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Christian Immanuel · 2026-08-08 20:39 · afaf0621aa11a32c4c3a3e30c6700282b5aabe83

 README.md         |  6 ++++--
 build-portable.sh | 57 +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++----------------------
 2 files changed, 38 insertions(+), 25 deletions(-)

diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 451e9b5..ca4b7e6 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -110,8 +110,10 @@ Docker or Podman):
 ./build-portable.sh          # builds against ubuntu:22.04 (glibc 2.35)
 ./build-portable.sh 20.04    # older glibc 2.31 -> even wider compatibility
 ```
-The result runs on that Ubuntu release and anything newer. (There's still no
-prebuilt binary in this repo on purpose — a portable build has to be pinned to a
+The result runs on that Ubuntu release and anything newer. It pins a known-good SDL
+release (`release-3.2.14`) and links it statically; override with
+`SDL_TAG=release-3.2.30 ./build-portable.sh` if you want a newer one. (There's still
+no prebuilt binary in this repo on purpose — a portable build has to be pinned to a
 specific glibc/toolchain, which is a choice best made on your end.)
 
 ### 4. Put it on your PATH
diff --git a/build-portable.sh b/build-portable.sh
index 1d7dff6..3a70cab 100644
--- a/build-portable.sh
+++ b/build-portable.sh
@@ -7,19 +7,26 @@
 # anything newer — fixing "GLIBC_2.xx not found" errors you get when you build on
 # a bleeding-edge distro (Arch, Fedora rawhide, ...) and run on Ubuntu.
 #
-# SDL3 is linked statically (no libSDL3.so needed on the target). SDL still loads
-# the system's Wayland/X11 libraries at runtime via dlopen, which is why this is
-# NOT a fully-static binary — that approach doesn't work for SDL. This one links
-# only glibc dynamically, against an old-enough version.
+# SDL3 is linked statically (no libSDL3.so needed on the target) and pinned to a
+# known-good release. SDL still loads the system's Wayland/X11 libraries at runtime
+# via dlopen, so this is NOT a fully-static binary — that approach doesn't work for
+# SDL. It links only glibc dynamically, against an old-enough version.
 #
 # Requires Docker or Podman on the machine you run this from.
 #
 # Usage:
-#   ./build-portable.sh            # build against ubuntu:22.04
-#   ./build-portable.sh 20.04      # even older glibc (2.31), wider compatibility
+#   ./build-portable.sh                 # ubuntu:22.04, SDL release-3.2.14
+#   ./build-portable.sh 20.04           # older glibc (2.31) -> wider compatibility
+#   SDL_TAG=release-3.2.30 ./build-portable.sh   # a different SDL release
+#
+# Note: newer SDL releases sometimes add X11 checks (e.g. XTEST) that need extra
+# -dev packages. If you bump SDL_TAG and configure fails on a missing package,
+# add it to the apt line below (or install it and re-run).
 
 set -euo pipefail
-TAG="${1:-22.04}"
+
+UBUNTU_TAG="${1:-22.04}"
+SDL_TAG="${SDL_TAG:-release-3.2.14}"
 
 ENGINE="$(command -v docker || command -v podman || true)"
 if [ -z "$ENGINE" ]; then
@@ -27,33 +34,37 @@ if [ -z "$ENGINE" ]; then
     exit 1
 fi
 
-echo ">> building appwheel inside ubuntu:$TAG (this compiles SDL3, give it a few minutes)"
+echo ">> building appwheel in ubuntu:$UBUNTU_TAG against SDL $SDL_TAG"
+echo ">> (this compiles SDL3 from source; give it a few minutes)"
 
-"$ENGINE" run --rm -v "$PWD":/src -w /src "ubuntu:$TAG" bash -euc '
+"$ENGINE" run --rm -e SDL_TAG="$SDL_TAG" -v "$PWD":/src -w /src "ubuntu:$UBUNTU_TAG" bash -euc '
     export DEBIAN_FRONTEND=noninteractive
     apt-get update -qq
+    # Complete dependency set for SDL 3.2.x video (X11 + Wayland + GL). No audio /
+    # input-device libs: we build SDL video-only below, so those arent needed.
     apt-get install -y --no-install-recommends \
         build-essential git cmake pkg-config ca-certificates file \
-        libx11-dev libxext-dev libxrandr-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libxfixes-dev \
-        libxss-dev libxrender-dev libxinerama-dev \
-        libwayland-dev wayland-protocols libxkbcommon-dev libgl1-mesa-dev libegl1-mesa-dev
+        libx11-dev libxext-dev libxcursor-dev libxi-dev libxfixes-dev libxrandr-dev \
+        libxss-dev libxrender-dev libxinerama-dev libxkbcommon-dev \
+        libwayland-dev wayland-protocols libgl1-mesa-dev libegl1-mesa-dev
+
+    # Clone the pinned SDL into a container-local dir (not your mounted repo), so
+    # this never reuses a previous checkout and never clutters your project.
+    git clone --depth 1 --branch "$SDL_TAG" https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL /tmp/SDL
 
-    if [ ! -d SDL ]; then
-        git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL
-    fi
-    # Video-only SDL: appwheel only uses SDL_INIT_VIDEO, so we switch off audio,
-    # input-device, and misc subsystems. That avoids pulling ALSA/PulseAudio/udev
-    # /dbus dev packages and keeps the dependency surface (and build) small.
-    cmake -S SDL -B SDL/build \
+    # Video-only SDL: appwheel only uses SDL_INIT_VIDEO, so switch off audio,
+    # input-device and misc subsystems. Smaller build, fewer dependencies.
+    cmake -S /tmp/SDL -B /tmp/SDL/build \
         -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release -DSDL_STATIC=ON -DSDL_SHARED=OFF \
         -DSDL_AUDIO=OFF -DSDL_JOYSTICK=OFF -DSDL_HAPTIC=OFF -DSDL_SENSOR=OFF \
         -DSDL_CAMERA=OFF -DSDL_POWER=OFF -DSDL_DBUS=OFF -DSDL_IBUS=OFF \
         -DSDL_TEST_LIBRARY=OFF -DSDL_EXAMPLES=OFF >/dev/null
-    cmake --build SDL/build -j"$(nproc)"
-    cmake --install SDL/build >/dev/null
+    cmake --build /tmp/SDL/build -j"$(nproc)"
+    cmake --install /tmp/SDL/build >/dev/null
     ldconfig
     export PKG_CONFIG_PATH="/usr/local/lib/pkgconfig:/usr/local/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/pkgconfig:${PKG_CONFIG_PATH:-}"
 
+    # Build appwheel (in /src, your mounted repo) with SDL baked in.
     make static
     strip appwheel 2>/dev/null || true
 
@@ -64,5 +75,5 @@ echo ">> building appwheel inside ubuntu:$TAG (this compiles SDL3, give it a few
 '
 
 echo
-echo ">> done. ./appwheel should now run on Ubuntu $TAG and newer (and other"
-echo ">> distros whose glibc is at least that version)."
+echo ">> done. ./appwheel should now run on Ubuntu $UBUNTU_TAG and newer"
+echo ">> (and other distros whose glibc is at least that version)."