[GAP Forum] Using package genss on Debian

[Bill Allombert]

On Mon, Jan 02, 2012 at 05:02:27AM +0100, Nicolas FRANCOIS wrote:
> Hi.
> 
> I'd like to use the generic Schreier-Sims package (genss) on my Debian
> computer. But LoadPackage("genss"); fails.
> 
> I tried to install genss and orb packages manually (they don't seem to
> be included in the Debian archives), in /usr/share/gap/pkg/, but the
> problem remains.

Dear Nicolas,
Sorry for the late answer. 
First you should read the file /usr/share/doc/gap/README.Debian.

You can install extension packages either
* in /usr/local/share/gap or /usr/local/lib/gap.
* in ~/gap.
Note they must be put in a sub-directory called pkg.
For example, the FactInt package provide a factint directory that must be moved
to ~/gap/pkg/factint or /usr/local/share/gap/factint

Otherwise the procedure is the same as for installing GAP package to a
regular GAP installation. So you need to install dependent packages first.

I suggest you start by installing the GAPDoc package since it is an easy one.
When you start gap, it should display: 
Packages: GAPDoc 1.3  loaded.

You will also need to install io. Beware that this require compilation.
You should install the Debian package 'gap-dev' first.
io provide a configure script. You should run it as follow

cd pkg/io
./configure /usr/share/gap

Unfortunately the Makefile need to be modified a bit because it looks for gac
in /usr/share/gap/bin/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc/gac while in
Debian, gac is in the PATH. So replace
/usr/share/gap/bin/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc/gac by gac.
and run make.
You should get a file
bin/x86_64-pc-linux-gnu-x86_64-linux-gnu-gcc/io.so

Now, if you start gap, it should display 
Packages: GAPDoc 1.3, IO 3.3  loaded.

Now you can install orb and genss. They are not autoloaded, so you must load them manually:

gap> LoadPackage("orb");
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loading  orb 3.8 (orb - Methods to enumerate orbits)
by Juergen Mueller (http://www.math.rwth-aachen.de/~Juergen.Mueller),
   Max Neunhoeffer (http://www-groups.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~neunhoef), and
   Felix Noeske (http://www.math.rwth-aachen.de/~Felix.Noeske).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
true
gap> LoadPackage("genss");
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Loading  genss 1.3 (genss - generic Schreier-Sims)
by Max Neunhoeffer (http://www-groups.mcs.st-and.ac.uk/~neunhoef) and
   Felix Noeske (http://www.math.rwth-aachen.de/~Felix.Noeske).
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
true

If you like more Debian GAP package, please help me! It is a huge work.

Cheers,
Bill.