Public SourceMage Discussion List

[Karsten Behrmann <BearPerson AT gmx.net>]

On Wed, 23 Mar 2005 23:41:53 -0600
David Kowis <dkowis AT shlrm.org> wrote:
> Now onto another issue, the installer in there is obviously modified. 
> So as not
> to duplicate work, do we want to use that installer instead of the one that 
> I
> haven't had enough time to work on, as of yet? I'm not making many 
> improvements
> to the installer other than it's structure. I've completely redesigned how 
> the
> installer should happen, providing it with more flexibility and 
> capability. But
> the one on this iso works. and it works now.
> 
> A bit of direction would be nice here. We've got at least two people 
> working on
> different things for each project. We're pulling on big ass rocks in 
> different
> directions. I'm not liking this very much. Some organization is needed here,
> badly.

Okay, let me just summarize where I think we stand, so we all have a common
basis:

- smgl.install will be replaced by David's work when it is ready
This means that all fixes to the old scripts while David is working may
be potentially incompatible with the new design, or already fixed.
A lot of them may just be really hard work to integrate into the split
structure.

Which means:
Whenever you change the old installer, you have to keep in mind that the
changes may become completely worthless. Don't get me wrong, I'm just
stating what I think may happen, that a lot of work gets put into polishing
the current installer and making it work nicely, which may not be too
well portable to the new structure.

On the other hand, there are quite some bugs out in the field, and trying
to just ignore the installer-related bugs may be pointless/dangerous/bad.
It may lead to some bugs just getting ignored. But also,
as it currently seems that 0.9.4 will have the old installer on it,
this means that it has to be in some releaseable shape by then. Some of
the bugs have to be fixed. We're kind of stuck in a dilemma here...

My suggestion: Let's fix the old installer up to get the worst dents out,
but don't spend too much time polishing. Crude hacks are allowed more
often than usual, we'll abandon this code in the near future anyway.
And try to remember the general gist of a fix (maybe make a FixLog on p4?)
so that they can easily be re-applied. ("Make sure /etc/grink is installed
by gnugrink before saving the options of grinkiness, otherwise they will
get overwritten")

Well, of course I am just yet another ISO team member, just stating my 2
cents and what I think is popular opinion, so that we're all on a common
base of thought and planning.

So Far,
  Karsten

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