Merge pull request #10138 from electron/improve-linux-build-instructions

improve linux build instructions

docs/development/build-instructions-linux.md

@@ -8,10 +8,10 @@ Follow the guidelines below for building Electron on Linux.
 * Python 2.7.x. Some distributions like CentOS 6.x still use Python 2.6.x
   so you may need to check your Python version with `python -V`.
 * Node.js. There are various ways to install Node. You can download
-  source code from [Node.js](http://nodejs.org) and compile from source.
+  source code from [nodejs.org](http://nodejs.org) and compile it.
   Doing so permits installing Node on your own home directory as a standard user.
   Or try repositories such as [NodeSource](https://nodesource.com/blog/nodejs-v012-iojs-and-the-nodesource-linux-repositories).
-* Clang 3.4 or later.
+* [clang](https://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html) 3.4 or later.
 * Development headers of GTK+ and libnotify.
 
 On Ubuntu, install the following libraries:
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ managers such as pacman. Or one can compile from source code.
 ## Getting the Code
 
 ```bash
-$ git clone https://github.com/electron/electron.git
+$ git clone https://github.com/electron/electron
 ```
 
 ## Bootstrapping
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ Downloading certain files can take a long time. Notice that we are using
 
 ```bash
 $ cd electron
-$ ./script/bootstrap.py -v
+$ ./script/bootstrap.py --verbose
 ```
 
 ### Cross compilation
@@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ $ sudo apt-get install libc6-dev-armhf-cross linux-libc-dev-armhf-cross \
                        g++-arm-linux-gnueabihf
 ```
 
-And to cross compile for `arm` or `ia32` targets, you should pass the
+And to cross-compile for `arm` or `ia32` targets, you should pass the
 `--target_arch` parameter to the `bootstrap.py` script:
 
 ```bash
@@ -98,7 +98,7 @@ $ ./script/create-dist.py
 ```
 
 This will put a working distribution with much smaller file sizes in
-the `dist` directory. After running the create-dist.py script, you
+the `dist` directory. After running the `create-dist.py` script, you
 may want to remove the 1.3+ gigabyte binary which is still in `out/R`.
 
 You can also build the `Debug` target only:
@@ -143,17 +143,29 @@ See [Build System Overview: Tests](build-system-overview.md#tests)
 ## Advanced topics
 
 The default building configuration is targeted for major desktop Linux
-distributions, to build for a specific distribution or device, following
+distributions. To build for a specific distribution or device, the following
 information may help you.
 
 ### Building `libchromiumcontent` locally
 
-To avoid using the prebuilt binaries of `libchromiumcontent`, you can pass the
-`--build_libchromiumcontent` switch to `bootstrap.py` script:
-
-```bash
-$ ./script/bootstrap.py -v --build_libchromiumcontent
-```
+To avoid using the prebuilt binaries of `libchromiumcontent`, you can build `libchromiumcontent` locally.  To do so, follow these steps:
+  1. Install [depot_tools](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/linux_build_instructions.md#Install)
+  2. Install [additional build dependencies](https://chromium.googlesource.com/chromium/src/+/master/docs/linux_build_instructions.md#Install-additional-build-dependencies)
+  3. Fetch the git submodules:
+  
+  ```bash
+  $ git submodule update --init --recursive
+  ```
+  4. Copy the .gclient config file
+
+  ```bash
+  $ cp vendor/libchromiumcontent/.gclient .
+  ```
+  5. Pass the `--build_libchromiumcontent` switch to `bootstrap.py` script:
+
+  ```bash
+  $ ./script/bootstrap.py -v --build_libchromiumcontent
+  ```
 
 Note that by default the `shared_library` configuration is not built, so you can
 only build `Release` version of Electron if you use this mode:
@@ -164,10 +176,12 @@ $ ./script/build.py -c R
 
 ### Using system `clang` instead of downloaded `clang` binaries
 
-By default Electron is built with prebuilt `clang` binaries provided by Chromium
-project. If for some reason you want to build with the `clang` installed in your
-system, you can call `bootstrap.py` with `--clang_dir=<path>` switch. By passing
-it the build script will assume the `clang` binaries reside in `<path>/bin/`.
+By default Electron is built with prebuilt 
+[`clang`](https://clang.llvm.org/get_started.html) binaries provided by the
+Chromium project. If for some reason you want to build with the `clang` 
+installed in your system, you can call `bootstrap.py` with `--clang_dir=<path>` 
+switch. By passing it the build script will assume the `clang` binaries reside 
+in `<path>/bin/`.
 
 For example if you installed `clang` under `/user/local/bin/clang`:
 
@@ -176,7 +190,7 @@ $ ./script/bootstrap.py -v --build_libchromiumcontent --clang_dir /usr/local
 $ ./script/build.py -c R
 ```
 
-### Using other compilers other than `clang`
+### Using compilers other than `clang`
 
 To build Electron with compilers like `g++`, you first need to disable `clang`
 with `--disable_clang` switch first, and then set `CC` and `CXX` environment
@@ -209,4 +223,4 @@ custom the building configurations:
 * `LDFLAGS`
 
 The environment variables have to be set when executing the `bootstrap.py`
-script, it won't work in the `build.py` script.
+script, it won't work in the `build.py` script.