gnuplot with GNU readline and history support

By default, the gnuplot packages in Debian are not built with libreadline (GNU readline). This is due to licensing issues (see /usr/share/doc/gnuplot/README.Debian for more info). Having the libreadline support is useful as it enables tab completion of file names inside gnuplot. Using GNU readline, one can also access the commands used in previous gnuplot sessions. The recipe for recompiling the gnuplot packages (in the Debian way) with support for GNU readline and history file is given below.

$cat ~/makefiles/gnuplot.install
#add the following or similar entry into the /etc/apt/sources.list
deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ etch main contrib non-free
# other possible entries look like
# deb-src http://ftp.us.debian.org/debian/ unstable main contrib non-free

# install packages necessary for building gnuplot
sudo apt-get install fakeroot
sudo apt-get build-dep gnuplot
# see the versions of gnuplot available
rmadison gnuplot
# I decided to use gnuplot 4.0.0-5

# go to the place where you normally compile packages
cd /home/software/compileHere/gnuplot

# (optional) move files from previous versions/compilations if they exist
# mv gnuplot-4.0.0/ /tmp
# (optional) move old binary deb files also if necessary
# mv gnuplot*deb /tmp

apt-get source gnuplot=4.0.0-5
dpkg-source -x gnuplot_4.0.0-5.dsc
cd gnuplot-4.0.0/debian/

# Edit the file named "rules" and change
--without-gnu-readline
      TO
--with-readline=gnu

# Enable the history file by adding
--enable-history-file

cd ..
dpkg-buildpackage -us -uc -rfakeroot
cd ..

ls gnuplot*deb
gnuplot_4.0.0-5_all.deb      gnuplot-nox_4.0.0-5_i386.deb
gnuplot-doc_4.0.0-5_all.deb  gnuplot-x11_4.0.0-5_i386.deb

sudo dpkg -i gnuplot*deb

apt-cache showsrc gnuplot