.deb package fails to install: cross-device hard link error for icon file

[diarized]

Bug Report

Version: 0.2.40
OS: Linux (any distro where /tmp and /usr are on different filesystems)

Problem

Installing the .deb downloaded from the website fails with:

dpkg: error processing archive open-interpreter-linux-amd64.deb (--install):
 error creating hard link './usr/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps/interpreter.png':
 Invalid cross-device link

Root Cause

The data.tar inside the .deb contains a hard link:

./usr/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps/interpreter.png
  → hard link to ./opt/Interpreter/resources/icons/app.png

dpkg extracts to a temp directory (typically on tmpfs at /tmp), then tries to create the hard link targeting a path that resolves to the main filesystem (ext4/btrfs/etc). Hard links cannot span filesystems — hence the error.

This is a known electron-builder behavior.

Fix

Break the hard link in the build pipeline after electron-builder runs, replacing it with an independent copy:

cp --remove-destination \
  dist/linux-unpacked/resources/icons/app.png \
  dist/linux-unpacked/usr/share/icons/hicolor/1024x1024/apps/interpreter.png

cp --remove-destination unlinks the destination first (breaking the hard link) before copying, ensuring the result is an independent file with its own inode.

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This bug report was created by AI, but it was me (human) who the problem detected and a workaround tested.