OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

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argonvegell
Posts: 225
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 23:45

OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by argonvegell »

Running Lubuntu 18.04.

OpenHUD - https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/48893

OpenHUD is a pluginless HUD replacer for OpenMW (0.46+). Here's a screenshot:

Image

Here's a comment from TaxAkla on how to install this mod:
TaxAkla
Great UI mod, wazabear. Congratulations. I play on Linux and I'd like to share how I did.
1 - The resources folder must be pasted on /usr/share/games/openmw (backup the 0riginal mygui folder as the readme says).
2 - The data Folder must be treated like a OpenMW mod: extract to your mod folder, rename it to avoid confusion and edit OpenMW.cfg to point to it.

Here the official OpenMW paths list -> https://wiki.openmw.org/index.php?title=Paths
Here's my problem, in order to paste the resources folder into /usr/share/games/openmw, I need to be root, and I don't feel comfortable installing a mod that requires root access. I'd be more comfortable if I could install this in my Home folder instead.

Is there a way to do this without root?

Thanks.
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Amenophis
Posts: 320
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Location: Fortaleza - Ceará - Brasil

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by Amenophis »

+1
To mod the GUI like any OpenMW mods would be fantastic.
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Husaco
Posts: 44
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Location: Australia

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by Husaco »

argonvegell wrote: 20 Oct 2020, 05:47 Running Lubuntu 18.04.

OpenHUD - https://www.nexusmods.com/morrowind/mods/48893

OpenHUD is a pluginless HUD replacer for OpenMW (0.46+). Here's a screenshot:

Image

Here's a comment from TaxAkla on how to install this mod:
TaxAkla
Great UI mod, wazabear. Congratulations. I play on Linux and I'd like to share how I did.
1 - The resources folder must be pasted on /usr/share/games/openmw (backup the 0riginal mygui folder as the readme says).
2 - The data Folder must be treated like a OpenMW mod: extract to your mod folder, rename it to avoid confusion and edit OpenMW.cfg to point to it.

Here the official OpenMW paths list -> https://wiki.openmw.org/index.php?title=Paths
Here's my problem, in order to paste the resources folder into /usr/share/games/openmw, I need to be root, and I don't feel comfortable installing a mod that requires root access. I'd be more comfortable if I could install this in my Home folder instead.

Is there a way to do this without root?

Thanks.
The first thing to say is that you don't quite understand what the advice about root access is about. You should always limit the programs you permit root access to, as they can modify your entire system, including system-critical files, which are and should be untouchable otherwise. This isn't particularly relevant here, as we're just talking about moving files into an (obviously non-critical) location, and the only program that is going use these files is OpenMW (which doesn't need to be run in root and shouldn't be). Your options here are to:
  • Move the files with elevated permissions. This is easily accomplished with mv, a system command that can obviously be trusted with root permissions, provided you know what you're actually telling it to do.
  • Change the permission of folder so that you can move the files without requiring root access. This is probably the best solution as you can tinker with your folder as much as you want after that. Again, we can trust chmod isn't going to do anything untoward, and it is unimaginable that exposing /usr/share/games/openmw and its sub-folders could cause much trouble.
  • Actually install OpenMW to a different location. This would require more effort on your part (I would hazard to guess you installed OpenMW with your package manager and have never built a program before), and unless you have another reason to, there's no real difference from just changing the permissions of the folder it's currently installed in.
Any number of beginner's guides can help you to perform the first two of those, and I imagine Lubuntu would come pre-packaged with one.
fredzio
Posts: 9
Joined: 12 Apr 2019, 05:56

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by fredzio »

You can use

Code: Select all

openmw --resources <...>
to use a custom resources directory. Note that it replace the default one, so you might want to copy the files that are not overriden by the mod from the global directory to your own.
argonvegell
Posts: 225
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 23:45

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by argonvegell »

Husaco wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 02:47The first thing to say is that you don't quite understand what the advice about root access is about. You should always limit the programs you permit root access to, as they can modify your entire system, including system-critical files, which are and should be untouchable otherwise. This isn't particularly relevant here, as we're just talking about moving files into an (obviously non-critical) location, and the only program that is going use these files is OpenMW (which doesn't need to be run in root and shouldn't be).
/usr/share/games/openmw/ is located within the root file system, so normally, you cannot modify this directory, not without giving your root password. I don't feel comfortable doing that. It's a personal taste of mine that I don't install stuff from third-parties into the root directory.
Husaco wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 02:47Actually install OpenMW to a different location. This would require more effort on your part (I would hazard to guess you installed OpenMW with your package manager and have never built a program before), and unless you have another reason to, there's no real difference from just changing the permissions of the folder it's currently installed in..
Not tech-savvy enough for that.
fredzio wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:17 You can use

Code: Select all

openmw --resources <...>
to use a custom resources directory. Note that it replace the default one, so you might want to copy the files that are not overriden by the mod from the global directory to your own.
How and where do I use this? I'm not tech-savvy enough. Does that code go into openmw.cfg or settings.cfg in /home/~/.config/openmw/?
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Husaco
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Location: Australia

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by Husaco »

argonvegell wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:42 /usr/share/games/openmw/ is located within the root file system, so normally, you cannot modify this directory, not without giving your root password. I don't feel comfortable doing that. It's a personal taste of mine that I don't install stuff from third-parties into the root directory.
The root directory is strictly the top-level / of the file system, which it is indeed a bad idea to play around with. That advice doesn't extend to everything below it, and while you're right to be cautious, I think you're still a little confused. I'm not at your computer, but your whole installation is probably within the root FS, and your home directory is likely a first-level sub-directory of the root directory (/home). Having different permissions for different sub-directories is a very normal and basic feature of the file system, and there is nothing odd about changing the permissions of a well-nested directory that is a million miles away from anything that would affect any system files.

You don't give your root password to anything by using the sudo command (or mv or chmod or any standard command) in your terminal emulator. This is something most every user of Linux has cause to use regularly, and you frankly ought be familiar enough with such to be comfortable using it in at least some scenarios.
argonvegell wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:42
fredzio wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:17 You can use

Code: Select all

openmw --resources <...>
to use a custom resources directory. Note that it replace the default one, so you might want to copy the files that are not overriden by the mod from the global directory to your own.
How and where do I use this? I'm not tech-savvy enough. Does that code go into openmw.cfg or settings.cfg in /home/~/.config/openmw/?
That is just opening OpenMW with the terminal with a switch to change your resources folder. You open "terminal" or whatever it's called on Lubuntu and write openmw --resources ./whatever/the/folder/is and press enter.
argonvegell
Posts: 225
Joined: 08 Dec 2015, 23:45

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by argonvegell »

Husaco wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 07:27
argonvegell wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:42 /usr/share/games/openmw/ is located within the root file system, so normally, you cannot modify this directory, not without giving your root password. I don't feel comfortable doing that. It's a personal taste of mine that I don't install stuff from third-parties into the root directory.
The root directory is strictly the top-level / of the file system, which it is indeed a bad idea to play around with. That advice doesn't extend to everything below it, and while you're right to be cautious, I think you're still a little confused. I'm not at your computer, but your whole installation is probably within the root FS, and your home directory is likely a first-level sub-directory of the root directory (/home). Having different permissions for different sub-directories is a very normal and basic feature of the file system, and there is nothing odd about changing the permissions of a well-nested directory that is a million miles away from anything that would affect any system files.

You don't give your root password to anything by using the sudo command (or mv or chmod or any standard command) in your terminal emulator. This is something most every user of Linux has cause to use regularly, and you frankly ought be familiar enough with such to be comfortable using it in at least some scenarios.
argonvegell wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:42
fredzio wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 06:17 You can use

Code: Select all

openmw --resources <...>
to use a custom resources directory. Note that it replace the default one, so you might want to copy the files that are not overriden by the mod from the global directory to your own.
How and where do I use this? I'm not tech-savvy enough. Does that code go into openmw.cfg or settings.cfg in /home/~/.config/openmw/?
That is just opening OpenMW with the terminal with a switch to change your resources folder. You open "terminal" or whatever it's called on Lubuntu and write openmw --resources ./whatever/the/folder/is and press enter.
Thanks that worked, and I didn't have to mess around with sudo to make it work. Thanks again.
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AnyOldName3
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Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by AnyOldName3 »

resources can also be set in openmw.cfg (as can basically any command-line option for OpenMW). The syntax is a little different, though, so it would be:

Code: Select all

resources=/path/to/resources/directory
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Amenophis
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Joined: 30 Oct 2011, 04:34
Location: Fortaleza - Ceará - Brasil

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by Amenophis »

AnyOldName3 wrote: 21 Oct 2020, 13:10 resources can also be set in openmw.cfg (as can basically any command-line option for OpenMW). The syntax is a little different, though, so it would be:

Code: Select all

resources=/path/to/resources/directory
Just tested and didn't work. I even tested creating a new folder on a path without spaces (because with spaces Openmw.cfg automatically adds quotation marks and move the line to the beggining of the file) and the mod don't load. Maybe a bug or the resources folder is not meant to be overwritten even by openmw,cfg?
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AnyOldName3
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Joined: 26 Nov 2015, 03:25

Re: OpenHUD, is there a way to install this without root?

Post by AnyOldName3 »

Command-line and config arguments both go through the same system, so they should both be equivalent.

This might be a case of https://gitlab.com/OpenMW/openmw/-/issues/2976 or a side effect of Capo's solution to it. Maybe the openmw.cfg in the installation directory is beating the user one. Does it start working if you temporarily comment out that line?
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