From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Path: main.gmane.org!not-for-mail From: Fredrik Staxeng Newsgroups: gmane.emacs.help Subject: Re: Software/HD ecology Date: 21 Dec 2002 13:31:17 +0100 Sender: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Message-ID: <1mfzsrblka.fsf@Tempo.Update.UU.SE> References: <041220020952400758%ajanta@no.spam> <071220021155280606%ajanta@no.spam> <5ld6obj8il.fsf@rum.cs.yale.edu> <091220021652087216%ajanta@no.spam> <111220021101520860%ajanta@no.spam> <111220021253524057%ajanta@no.spam> <5l65u0i8zj.fsf@rum.cs.yale.edu> <111220022053507599%ajanta@no.spam> <87u1hjdwta.fsf@hurd.crasseux.com> <121220021324043990%ajanta@no.spam> <171220021132381961%ajanta@no.spam> <3DFFA457.1020103@rcn.com> <844r9b3exh.fsf@lucy.cs.uni-dortmund.de> <87y96m3xhg.fsf@tc-1-100.kawasaki.gol.ne.jp> <1mr8ceoypu.fsf@Tempo.Update.UU.SE> <87wum4w7nj.fsf@tc-1-100.kawasaki.gol.ne.jp> NNTP-Posting-Host: main.gmane.org Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Trace: main.gmane.org 1040474159 20761 80.91.224.249 (21 Dec 2002 12:35:59 GMT) X-Complaints-To: usenet@main.gmane.org NNTP-Posting-Date: Sat, 21 Dec 2002 12:35:59 +0000 (UTC) Return-path: Original-Received: from monty-python.gnu.org ([199.232.76.173]) by main.gmane.org with esmtp (Exim 3.35 #1 (Debian)) id 18PirE-0005OJ-00 for ; Sat, 21 Dec 2002 13:35:56 +0100 Original-Received: from localhost ([127.0.0.1] helo=monty-python.gnu.org) by monty-python.gnu.org with esmtp (Exim 4.10.13) id 18Piqi-000223-00 for gnu-help-gnu-emacs@m.gmane.org; Sat, 21 Dec 2002 07:35:24 -0500 Original-Newsgroups: comp.sys.mac.apps,comp.sys.mac.advocacy,comp.text.tex,gnu.emacs.help Original-Lines: 56 User-Agent: Gnus/5.0808 (Gnus v5.8.8) Emacs/21.2 Original-NNTP-Posting-Host: news.update.uu.se Original-X-Trace: puffinus.its.uu.se 1040472906 news.update.uu.se (21 Dec 2002 13:15:06 +0100) Original-Path: shelby.stanford.edu!newsfeed.stanford.edu!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed1.bredband.com!bredband!newsfeed1.telenordia.se!algonet!newsfeed.sunet.se!news01.sunet.se!puffinus.its.uu.se Original-Xref: shelby.stanford.edu comp.sys.mac.apps:349461 gnu.emacs.help:108392 Original-To: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-BeenThere: help-gnu-emacs@gnu.org X-Mailman-Version: 2.1b5 Precedence: list List-Id: Users list for the GNU Emacs text editor List-Help: List-Post: List-Subscribe: , List-Archive: List-Unsubscribe: , Errors-To: help-gnu-emacs-bounces+gnu-help-gnu-emacs=m.gmane.org@gnu.org Xref: main.gmane.org gmane.emacs.help:4921 X-Report-Spam: http://spam.gmane.org/gmane.emacs.help:4921 Miles Bader writes: >Fredrik Staxeng writes: >> >Those seem like pretty reasonable ideas; in more concrete form, perhaps >> >they could be added to the GNU programming standards or something. >> >> I think that right thing is a gnu-install program. This would be >> called from install targets in the makefiles. It would log the >> files installed, and then you could do gnu-uninstall emacs. > >The GNU coding standards in general do not presume any external >non-standard dependencies -- that is, everything they say can >theoretically be accomplished given only the package in question -- and >specify _what_ you should do rather than the mechanism by which you >should do it. Yes, coding standards do not, on their own, actually do anything. The addition to the coding standards would be "the configure script should check for the existence of gnu-install". >So certain package might want to use a `gnu-install' program that does >the book-keeping for them to meet the coding standards, but they'd have >to have their own copy of that program in their distribution (though >they needn't actually use it if their configure script detects a native >version). Other packages may choose to simply do it another way. I was think more, "if you want uninstall functionality, install gnu-install first". Perhaps the biggest packages should require it, and therefore include it in the distribution. But it would be overkill for gzip. >It might be useful for users to have a `gnu-uninstall' program, but such >a thing should be an optional additional package that uses the basic >information provided by each package, as specified by coding standards. I think the other way around is more practical, that the packages directly support gnu-install. Perhaps I have not made the mechanism clear. The idea was the makefile calls "gnu-install package version file dest", instead of install.sh or BSD install. This is a simple extension of what is already done today. >> I think that undo logic has to be derived automatically. Manually >> writing things like that too error-prone, especially if they need >> ongoing maintenance. > >That's true, and maybe this would mean that most packages would end up >using a standard `gnu-install' program/script -- but it should be up to >the package to decide. I would like to be able to force packages to use a tool that I trust. If it is easy enough to do, I would implement support for it and send patches to the maintainer. -- Fredrik Stax\"ang | rot13: sfgk@hcqngr.hh.fr