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meson-buildgnome-builder

how to update meson version in flatpak builder

I'm trying to work on a gnome project (Aisleriot). It requires meson, so I installed it using

sudo apt install meson

That installed version 0.61.2. Unfortunately, the project requires version >= 0.62.0. Next, I ran the following command:

sudo apt-get install python3 python3-pip python3-setuptools python3-wheel ninja-build

Now meson is at version 0.64.0. Unfortunately, when I run Builder

flatpak run org.gnome.Builder

and load my project, it still uses meson version 0.61.2. Why is it using this earlier version and how do I tell Builder to use the system version instead?

There is a similar question from 4 years ago, but it talks about a build settings panel, which I couldn't find. Does the build settings panel still exist and how do I display it?

Solution

  • Gnome Builder has a project configuration menu containing the build settings panel you need. Choose the Configure Project option in the build pull-down menu beside the hammer icon, which opens a modal window and displays an overview of your build settings.

    Build pull-down menu option: configure project

    On the side pane, you will see the Configurations section, listing all your build presets:

    Configuration entries

    Clicking on one of the configuration entries will display a detailed view of that configuration. You'll want to seek the Build Environment setting, where you can change the Runtime setting to any environment, including your host machine.

    Build environment settings group

    Here, you can modify the environment if you wish. Once you are content, select the Make Active button:

    "Make Active" button on default configuration page

    While you can build against your host system, seasoned Gnome developers insist on developing within a flatpak environment. It might be easier to install the latest version on the Gnome runtime, org.gnome.Platform, and build the project against that. If you want to install the latest version, issue the following commands:

    flatpak remote-add gnome-nightly https://nightly.gnome.org/gnome-nightly.flatpakrepo
flatpak install org.gnome.Platform/<arch>/master

    where <arch> is your architecture.

    After executing these commands, your newly-installed runtime will appear as an option in the Runtime setting.

    Supplementary note

    If the project has a manifest file, such as Gnome Weather, you can upgrade all the project's dependencies, i.e., runtime and SDK, in one fell swoop by selecting the Update Dependencies action in the same pull-down menu. Gnome Builder will refer to the project's manifest file and download and install the appropriate versions.

    Build pull-down menu option: update dependancies

    This procedure may take a while, so do be patient.