In the hope that this may save others some time, here are some notes on compiling LyX-1.2.0pre4 on Sparc-Solaris-8:
- In addition to the compiler requirements specified in the INSTALL and README files, you will need gnumake. The new LyX makefiles do not work with Solaris make. - The distribution from ftp.devel.lyx.org includes pre-configured header files in the sigc++ subdirectory. If you do a `distclean', you will need gm4 to recreate those header files; the makefile in the sigc++ subdirectory does not work with Solaris m4. - The Solaris ar seg-faults trying to build the insets library. You will need to use the ar from the GNU binutils for this subdirectory. - Don't bother building LyX-1.2.0pre4 with an older xforms library. The new on-screen graphics rendering requires xforms-89.6 and convert from the ImageMagick tools. I look forward to exploring the new features of this release, and very much appreciate and applaud the efforts of the developers and the kindness of list-members who offered advice on LyX-1.2.0pre4. At the same time, I hope that building the production versions of this and future releases of LyX will not require quite so many proprietary Linux/GNU tools. If I recall correctly, Lyx-1.1.5 and before could be built with standard Unix utilities and a good C++ compiler. Restoring that portability might go a long way toward wider acceptance and use of LyX. -- Ronald Florence www.18james.com
