Just having something on the download page (and in the archive) that states what the minimum Python version (and wxPython perhaps) is needed for any particular version of Chirp, would save "A Lot" of user time (+ cost for those on a $-per-kByte connection) and confusion re Chirp, when they find after waiting (and or paying for) the download, that it won't install.
I've provided links to the source files in the repo that dictate the package and python requirements on the linux install page. I've also added your examples about finding the wx and python versions for users that might hit this problem in the same way you did. Hopefully that will help them do the research necessary if they require it.
I'll consider dropping a file into the build directory at some point that will expose those in more succinct terms, but I have to be honest, I'm not sure it's really all that important and worth the time.
I see you updated the download info page some hours ago now, at least your name is at the bottom of the page, not Jeff's. (Sorry, I don't know who Jeff is in this respect.)
Jeff is one of the contributors to the text on the page, his name is in the history of the page, and he replied recently to to one of the other threads asserting that the instructions don't work. When he saw some missing info on the page a while back, he helped constructively to make it better.
As to "needing" to update my distro (LMDE 5 just now) that is still in full support for nearly another 80 days, it keeps telling me.
I don't doubt that things move on over time, that's the nature of stuff, but some appreciation for us the users would help us a lot.
Right now, the ~98% of users that run the Windows and macOS builds are running on much newer bits than the (comparatively) few Linux users. Even still, we have a number of exceptions in the code specifically to make things work on the ancient version of wxWidgets that is in most distros (4.0.7, just like yours). A quick survey shows 21 places in the code where we do something specific for Linux so it works better for the users.
Just the other day, I added a new feature that turned out not to work the same way on 4.0.7 and I had to write _more_ code (on my night and weekend time) to make it work for Linux users as well as the others. Chirp also has a whole chunk of code in it to make installing a desktop/app icon easier for linux users since the new way of installing python packages (which we're forced to comply with) can't do it.
Until several weeks ago, we still had some of those non-trivial hacks in place for older Pythons like 3.7 which lack some of the inbuilt ways of packaging extra data (like the stock configs, etc). In an effort to reduce the maintenance overhead, I removed those to bump the minimum version when adding some extra stuff to make it more streamlined. I did that based on the fact that Ubuntu 24.04 was being released that month, which would place the last LTS of it to not support at least 3.10 at *four* years old and three major versions ago. That was a measured decision, not one made on a whim, specifically with the impact to the users in mind. Ubuntu (and derivatives) are the largest chunk of that 2% of users for which that work is relevant, so like it or not, it's the benchmark.
So, please, again, show some respect for those of us spending their Sunday mornings trying hard to cater to a fraction of the 2% of users that run older distros by not claiming a lack of "appreciation." It would be *easier* to just say chirp "doesn't work on linux", drop the install instructions (which have to shift over time because of changes in the distros and python itself) and remove all the linux-specific bits in the code which require maintenance.
You know what hasn't changed in a long time? The installation instructions for macOS and Windows :)
FYI: The immediate past day-job (thankfully I'm retired now!) I used to be the customer support and service guru, in-house and on-site, both hardware and software.
Good to know. Please provide your phone number and I'll be glad to list it on the page for extended support. Charge whatever rate you feel appropriate :)
--Dan