Zed Packager

A Makefile-based tool to package Zed editor as a Debian/Ubuntu package with dynamic dependency detection.

Features

• Automatic downloads latest Zed release from GitHub
• Dynamic dependency detection using apt-file to find required system packages
• System libraries instead of bundled libraries for better integration
• Proper installation with maintainer scripts for icon cache updates

Prerequisites

sudo apt install wget jq dpkg-dev apt-file
sudo apt-file update

Usage

Build the package

make

This will:

1. Download the latest Zed release
2. Extract the archive
3. Analyze bundled libraries to detect system dependencies
4. Create a .deb package with dynamic dependencies

List dependencies

To see what system packages are needed:

make list-deps

This will show a detailed analysis of each .so library and its corresponding Debian/Ubuntu package.

Install the package

sudo apt install ./build/zed-editor_*.deb

Clean up

make clean

How it works

Dynamic Dependency Detection

The find-deps.sh script analyzes the .so files bundled with Zed and uses apt-file to find the corresponding Debian/Ubuntu packages. This ensures dependencies are always up-to-date.

Script usage:

# Human-readable output
./find-deps.sh /path/to/zed.app/lib

# Machine-readable formats
./find-deps.sh --format makefile /path/to/zed.app/lib  # Comma-separated
./find-deps.sh --format list /path/to/zed.app/lib      # One per line

# Quiet mode (no progress messages)
./find-deps.sh --quiet --format makefile /path/to/zed.app/lib

Makefile Integration

The Makefile automatically calls find-deps.sh during package creation to generate the Depends: field in the control file. This means:

• ✅ Dependencies are always detected from actual bundled libraries
• ✅ Works with any Zed version
• ✅ No manual maintenance required

Project Structure

.
├── Makefile              # Main build system
├── find-deps.sh          # Dynamic dependency detection script
└── build/
    ├── extracted/        # Extracted Zed archive
    ├── deb/          # Package staging directory
    └── zed-editor_*.deb  # Final package

Available Make Targets

Target	Description
all	Build the .deb package (default)
download	Download the archive from GitHub
extract	Extract the archive
deb	Create the .deb package
list-deps	List dynamic library dependencies
clean	Clean up temporary files
help	Display help

Package Details

• Package name: zed-editor
• Installation location: /usr/bin/zed, /usr/libexec/zed-editor
• Desktop integration: Yes (with proper window class binding)
• Icon cache: Automatically updated via maintainer scripts
• Dependencies: Dynamically detected from bundled libraries

License

This packaging tool is provided as-is. Zed editor is subject to its own license terms.