Better Linux installation instructions needed

• Aug 24, 2015 - 23:44

I've seen way too many threads with people trying to install a recent version on Linux. My own experience ( https://musescore.org/en/node/74041 ) is with the Ubuntu PPA, which comes with instructions that don't seem very clear for ordinary users, and it actually was rather tricky to install. It seems to me that a clear procedure on the download page on this Web site would be very helpful. I don't intend this thread to apply just to Ubuntu.

If you go to the actual Ubuntu PPA, https://launchpad.net/~mscore-ubuntu/+archive/ubuntu/mscore-stable , the instructions dither unnecessarily about exactly how to add the PPA, and then fail to mention how to install the program. The usual Ubuntu software tools such as the Software Center and Synaptic either did not show a Musescore 2 package or failed to update the libraries.

If you follow the links and look through the pages of documentation, it never tells you exactly how to install it, but near the very end it says "you may just need to run: sudo apt-get dist-upgrade" -- which is exactly what you don't want to do. Some people advise using "sudo apt-get upgrade", which also refuses make the necessary package upgrades.

The correct commands to install a recent version from the Ubuntu PPA are

sudo add-apt-repository ppa:mscore-ubuntu/mscore-stable
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install musescore

Apparently it really is that simple. Thanks to shoogle, here: https://musescore.org/en/node/60831 . Should we have his directions on the Musescore Download page?

Now the other bit of documentation that is needed is exactly how to install version 2.0.2 on Linux. And, by the way, many thanks to all the package managers.

Comments

• Aug 25, 2015 - 16:59

EDIT: Maybe this message is all wrong. MS 2 does not seem to be in backports, and I evidently confused backports with the PPA! Anyway, the original message is below, edited slightly, for what it's worth.

Note to self: Shoogle has posted info on the four places to get MS for Ubuntu, here: https://musescore.org/en/node/71466#comment-329876 . Tiagovaz has added info on versions 2.0.1 and 2.0.2 in the Debian repository.

Original message
============
Well, that's a speedy response! Thanks. I think that's a very good way of handling it, and it should help a lot.

I've found that there's more to this, however. I think the apt-get update command probably failed to complete the installation because you not only have to add the repository, you also have to enable updates from the repository. I don't know how to do that from the command line. (Without this step it's possible that apt-get update is superfluous.)

It's easy enough to do this from the Ubuntu graphical tools(??), but again the documentation seems to be lacking. There's some documentation here: http://www.omgubuntu.co.uk/how-to-add-a-ppa-to-software-sources-in-ubun… , and there's a link to it by TSmithe here: http://musescore.org/en/node/52311#comment-246126 . Enabling updates is on the Updates tab on the Ubuntu Software Sources tool, and that step is omitted from the instructions. There's a possibly more "official" documentation here: https://help.ubuntu.com/community/Repositories/Ubuntu . That shows the Update tab, but curiously, it does not show the backports box as checked. Nor does it mention that installation is an update too, and it needs to be checked (I think).

Fixing all the documentation for all installation methods is probably beyond what we can or do. Nevertheless, the documentation problems must affect other applications as well.

Reply

• Aug 25, 2015 - 18:43

Update
On another Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty) computer I had previously added the PPA and had run
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get upgrade
with the result that all those packages were withheld. At some point I had uninstalled MS 1.3.

Today I tried the Ubuntu Software Center again. I installed MuseScore 2. The Software Center gave me the message:
"If you install Musescore, future updates will not include new items in The Ubuntu desktop system set. Are you sure you want to continue?" (It listed many qt4 components.) I continued.

(By the way, enabling updates from trusty-backports had no effect, and is therefore irrelevant.)

I'm going to assume that the error message was bogus. I'm done troubleshooting this (I hope). A combination of user error and documentation now fixed. Solved for Ubuntu.

Reply

• Aug 28, 2015 - 08:28

Although it is not highlighted when your mouse is hoovering over PCLinuxOS, perhaps it is possible to activate the "PCLinuxOS" download link when installing MuseScore 2.0.2?
I am using PCLinuxOS for quite a while now and the latest 2.0.2 version is there in the repository!

Reply

Do you still have an unanswered question? Please log in first to post your question.