRAMP functionality and what it would mean in my case.

vindarel 5y ago

Maybe Portacle, a portable Emacs + Git & Magit + nice extensions (+ CL dev tools) ? https://portacle.github.io/ https://portacle.github.io/

elsjaako 5y ago

I agree with everyone else that usually you won't want to install this on a system without a package manager. However, I also hate it when I want to do something and everyone just tells me not to do it. So the general way to do it would be to get the source code and build it yourself. You will run into issues with versions of libraries being wrong, and this will be hard to fix. Here is a stack exchange story on the topic: https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/472989/how-to-build-instance-of-emacs-to-run-on-an-x86-64-system-different-from-the-one https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/472989/how-to-build... If you try this, you will learn to appreciate package managers more.