The raco cross is broken

[ChaosEternal]

when run raco cross --target aarch64-macos make some.rkt
it tries to

>> Downloading and unpacking
 https://download.racket-lang.org/installers/8.18/racket-minimal-8.18-x86_64-linux-natipkg-cs.tgz
error: installer not found
 consider using `--use-source` to build from source

However, there is no https://download.racket-lang.org/installers/8.18/racket-minimal-8.18-x86_64-linux-natipkg-cs.tgz

only https://download.racket-lang.org/installers/8.18/racket-minimal-8.18-x86_64-linux-natipkg-cs.sh

[mflatt]

Hi @ChaosEternal — How did you install Racket?

My guess is that you've installed a "natipkg" build. The advantage of natipkg is that it comes with native libraries so that dependencies on the host OS installation are minimal. A drawback is that there's no cross cross-compilation archive prepared on our distribution servers (although maybe there should be). By default, raco cross uses the current installation as an indication of what it should download as a "host" archive, and so a natipkg installation tries to download a naitpkg archive (although maybe it shouldn't).

If your not clear on your host installation, it's shown as the initial output from raco cross. Here's what I see when starting from a natipkg installation:

>> Cross configuration
 Target:    aarch64-macosx
 Host:      x86_64-linux-natipkg
 Version:   9.1
 VM:        cs

If I guess correctly about your installation, one solution is to add --host x86_64-linux to your command line. Another is to use --use-source, if you have a C compiler available.

[mflatt]

Well, I should have let my --use-source check complete before replying. I see that it eventually errors with cross: unrecognized platform: "x86_64-linux-natipkg", so that's deifnitely something to fix.

[ChaosEternal]

Thank you Matthew. I was reviving my old CI pipeline, which is using the racket 8.10 docker image and was running good. But when I updated the project recently, the pipeline no longer works. That's how this issue is raised.

…

On Tue, Mar 10, 2026, 5:54 PM Matthew Flatt ***@***.***> wrote: *mflatt* left a comment (racket/raco-cross#12) <#12 (comment)> Well, I should have let my --use-source check complete before replying. I see that it eventually errors with cross: unrecognized platform: "x86_64-linux-natipkg", so that's deifnitely something to fix. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#12 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AALMFG5UGX6VC2PRSOC6JDT4P63ZJAVCNFSM6AAAAACWLGH5PGVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHM2DAMRZGEYTSMBSGA> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

[ChaosEternal]

I didn't use --with-source

so far i see that raco tries to download racket-minimal-8.18-x86_64-linux-natipkg-cs.tgz but however, the racket team stopped delivering the .tgz and instead they provide a .sh file. my intuitive solution to this would be follow the .sh file and use it