Download the latest, or a specified, Fastfetch release source and build a DEB package

build.sh

#!/usr/bin/env bash

# usage examples:
#  $ ./build.sh
#  $ ./build.sh 2.7.0

set -Eeo pipefail # exit on error

handle_error() {
  error_code=$?
  echo -e "${RED}Script failed on line #${1} with error code ${error_code}!${NOCOLOR}" 1>&2

  cleanup

  exit $error_code
}

trap 'handle_error $LINENO' ERR

# colors for colored output
NOCOLOR='\033[0m'
RED='\033[0;31m'
GREEN='\033[0;32m'
YELLOW='\033[0;33m'
BLUE='\033[0;34m'
PURPLE='\033[0;35m'
CYAN='\033[0;36m'
WHITE='\033[0;37m'

error() {
  echo -e "${RED}Error${NOCOLOR}: ${1}" 1>&2

  cleanup

  if [[ -n "$2" ]]; then
    exit "$2"
  else
    exit 1
  fi
}

information() {
  COLOR="$YELLOW"

  if [ $# -gt 1 ]; then
    case "$1" in
      --*)
        case "$1" in
          --no-color) COLOR="$NOCOLOR" ;;
          --red) COLOR="$RED" ;;
          --green) COLOR="$GREEN" ;;
          --yellow) COLOR="$YELLOW" ;;
          --blue) COLOR="$BLUE" ;;
          --purple) COLOR="$PURPLE" ;;
          --cyan) COLOR="$CYAN" ;;
          --white) COLOR="$WHITE" ;;
          *) error 'Unrecognized color' ;;
        esac

        shift
      ;;
      *) ;;
    esac
  fi

  if [[ $# -gt 1 ]]; then
    if [[ -n "$1" ]]; then
      echo -e -n "${COLOR}${1}${NOCOLOR}: "
    fi
    shift
  else
    echo -e -n "${COLOR}Information${NOCOLOR}: "
  fi
  echo -e "$1"
}

cleanupAttempted=0
cleanup() {
  if [[ $cleanupAttempted -eq 1 ]]; then
    return
  fi
  cleanupAttempted=1

  # return to the initial working directory
  cd "$workingDirectory"

  if [[ -f "${releaseTag}.tar.gz" ]]; then
    information 'Cleanup' "Removing the downloaded source archive '${BLUE}${releaseTag}.tar.gz${NOCOLOR}'"
    rm "${releaseTag}.tar.gz"
  fi

  if [[ -d "fastfetch-${releaseTag}" ]]; then
    information 'Cleanup' "Removing the extracted source directory '${BLUE}fastfetch-${releaseTag}${NOCOLOR}'"
    rm -rf "fastfetch-${releaseTag}"
  fi
}

# remember the current working directory for cleanup
workingDirectory=$(pwd)

# check if cmake is available
if ! command -v cmake &>/dev/null; then
  error "CMake is not installed. Run '${BLUE}sudo apt install cmake${NOCOLOR}' to install"
fi

# check if a specific release tag was passed as the first argument
releaseTag="$1"
if [[ -z "$releaseTag" ]]; then
  information '' 'Getting the latest release tag from github'

  response=$(curl -s 'https://api.github.com/repos/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch/releases/latest')

  releaseTag=$(echo "$response" | grep -m 1 '"tag_name"' | cut -d : -d '"' -f 4) \
    || error "Failed to grep the release tag. Response: ${BLUE}${response}${NOCOLOR}"

  information '' "Latest release tag: ${BLUE}${releaseTag}${NOCOLOR}"
fi

# validate that the release tag is in the format "x.y.z"
if ! [[ "$releaseTag" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+\.[0-9]+$ ]]; then
  error "The specified release tag '${BLUE}${releaseTag}${NOCOLOR}' is not in the correct format"
fi

# get the list of already built tags
builtTags=$(find . -mindepth 1 -maxdepth 1 -type f -name '*.deb')
if [[ -n "$builtTags" ]]; then
  builtTags=$( \
    echo "$builtTags" \
    | grep -o 'fastfetch-[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+\.[0-9]\+-Linux.deb' \
    | cut -d - -f 2 \
  )

  # check if the specified release tag is already built
  if [[ "$builtTags" =~ "$releaseTag" ]]; then
    information --yellow "Already Built" "Release tag '${BLUE}${releaseTag}${NOCOLOR}' already built"
    exit 0
  fi
fi

# download source archive
wget "https://github.com/fastfetch-cli/fastfetch/archive/refs/tags/${releaseTag}.tar.gz" || error "Failed to download release '${BLUE}${releaseTag}${NOCOLOR}'"

# extract the tar.gz archive
#  - x: extract
#  - v: verbose output
#  - z: use gzip
#  - f: archive file path
tar -xvzf "${releaseTag}.tar.gz" || error 'Failed to unpack the source archive'

# cd into the extracted directory
cd "fastfetch-${releaseTag}"

# modify the package target of CMakeLists.txt to only build a DEB package
sed -i \
    -e 's/set(CPACK_GENERATOR "TGZ;ZIP")/set(CPACK_GENERATOR "DEB")/g' \
    -e 's/set(CPACK_GENERATOR "${CPACK_GENERATOR};.*")/set(CPACK_GENERATOR "DEB")/g' \
  CMakeLists.txt \
  || error 'Failed to modify CMakeList.txt'

# create a build directory and cd into it
mkdir -p build
cd build

# build the package
cmake .. || error 'Failed to generate a CMake project build system'
cmake --build . --target package || 'Failed to build using CMake'

# find the built package for the current platform
package=$(find . -maxdepth 1 -type f -name 'fastfetch-*.deb') \
  || error "Failed to find the built package in -e$(ls | sed -e $'s/^/\t/')"

# move the built package to the initial working directory
mv "$package" ../../"fastfetch-${releaseTag}-Linux.deb" \
  || error "Failed to move the built package '$package' from:\n$(ls | sed -e $'s/^/\t/')\nto:\n$(ls | sed -e $'s/^/\t/')"

# remove downloaded source files and build artifacts
cleanup

# print the done message and instructions to install
information --green 'Done' "Successfully built ${BLUE}fastfetch-${releaseTag}-Linux.deb${NOCOLOR}"
information '' "Run '${BLUE}sudo apt install ./fastfetch-${releaseTag}-Linux.deb${NOCOLOR}' to install"

The script dumps the built packages in the working directory and expects the user to manually install the package.

You may modify the script to automatically run apt install ./fastfetch-[TAG]-Linux.deb, but instead you may prefer to crate a local package repository and add it to the apt sources:

• Install dpkg-dev if you don't have it

  sudo apt-get install dpkg-dev

• Add a line to the bottom of the shell script

  dpkg-scanpackages --multiversion . /dev/null | gzip -9c > Packages.gz

• Create a source list file inside /etc/apt/sources.list.d/

  nano /etc/apt/sources.list.d/fastfetch-local.list

• Add a reference to the directory where fastfetch packages are built

  deb [trusted=yes] file:/[PATH_TO_THE_DIRECTORY_WITH_THE_BUILD_SCRIPT] ./

• Optionally, to remove dpkg-scanpackages warnings on missing override file
  • Create an override file in the directory with the build script, for example

    echo 'fastfetch optional utils' > overrides

  • Modify the shell script to use the created overrides file instead of /dev/null

    dpkg-scanpackages --multiversion . overrides | gzip -9c > Packages.gz

After doing the above and updating apt (apt update) you may simply install/upgrade fastfetch as if it were a normal package

• apt list -a fastfetch
• apt install fastfetch
• apt install --only-upgrade fastfetch