Editing Programs

Question

I've been checking out source codes of some Linux software. For instance, if I were to run cd /usr/bin and type sudo nano libreoffice, I would see the LibreOffice source code.

However most programs are different. For instance sudo nano cmatrix shows a lot of junk with few recognizable strings of text. It does state at the bottom of nano "Converted from Mac format". I'm not sure what that means, and I don't see it every time I see junk like this.

How can I see the source code of a program like this, or can't I?

Note I'm looking in /usr/bin based on this diagram. Also, note that this isn't restricted to nano. I've also tried vi, but I prefer nano.

also /usr/bin/libreoffice is not the source code for libre office. — ravery, Mar 22 '18 at 02:32
Possible duplicate of How do I get and modify the source code of packages installed through apt-get? — muru, Mar 22 '18 at 02:36
It is most likely compiled...However, you can find the source code for LibreOffice... there --> https://github.com/LibreOffice — NerdOfCode, Mar 22 '18 at 02:56
If you do file cmatrix you'll probably see that this file is a binary (ELF). — muclux, Mar 22 '18 at 06:42
@dsstorefile perhaps this only works for programs installed by apt-get? I only get E: Unable to find a source package for ___ . I've installed all of my programs with apt — wolf_math, Mar 23 '18 at 01:48

score 3 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 22 '18 at 02:31

3

That is not the "source code" for libreoffice, it's just a shell script that sets up the environment and starts the real libreoffice.

If you install the apt-src package, you can use it to download the actual source of ubuntu packages. Read man apt-src.

answered Mar 22 '18 at 02:31

waltinator

36,399

Or use apt-get source directly. – muru Mar 22 '18 at 02:36

Editing Programs

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