Tldr: Request: apt package install?

[ldorigo]

Hi, as a long time user on macOS, I was surprised that doing "sudo apt install tldr" on an Ubuntu machine didn't work and that I needed to go through installing node/npm before being able to use it.

I don't know if it would be a lot of work to include tldr as a package on the Ubuntu repository, but it would make it much easier for Linux people to install it.

[zlatanvasovic]

There is a snap package already, but it's built on top of npm client (and not maintained, I think). Since Ubuntu has python3 pre-installed, you can just run pip3 install tldr or python3 -m pip install tldr, to use the Python client instead. The client is currently being updated and it will be released as v1.0 soon.

[ivanhercaz]

In addition, if I am not wrong, the package name on Ubuntu is tldr-py.

[ldorigo]

There is a snap package already, but it's built on top of npm client (and not maintained, I think). Since Ubuntu has python3 pre-installed, you can just run pip3 install tldr or python3 -m pip install tldr, to use the Python client instead. The client is currently being updated and it will be released as v1.0 soon.

I did end up installing the python package, as the npm one was giving me errors. Might be worth it putting on the Readme that that is the recommended way to install on ubuntu(-like) systems?

In addition, if I am not wrong, the package name on Ubuntu is tldr-py.

I am pretty sure that I ran "apt search tldr" and it didn't return any results at all. Will check again when I have access to the machine.

[zlatanvasovic]

@ldorigo What kind of errors does npm package give you? I used both npm and python clients on Ubuntu 18.04 and 20.04.
That's worth noting. The python client was long lacking support and options that npm client had, but recently that has changed drastically.

[ivanhercaz]

I am pretty sure that I ran "apt search tldr" and it didn't return any results at all. Will check again when I have access to the machine.

tldr package in Ubuntu is the one for the Haskell client, then tldr-py is the one for the Python client. But I don't recommend the use of this Python client, it seems it is inactive, check its repository.

If you are interested in a Python client I recommend you the one in which there are collaborators working, @zdroid included: tldr-python-client. I am sure if you have any issue with this one, you will probably get support.

[ldorigo]

Apparently, recent versions of Ubuntu do have a tldr package - I was trying to install it on a Ubuntu 14 machine. So I guess my issue is void, although it does point to a need for a better communication of which clients are up-to date, cf. recent issue #4044 .
I think 99% of users don't care if their client is coded in haskell, python or C++ - they just want a functioning way of typing "tldr " in their terminal.

[ldorigo]

I'll close this, since it's not really relevant.

[zlatanvasovic]

It can be kept open until this is fully resolved, if you want.

[sbrl]

Hrm. I'm currently on 19.10 and I see the tldr package? Is this a change in 20.04 @ldorigo? If so then an issue should be opened against the haskell client repo to notify them of this