CheckInstall - Building Deb file from OpenSource Codes

Introduction

CheckInstall keeps track of all files installed by a "make install" or equivalent, creates a Slackware, RPM, or Debian package with those files, and adds it to the installed packages database, allowing for easy package removal or distribution.

 Use CheckInstall instead of just running "sudo make install", as that will likely put files all over the filesystem, with no easy way of removing them if things go wrong. If in the future you try to install a package that contains the same file as the software you are compiling, you will receive errors and the software you compiled may stop working.

(In fact, checkinstall can keep track of files modified by any command line, not just a "make install", so you can use it for any type of installation task outside of apt, and it will keep track of the installation in the package manager.)

 CheckInstall is not designed to produce packages suitable for distribution. Do not use it to produce packages intended for the Ubuntu archive or PPAs. Instead, follow the Packaging Guide.

 From the checkinstall README: "The Debian support in CheckInstall is still new, so handle it with care. It has been reported to work OK in some Debian systems and it certainly works OK in my Slackware development system with dpkg installed. Your mileage may vary."

Installation

Install the package checkinstall from the Repositories.

For help on installing software in Ubuntu, see InstallingSoftware.

A quick method via the terminal for those who like to copy and paste:

sudo aptitude install checkinstall

Usage

Instead of

sudo make install

you will use

sudo checkinstall

When called with no arguments, checkinstall will call "make install". If you need other arguments, they can be supplied:

sudo checkinstall make install_package

The installed package can then also easily be removed via Synaptic or via the terminal:

sudo dpkg -r packagename

Example:

sudo dpkg -r pidgin

 Note that the .deb package it creates can also be used elsewhere, which simplifies installation of the same program on many machines.

Use CheckInstall with auto-apt

You can use auto-apt when you want to build a simple package from source with checkinstall. You need to have auto-apt installed!

Instead of

./configure

you use:

auto-apt run ./configure

If the dependencies are available, a dialog box opens and ask you to install them.

The rest remains the same

make
sudo checkinstall

White balance with Canon DSLRs

A couple of my colleagues at Northern Arizona University’s School of Communication noted how difficult it is to do manual white balance with the Canon DSLRs some of our students are using.

All I can say: Not as easy as video cameras. The Canon presets have worked pretty well for all the projects I’ve shot, but I’m using a Canon 5D Mark II where I dial in the color temperature I want. Beginning students may know what color temperature to use or just rely on presets — especially when they have to go through the steps I outline below. Or some may just want to use the simplicity of video cameras. Whatever camera you choose to shoot with, manual white balance is an important step not to neglect.

And if it’s more difficult with a DSLR, then you have to decide if it’s worth the extra effort. For me and many of my students who have purchased their own DSLRs, we realize one thing: The image quality, baby, the image quality. But knowing how to color balance is part of mastering the image quality.

Why do we even bother with adjusting color temperature in the first place? Why not just set the camera to automatic. If you’re controlling your image professionally, then you need to use the manual settings so it doesn’t do things you don’t want it to be doing.

Our eyes balance white automatically. A camera’s sensor isn’t as smart as us and it doesn’t have the multitasking capabilities of our minds. So you need to tell the camera what kind of light it’s seeing so it can find true white. White indoors is different than white outdoors. See the chart below:

Color temperature in degree Kelvins. This chart provides a list of different lamps and their corresponding color temps. (Image courtesy of Mapawatt.)

So if you’ve set your DSLR to an indoor light setting (~3700K), such as standard tungsten (a regular light bulb) and you go outdoors (~5500K), the white the camera saw indoors is now different and now has a bluish tint to it. If you’ve set your camera to daylight and you go indoors, the camera’s image now contains a warm yellow cast. See the images below.

The top image contains the bluish tint of an indoor white balance setting used incorrectly outdoors. The bottom image is too yellow — the typical problem with an outdoor setting used incorrectly indoors. The center image is properly color balanced. Photos by Kurt Lancaster (courtesy of Focal Press).

And if you are shooting a scene with multiple light sources (such as a window and a room with fluorescent lighting), you need to tell the camera which one it should see. Is the window your key light? Then dial in the proper color temperature or set the custom white balance.

Read the complete article at Focal Press’s Mastering Film blog:
http://masteringfilm.com/white-balance-with-canon-dslrs-%E2%80%94-not-as-easy-as-video/