[GNC] Old-New user with an upgrade problem

[Adrien Monteleone]

Flatpak is not the only option, you can also build from source. It does 
take some work to set up the dependencies for building and the build 
tools, but once done, you should be able to easily build each new 
version as they come out. Setup should take maybe 15-30 minutes 
depending on any errors or stumbling blocks. (which as you know can 
translate into lots of research time)

It is a good way to learn the various install tools though, which are 
useful in any case. The GnuCash wiki building instructions are very 
thorough and (from what I find) complete. You do have to read them 
carefully. I'd read them all (with links) at least through to the end at 
least once. Then you can see your starting point and start issuing 
commands to set up the build environment and then the build itself.

Flatpak avoids that with the caveat of a larger download and the 
aforementioned sandbox quirks you'd need to work around. (if they 
present a problem)

With both approaches, you won't get automatic updates. You'll have to 
either build again, or download a new Flatpak and install it. There are 
ways to 'tell' apt about manually built software, but I've never done it 
and am not sure what advantage there is in doing so. I don't think there 
is anything similar for Flatpak.

The executable path on Debian (and likely most distros) is:

   /usr/bin/gnucash

Concerning your error message, that looks like you were in the process 
of building the app and it didn't complete.

Do you have source code repos turned on? You shouldn't need them. A simple:

   apt install gnucash

should do the trick.

And if that install works correctly, you should see a GnuCash entry in 
whatever App menu your desktop provides. If the standard Gnome, hitting 
the Super (Windows) key will give you a search field where you can type 
"Gnucash" and it will display the launcher. You can also click the dot 
grid on the dock for an overlay of all apps. (XFCE, LXQt, KDE, etc. all 
provide more traditional 'start' menus) If you don't see an entry for 
GnuCash after installation, something went wrong.

Finally, you might be in a situation where your system is in such a 
state that you either need to trace down and fix any 
installation/upgrade issues with the base OS, or do a backup and fresh 
install from a newly downloaded ISO. Be certain to do a full backup. 
Config and Preference files you may have changed over the years can lurk 
in unexpected places, and you'll be glad you have a copy to refer to. 
Also investigate how to obtain a list of all installed software. At the 
least, it gives you a reference to work from when re-installing, but 
some procedures even make it easy to re-install everything. (just newer 
versions)

Regards,
Adrien

On 8/24/20 9:56 PM, John Angelico wrote:
> Thanks Adrien.
> 
> Is Flatpak the only way to get 4.x onto a Debian system?
> 
> I have cleared out my 2.6.12 version (a local build which apt did not see
> at all) by hand, after uninstalling 3.4 from the repo.
> 
> I then reinstalled 3.4 using apt but it won't start. I see my cursor
> indicating something waiting but nothing appears on screen.
> The Task manager doesn't show any activity either. When I start from a
> terminal (still can't find the path to the executable, though) this is what
> I see:
> ---
> ~$ gnucash
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.047: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5597:11: Not using units is deprecated. Assuming 'px'.
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.047: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5597:14: '0' is not a valid color name
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5831:14: '202020' is not a valid color name
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5846:20: Junk at end of value for border-width
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5871:20: Junk at end of value for border-width
> 
> (gnucash:1345): Gtk-WARNING **: 12:51:42.048: Theme parsing error:
> gtk.css:5898:20: Junk at end of value for border-width
> **
> gnc.gui:ERROR:/build/gnucash-9jHHoN/gnucash-3.4/gnucash/gnome-utils/gnc-main-window.c:3676:gnc_main_window_setup_window:
> assertion failed: (filename)
> Aborted
> ---
> 
> Do I have an incomplete install?