How to install StackApplet on Debian?

Question

I would love to install StackApplet on Debian 6.0.2!

I downloaded 'stackapplet_1.4.0_all.deb' and ran following command:

root@debian:/home/dagrevis/Downloads# dpkg -i stackapplet_1.4.0_all.deb 
Selecting previously deselected package stackapplet.
(Reading database ... 132125 files and directories currently installed.)
Unpacking stackapplet (from stackapplet_1.4.0_all.deb) ...
dpkg: dependency problems prevent configuration of stackapplet:
 stackapplet depends on python-appindicator; however:
  Package python-appindicator is not installed.
dpkg: error processing stackapplet (--install):
 dependency problems - leaving unconfigured
Processing triggers for desktop-file-utils ...
Processing triggers for gnome-menus ...
Errors were encountered while processing:
 stackapplet

I guess that I don't have 'python-appindicator'. I searched for it, but, unfortunately, I couldn't find it.

P.S. I am using Gnome and that shouldn't be a problem...

Answer 1

It is now extremely easy to install StackApplet on Debian thanks to a fallback module for AppIndicators that I wrote and which ships with StackApplet. You can install it by downloading the source package for the latest version from its Launchpad page.

From there, you simply need to extract the contents of the archive and run:

sudo python setup.py install

...which will take care of installation.

Answer 2

StackApplet depends on indicator-application. This is a Canonical project which is packaged for Ubuntu but not for Debian yet.

There is a proposal to package indicator-application for Debian, and the Ayatana project is working on it, but the package fails to build for the moment.

In the meantime, you can try one of the following approaches:

• Grab the dependencies from Ubuntu as binary packages: libappindicator0 and python-appindicator.
• Grab the source package and try to recompile, hoping that you'll be able to fix whatever problem Ayatana encountered.
• Grab the StackApplet source and compile without the parts that require indicator-application (the applet description reads “any Linux PC running Gnome or supporting AppIndicators”).

Answer 3

Well, the quick answer is that the .deb package you're trying to install is designed for Ubuntu, not Debian. Ubuntu has a "python-appindicator" package and Debian doesn't.

You could try just unpacking the "generic archive" at http://stackapps.com/questions/83/stackapplet-bringing-stack-exchange-notifications-to-your-desktop-1-5-beta-2-r and seeing whether it works. I note that the code has "/usr/share/" hardcoded all over the place, so you'll have to unpack it to your root directory. Eugh. Maybe try using Checkinstall or the like?