Trying Alien deb to rpm with wechat not working

I need to use Wechat, at the moment I use wine WeChat. But it is far from great.

I fund out that there is a native linux .deb

https://www.ubuntukylin.com/applications/106-cn.html

If I do Alien, I get a error message, but cannot find the log


sudo alien --to-rpm --scripts /home/user/Downloads/weixin_2.1.1_amd64.deb  
[sudo] Passwort für root:  
Package build failed. Here's the log of the command (cd weixin-2.1.1; rpmbuild --buildroot='/home/user/weixin-2.1.1' -bb --target x86_64 'weixin-2.1.1-2.spec'): 
error: line 5: Empty tag: Summary: 
Building target platforms: x86_64 
Building for target x86_64

I am not sure how to solve this.

And the packages in the OBS are not the same.

https://software.opensuse.org/search?baseproject=ALL&q=wechat

To begin with, converting a deb into an rpm does not need a superuser!.

alien wants to be root

alien --to-rpm --scripts /home/user/Downloads/weixin_2.1.1_amd64.deb       
Warning: alien is not running as root! 
Warning: Ownerships of files in the generated packages will probably be wrong. 
Package build failed. Here's the log of the command (cd weixin-2.1.1; rpmbuild --buildroot='/home/user/weixin-2.1.1' -bb --target x86_64 'weixin-2.1.1-2.spec'): 
error: line 5: Empty tag: Summary: 
Building target platforms: x86_64 
Building for target x86_64



Very strange. Suspicious I would say. Take my remarks just as they are: just casual and pedantic. :frowning:

Generate the tree with -g, edit the spec and build with rpmbuild -bb xxxx.spec
I would build as User…

But alien can convert, but it can also fail.

Don’t I use rpmbuild after conversion with alien?

alien --to-rpm --scripts -g /home/user/Downloads/weixin_2.1.1_amd64.deb

after that, goto the directory, edit the spec for the error and build it with rpmbuild.

But:
If your wine version is working, I would use that…

the wine version suffers from the same **** behaviour like on windows but worse.

there is a black frame around the windows, that shine through every window on top.

If it it not on the primary monitor the behavior, is completely stupid. If you max, it maxes to the primary monitor.
I tested it with Zorin and those black bars don’t exist in the Linux Version. I hate that piece of crapware, but I have to use it.

I looked in the package and it is basically the chromium, electron package. But the install script I have not discovered, only the remove :frowning:

/DEBIAN/
control

Package: weixin
Version: 2.1.1
License: ISC
Vendor: weixin, Inc <weixin@tencent.com>
Architecture: amd64
Maintainer: weixin, Inc <weixin@tencent.com>
Installed-Size: 433378
Depends: libgtk-3-0, libnotify4, libnss3, libxss1, libxtst6, xdg-utils, libatspi2.0-0, libuuid1, libsecret-1-0
Recommends: libappindicator3-1
Section: default
Priority: optional
Homepage: https://./
Description: 
  微信桌面版

postrm

#!/bin/bash

# Delete the link to the binary
rm -f '/usr/bin/weixin'
mv /etc/lsb-release-test  /etc/lsb-release

postinst
#!/bin/bash

Link to the binary

ln -sf ‘/opt/weixin/weixin’ ‘/usr/bin/weixin’

SUID chrome-sandbox for Electron 5+

chmod 4755 ‘/opt/weixin/chrome-sandbox’ || true

update-mime-database /usr/share/mime || true
update-desktop-database /usr/share/applications || true

mv /etc/lsb-release /etc/lsb-release-test
mv /etc/lsb-release-ukui /etc/lsb-release

md5sums

[https://software.opensuse.org/package/electron-wechat

https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/WeChat](https://software.opensuse.org/package/electron-wechat)

I’m curious if any of that will work. I have searched and tried many packages and given up on the Linux desktop version some time ago - while being on 15.2. I just won’t work. It did work before. My suspicion is on some quite paranoid authorities mistrusting open source - not being able to control it.
Actually, it’s more than suspicion as one may find here in the forums. I’d be too glad to see WeChat working again, though.

so there is an empty tag in the line summary.

you have to restore the source from .deb

sudo alien -r --scripts --generate /home/user/Downloads/weixin_2.1.1_amd64.deb

then you should get the directory

weixin-2.1.1 (root owner)

there you go to the file

weixin-2.1.1-2.spec

open this with an editor

go to line 5:

Summary:

:

set something behind it and save the file.

Then create the rpm file with
rpmbuild -bb weixin-2.1.1-2.spec

and now I am stuck again.

I put the directory into

/usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/

But still I get back:


[FONT=monospace]**localhost:/usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/weixin-2.1.1 #** rpmbuild -bb weixin-2.1.1-2.spec  
Processing files: weixin-2.1.1-2.x86_64 
DROOT/weixin-2.1.1-2.x86_64/opt 
....



So Rename the directory to [/FONT][FONT=monospace]weixin-2.1.1-2.x86_64[FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace]
[/FONT]
[/FONT] [FONT=monospace]localhost:/usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/[/FONT][/FONT][FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace][FONT=monospace]weixin-2.1.1-2.x86_64[/FONT] # rpmbuild -bb weixin-2.1.1-2.spec
[/FONT]
[/FONT]

[/FONT]zypper install /usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/weixin-2.1.1-2.x86_64.rpm

and installed

Congratulations!
Can you use it? Log in?

localhost:/usr/src/packages/BUILDROOT/weixin-2.1.1 # rpmbuild -bb weixin-2.1.1-2.spec

Please do not build packages as root, only install them as root.

I use this one (in German) to set up my rpmbuild Environment:
https://dokuwiki.nausch.org/doku.php/centos:rpmbuild

$ mkdir -p ~/rpmbuild/{BUILD,RPMS,SOURCES,SPECS,SRPMS}
$ echo '%_topdir %(echo $HOME)/rpmbuild' > ~/.rpmmacros

Saw availability of a snap package for wechat. Might be quick install. snapper (snappy) looks to be available in software packages.

tom kosvic

The Snap is not made by Tencent, it is web.wechat.com which does not work

tell that to tencent …

Yes, it works but sucks, but sucks less then wine the version, while it sucks more then the wine version.

No graphical artifacts but less functionality
Only Chinese, no English etc

you can only login if you are on a Chinese Network. Turn VPN off, or if you are outside China, turn on VPN to China… does that make sense?

It does, if you are running a company / use a network that has to comply with these authorities. You may try to oppose…