Linux Build Workarounds, Wayland/X11, and Packaging Zed

> this is caused by known bugs in aws-lc-rs(doesn't support GCC >= 14): [FIPS fails to build with GCC >= 14](https://github.com/aws/aws-lc-rs/issues/569) > & [GCC-14 - build failure for FIPS module](https://github.com/aws/aws-lc/issues/2010) > > You can refer to [linux: Linker error for remote_server when using script/install-linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/24880) for more information. > > **Workarounds**: > Set the remote server target to `x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu` like so `export REMOTE_SERVER_TARGET=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu; script/install-linux` ## Wayland & X11 Zed supports both X11 and Wayland. By default, we pick whichever we can find at runtime. If you're on Wayland and want to run in X11 mode, use the environment variable `WAYLAND_DISPLAY=''`. ## Notes for packaging Zed Thank you for taking on the task of packaging Zed! ### Technical requirements Zed has two main binaries: - You will need to build `crates/cli` and make its binary available in `$PATH` with the name `zed`. - You will need to build `crates/zed` and put it at `$PATH/to/cli/../../libexec/zed-editor`. For example, if you are going to put the cli at `~/.local/bin/zed` put zed at `~/.local/libexec/zed-editor`. As some linux distributions (notably Arch) discourage the use of `libexec`, you can also put this binary at `$PATH/to/cli/../../lib/zed/zed-editor` (e.g. `~/.local/lib/zed/zed-editor`) instead. - If you are going to provide a `.desktop` file you can find a template in `crates/zed/resources/zed.desktop.in`, and use `envsubst` to populate it with the values required. This file should also be renamed to `$APP_ID.desktop` so that the file [follows the FreeDesktop standards](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12707#issuecomment-2168742761). - You will need to ensure that the necessary libraries are installed. You can get the current list by [inspecting the built binary](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/935cf542aebf55122ce6ed1c91d0fe8711970c82/script/bundle-linux#L65-L67) on your system. - For an example of a complete build script, see [script/bundle-linux](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/blob/935cf542aebf55122ce6ed1c91d0fe8711970c82/script/bundle-linux). - You can disable Zed's auto updates and provide instructions for users who try to update Zed manually by building (or running) Zed with the environment variable `ZED_UPDATE_EXPLANATION`. For example: `ZED_UPDATE_EXPLANATION="Please use flatpak to update zed."`. - Make sure to update the contents of the `crates/zed/RELEASE_CHANNEL` file to 'nightly', 'preview', or 'stable', with no newline. This will cause Zed to use the credentials manager to remember a user's login. ### Other things to note At Zed, our priority has been to move fast and bring the latest technology to our users. We've long been frustrated at having software that is slow, out of date, or hard to configure, and so we've built our editor to those tastes. However, we realize that many distros have other priorities. We want to work with everyone to bring Zed to their favorite platforms. But there is a long way to go: - Zed is a fast-moving early-phase project. We typically release 2-3 builds per week to fix user-reported issues and release major features. - There are a couple of other `zed` binaries that may be present on Linux systems ([1](https://openzfs.github.io/openzfs-docs/man/v2.2/8/zed.8.html), [2](https://zed.brimdata.io/docs/commands/zed)). If you want to rename our CLI binary because of these issues, we suggest `zedit`, `zeditor`, or `zed-cli`. - Zed automatically installs the correct version of common developer tools in the same way as rustup/rbenv/pyenv, etc. We understand this is contentious, [see here](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12589). - We allow users to install extensions locally and from [zed-industries/extensions](https://github.com/zed-industries/extensions). These extensions may install further tooling as needed, such as language servers. In the long run, we would like to make this safer, [see here](https://github.com/zed-industries/zed/issues/12358).

This section addresses a known linker error caused by aws-lc-rs incompatibility with GCC versions >= 14 and provides a workaround. It also details Zed's support for Wayland and X11 and instructions for packagers, including binary locations, `.desktop` file setup, library dependencies, disabling auto-updates, and setting the release channel. Finally, it notes Zed's rapid development cycle, potential binary naming conflicts with other tools, automatic tool installation, and extension handling.