Installing gwibber microblogging client

[Technoviking]

This is a guide to install the gwibber micro-blogging client on Ubuntu 8.04.

1. Install bazaar and subversion to download app and some needed libraries.

sudo apt-get install bzr subversion

2. Add the following ppa for webkit to apt sources.list or via System -> Administration -> Software Sources.

deb http://ppa.launchpad.net/stemp/ubuntu hardy main

3. Install webkit and development libraries

sudo apt-get install libwebkit-1.0-1 libwebkit-dev

4. Download pywebkitgtk

svn checkout http://pywebkitgtk.googlecode.com/svn/trunk/ pywebkitgtk-read-only

5. Install needed libraries and programs to compile pywebkitgtk.

sudo apt-get install build-essential autoconf libtool libgtk2.0-dev python-dev python-gtk2 python-gtk2-dev libsexy2 libsexy-dev python-sexy libxslt1-dev

6. Goto pywebkitgtk-read-only directory - Configure, compile and install pywebkitgtk.

$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
$ make
$ sudo make install

7. Install need libraries and programs for gwibber

sudo apt-get install python-cairo-dev python-simplejson

8. Download gwibber webkitui

bzr branch lp:~segphault/gwibber/webkitui

9. Goto /webkitui directory to run gwibber

./run

10. or install

sudo python setup.py install

Improve this how-to at https://wiki.ubuntu.com/gwibber

Follow me on Twitter (Technoviking) or better yet the open source identi.ca (technoviking)

[quannum]

6. Goto pywebkitgtk-read-only directory - Configure, compile and install pywebkitgtk.

$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
$ make
$ sudo make install

I see this when i execute make in pywebkitgtk-read-only

blah:~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ make
make  all-am
make[1]: Entering directory `~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
/bin/bash ./libtool --tag=CC   --mode=compile gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I.  -I/usr/include/python2.5   -I/usr/local/include/webkit-1.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -I/usr/include/pygtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/pixman-1   -g -O2 -MT webkit_la-webkit.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/webkit_la-webkit.Tpo -c -o webkit_la-webkit.lo `test -f 'webkit.c' || echo './'`webkit.c
 gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/usr/include/python2.5 -I/usr/local/include/webkit-1.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -I/usr/include/pygtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -g -O2 -MT webkit_la-webkit.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/webkit_la-webkit.Tpo -c webkit.c  -fPIC -DPIC -o .libs/webkit_la-webkit.o
webkit.c: In function ‘pywebkit_add_constants’:
webkit.c:1638: error: ‘WEBKIT_TYPE_NAVIGATION_RESPONSE’ undeclared (first use in this function)
webkit.c:1638: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
webkit.c:1638: error: for each function it appears in.)
webkit.c:1639: error: ‘WEBKIT_TYPE_WEB_VIEW_TARGET_INFO’ undeclared (first use in this function)
make[1]: *** [webkit_la-webkit.lo] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
make: *** [all] Error 2

I can only assume it's due to a change in the webkit library. Has anyone else managed to work around this error?

I'm using 8.04 with the latest updates.

[quannum]

I see this when i execute make in pywebkitgtk-read-only

blah:~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ make
make  all-am
make[1]: Entering directory `~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
/bin/bash ./libtool --tag=CC   --mode=compile gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I.  -I/usr/include/python2.5   -I/usr/local/include/webkit-1.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -I/usr/include/pygtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/pixman-1   -g -O2 -MT webkit_la-webkit.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/webkit_la-webkit.Tpo -c -o webkit_la-webkit.lo `test -f 'webkit.c' || echo './'`webkit.c
 gcc -DHAVE_CONFIG_H -I. -I/usr/include/python2.5 -I/usr/local/include/webkit-1.0 -I/usr/include/libxml2 -I/usr/include/pygtk-2.0 -I/usr/include/glib-2.0 -I/usr/lib/glib-2.0/include -I/usr/include/gtk-2.0 -I/usr/lib/gtk-2.0/include -I/usr/include/atk-1.0 -I/usr/include/cairo -I/usr/include/pango-1.0 -I/usr/include/freetype2 -I/usr/include/libpng12 -I/usr/include/pixman-1 -g -O2 -MT webkit_la-webkit.lo -MD -MP -MF .deps/webkit_la-webkit.Tpo -c webkit.c  -fPIC -DPIC -o .libs/webkit_la-webkit.o
webkit.c: In function ‘pywebkit_add_constants’:
webkit.c:1638: error: ‘WEBKIT_TYPE_NAVIGATION_RESPONSE’ undeclared (first use in this function)
webkit.c:1638: error: (Each undeclared identifier is reported only once
webkit.c:1638: error: for each function it appears in.)
webkit.c:1639: error: ‘WEBKIT_TYPE_WEB_VIEW_TARGET_INFO’ undeclared (first use in this function)
make[1]: *** [webkit_la-webkit.lo] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `~/workspace/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
make: *** [all] Error 2

I can only assume it's due to a change in the webkit library. Has anyone else managed to work around this error?

I'm using 8.04 with the latest updates.

I worked around this error by using pywebkitgtk-1.0.1.tar.gz instead, however I've got one final error:

blah:~$ gwibber 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/gwibber", line 11, in <module>
    from gwibber.client import GwibberClient
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gwibber/client.py", line 10, in <module>
    import gtk, gtk.glade, gobject, table, webkit
ImportError: /usr/local/lib/libwebkit-1.0.so.1: undefined symbol: UCNV_FROM_U_CALLBACK_ESCAPE_3_6

[gamgee911]

I'm getting the same error as quannum, I'm running 8.10 with latest updates. please help

samuelgrund@samuelgrund-laptop:~/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
libtoolize: putting auxiliary files in `.'.
libtoolize: linking file `./ltmain.sh'
libtoolize: putting macros in AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR, `m4'.
libtoolize: linking file `m4/libtool.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltoptions.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltsugar.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltversion.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/lt~obsolete.m4'
libtoolize: Consider adding `-I m4' to ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS in Makefile.am.
configure.ac:39: installing `./config.guess'
configure.ac:39: installing `./config.sub'
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... no
checking for mawk... mawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking whether gcc and cc understand -c and -o together... yes
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for fgrep... /bin/grep -F
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for BSD- or MS-compatible name lister (nm)... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking the name lister (/usr/bin/nm -B) interface... BSD nm
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 1572864
checking whether the shell understands some XSI constructs... yes
checking whether the shell understands "+="... yes
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking how to recognize dependent libraries... pass_all
checking for ar... ar
checking for strip... strip
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking for objdir... .libs
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for a Python interpreter with version >= 2.4... python
checking for python... /usr/bin/python
checking for python version... 2.5
checking for python platform... linux2
checking for python script directory... ${prefix}/lib/python2.5/site-packages
checking for python extension module directory... ${exec_prefix}/lib/python2.5/site-packages
checking for headers required to compile python extensions... found
checking for pkg-config... /usr/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for DEPS... yes
checking for pygtk-codegen-2.0... /usr/bin/pygtk-codegen-2.0
checking for pygtk defs... /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating Makefile
config.status: creating pywebkitgtk-1.0.pc
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
./config.status: line 1118: ./stamp-h1: Permission denied
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
samuelgrund@samuelgrund-laptop:~/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ make
cd . && /bin/bash ./config.status config.h
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
make  all-am
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/samuelgrund/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
(cd . \
	 && /usr/bin/pygtk-codegen-2.0 \
	    --register /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs/gdk-types.defs \
	    --register /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs/gtk-types.defs \
	    --override webkit.override \
	    --prefix pywebkit webkit.defs) 2>&1 >gen-webkit.c | tee webkit.errors \
	&& ! grep -q -v "^\*\*\*INFO\*\*\*" webkit.errors \
	&& cp gen-webkit.c webkit.c \
	&& rm -f gen-webkit.c
note: pygtk-codegen-2.0 is deprecated, use pygobject-codegen-2.0 instead
note: I will now try to invoke pygobject-codegen-2.0 in the same directory
***INFO*** There are no declared global functions.
***INFO*** The coverage of methods is 100.00% (73/73)
***INFO*** There are no declared virtual proxies.
***INFO*** There are no declared virtual accessors.
***INFO*** There are no declared interface proxies.
make[1]: *** [webkit.c] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/samuelgrund/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
make: *** [all] Error 2

[quannum]

I'm getting the same error as quannum, I'm running 8.10 with latest updates. please help

samuelgrund@samuelgrund-laptop:~/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ ./autogen.sh --prefix=/usr
libtoolize: putting auxiliary files in `.'.
libtoolize: linking file `./ltmain.sh'
libtoolize: putting macros in AC_CONFIG_MACRO_DIR, `m4'.
libtoolize: linking file `m4/libtool.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltoptions.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltsugar.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/ltversion.m4'
libtoolize: linking file `m4/lt~obsolete.m4'
libtoolize: Consider adding `-I m4' to ACLOCAL_AMFLAGS in Makefile.am.
configure.ac:39: installing `./config.guess'
configure.ac:39: installing `./config.sub'
checking for a BSD-compatible install... /usr/bin/install -c
checking whether build environment is sane... yes
checking for a thread-safe mkdir -p... /bin/mkdir -p
checking for gawk... no
checking for mawk... mawk
checking whether make sets $(MAKE)... yes
checking for style of include used by make... GNU
checking for gcc... gcc
checking for C compiler default output file name... a.out
checking whether the C compiler works... yes
checking whether we are cross compiling... no
checking for suffix of executables... 
checking for suffix of object files... o
checking whether we are using the GNU C compiler... yes
checking whether gcc accepts -g... yes
checking for gcc option to accept ISO C89... none needed
checking dependency style of gcc... gcc3
checking whether gcc and cc understand -c and -o together... yes
checking build system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking host system type... i686-pc-linux-gnu
checking for a sed that does not truncate output... /bin/sed
checking for grep that handles long lines and -e... /bin/grep
checking for egrep... /bin/grep -E
checking for fgrep... /bin/grep -F
checking for ld used by gcc... /usr/bin/ld
checking if the linker (/usr/bin/ld) is GNU ld... yes
checking for BSD- or MS-compatible name lister (nm)... /usr/bin/nm -B
checking the name lister (/usr/bin/nm -B) interface... BSD nm
checking whether ln -s works... yes
checking the maximum length of command line arguments... 1572864
checking whether the shell understands some XSI constructs... yes
checking whether the shell understands "+="... yes
checking for /usr/bin/ld option to reload object files... -r
checking how to recognize dependent libraries... pass_all
checking for ar... ar
checking for strip... strip
checking for ranlib... ranlib
checking command to parse /usr/bin/nm -B output from gcc object... ok
checking how to run the C preprocessor... gcc -E
checking for ANSI C header files... yes
checking for sys/types.h... yes
checking for sys/stat.h... yes
checking for stdlib.h... yes
checking for string.h... yes
checking for memory.h... yes
checking for strings.h... yes
checking for inttypes.h... yes
checking for stdint.h... yes
checking for unistd.h... yes
checking for dlfcn.h... yes
checking for objdir... .libs
checking if gcc supports -fno-rtti -fno-exceptions... no
checking for gcc option to produce PIC... -fPIC -DPIC
checking if gcc PIC flag -fPIC -DPIC works... yes
checking if gcc static flag -static works... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... yes
checking if gcc supports -c -o file.o... (cached) yes
checking whether the gcc linker (/usr/bin/ld) supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether -lc should be explicitly linked in... no
checking dynamic linker characteristics... GNU/Linux ld.so
checking how to hardcode library paths into programs... immediate
checking whether stripping libraries is possible... yes
checking if libtool supports shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build shared libraries... yes
checking whether to build static libraries... yes
checking for a Python interpreter with version >= 2.4... python
checking for python... /usr/bin/python
checking for python version... 2.5
checking for python platform... linux2
checking for python script directory... ${prefix}/lib/python2.5/site-packages
checking for python extension module directory... ${exec_prefix}/lib/python2.5/site-packages
checking for headers required to compile python extensions... found
checking for pkg-config... /usr/bin/pkg-config
checking pkg-config is at least version 0.9.0... yes
checking for DEPS... yes
checking for pygtk-codegen-2.0... /usr/bin/pygtk-codegen-2.0
checking for pygtk defs... /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs
configure: creating ./config.status
config.status: creating Makefile
config.status: creating pywebkitgtk-1.0.pc
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
./config.status: line 1118: ./stamp-h1: Permission denied
config.status: executing depfiles commands
config.status: executing libtool commands
samuelgrund@samuelgrund-laptop:~/pywebkitgtk-read-only$ make
cd . && /bin/bash ./config.status config.h
config.status: creating config.h
config.status: config.h is unchanged
make  all-am
make[1]: Entering directory `/home/samuelgrund/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
(cd . \
	 && /usr/bin/pygtk-codegen-2.0 \
	    --register /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs/gdk-types.defs \
	    --register /usr/share/pygtk/2.0/defs/gtk-types.defs \
	    --override webkit.override \
	    --prefix pywebkit webkit.defs) 2>&1 >gen-webkit.c | tee webkit.errors \
	&& ! grep -q -v "^\*\*\*INFO\*\*\*" webkit.errors \
	&& cp gen-webkit.c webkit.c \
	&& rm -f gen-webkit.c
note: pygtk-codegen-2.0 is deprecated, use pygobject-codegen-2.0 instead
note: I will now try to invoke pygobject-codegen-2.0 in the same directory
***INFO*** There are no declared global functions.
***INFO*** The coverage of methods is 100.00% (73/73)
***INFO*** There are no declared virtual proxies.
***INFO*** There are no declared virtual accessors.
***INFO*** There are no declared interface proxies.
make[1]: *** [webkit.c] Error 1
make[1]: Leaving directory `/home/samuelgrund/pywebkitgtk-read-only'
make: *** [all] Error 2

Try using the tarball[0] instead of the svn version.

[0] http://code.google.com/p/pywebkitgtk...ar.gz&can=2&q=

[ExpatPaul]

I worked around this error by using pywebkitgtk-1.0.1.tar.gz instead, however I've got one final error:

blah:~$ gwibber 
Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "/usr/bin/gwibber", line 11, in <module>
    from gwibber.client import GwibberClient
  File "/usr/lib/python2.5/site-packages/gwibber/client.py", line 10, in <module>
    import gtk, gtk.glade, gobject, table, webkit
ImportError: /usr/local/lib/libwebkit-1.0.so.1: undefined symbol: UCNV_FROM_U_CALLBACK_ESCAPE_3_6

I hit the same problem. You can fix it by installing the pywebkitgtk deb from here: https://code.launchpad.net/~jorge/+archive

[quannum]

I hit the same problem. You can fix it by installing the pywebkitgtk deb from here: https://code.launchpad.net/~jorge/+archive

I already had that package installed

I did, however, finally fix it by removing the shared objects i.e.

rm -rf /usr/local/lib/libwebkit-1.0.*
ldconfig

I can only assume that the version I had installed from source had precedence over the packaged version.

Isn't gwibber great?!

[ExpatPaul]

Isn't gwibber great?!

It's very nice indeed. But does have the potential to be dangerously addictive.

[steevc]

I tried the install from source on the wiki, but when I run gwibber I get

Traceback (most recent call last):
  File "./run", line 18, in <module>
    from gwibber.client import GwibberClient
  File "/home/steve/bzr/gwibber/gwibber/client.py", line 10, in <module>
    import gtk, gtk.glade, gobject, table, webkit, simplejson
ImportError: No module named webkit

So I assume that something is not quite right. I didn't notice any error messages along the way.

Is there any possibility that gwibber will get easier to install? I can see a lot of people being turned off by a page of instructions like that.

[ExpatPaul]

Is there any possibility that gwibber will get easier to install?

Yes. You need to edit your repositories in Synaptic (instructions here) and then it is a very straightforward process.