How to reliably install mrxvt on Ubuntu 18.04 or 20.04?

Solution 1:

20.04
I just installed the xenial build on 20.04 from:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/mrxvt/0.5.4-1.2/+build/8903493
with it's required dependency:
https://launchpad.net/~linuxuprising/+archive/ubuntu/libpng12/+packages
I used GDebi to install.

18.04 (old answer but may be more reliable later)
in short:

download the source file from or anywhere else:
https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+sourcefiles/mrxvt/

read INSTALL to supply deps and:
./configure --enable-everything --disable-debug

install checkinstall to easily create a .deb package so you can upgrade it later.

this command is ready for v0.5.4:

make && sudo -k checkinstall --pkgsource="https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+sourcefiles/mrxvt/" --pkglicense="GPLv2" --deldesc=no --nodoc --maintainer="$USER\\<$USER@$HOSTNAME\\>" --pkgarch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) --pkgversion="0.5.4" --pkgrelease="MakeRelease" --pkgname=mrxvt make install # see INSTALL for deps and configure command

the same command to read it easily here:

make && sudo -k checkinstall \
--pkgsource="https://launchpad.net/ubuntu/+archive/primary/+sourcefiles/mrxvt/" \
--pkglicense="GPLv2" \
--deldesc=no --nodoc \
--maintainer="$USER\\<$USER@$HOSTNAME\\>" \
--pkgarch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) \
--pkgversion="0.5.4" \
--pkgrelease="MakeRelease" \
--pkgname=mrxvt make install \
# see INSTALL for deps and configure command