Re: Compiling from scratch.

[Pascal J . Bourguignon]

Chris B. Vetter writes:
> On Sat, 25 Oct 2003 06:53:34 +0200 (CEST)
> "Pascal J.Bourguignon" <pjb@informatimago.com> wrote:
> [...]
> > First  problem,  this compile-all  script  asks  for  root.  There  is
> > absolutely no  need to be root  to compile and install  gnustep or any
> > other application software.  So I first removed:
> [...]
> > from it.
> 
> Well, you are right. To compile any piece of software you usually do not
> need to be root. However, installing software is a different story
> entirely.
> 
> By default, compile-all will install into /usr/GNUstep. Unless this
> directory is owned by you (as a user), you probably won't need root. The
> same is true if you plan to install into a different directory, say,
> somewhere in your user's home.
> 
> You are probably aware (by now) that you can change the directory to
> install to can be specified with
> 
>   compile-all --prefix=/path/to/GNUstep
> 
> and of course, if that's inside your user's home, you shouldn't need to
> be root.

So, why not write it as:

if [ "$1" != "" ]; then 
  prefix="$1"
else
  prefix="/usr/GNUstep"
fi

if [ ! ( -d $prefix -a -w $prefix ) ] ; then
  if [ ! ( -d $(basename $prefix) -a -w $(basename $prefix) ) ] ; then
    if [ root != "`whoami`" ]; then
      echo "You need to be root"
      exit 1
    fi
  fi
fi  

instead of:

if [ root != "`whoami`" ]; then
  echo "You need to be root"
  exit 1
fi

if [ "$1" != "" ]; then 
  prefix="$1"
else
  prefix="/usr/GNUstep"
fi

  

 
> > Second problem, it simply does not work. See attached log.
> 
> It fails over-all because -base cannot be compiled (and installed) due
> to a missing ffcall and/or libffi installation.

The fact is that ffcall 1.8d IS installed:

[pascal@thalassa ffcall-1.8d]$ ls -l /usr/local/lib/lib*{call,tramp}*
-rw-r--r--    1     2288 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libavcall.a
-rw-r--r--    1      438 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libavcall.la
-rw-r--r--    1     5304 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libcallback.a
-rw-r--r--    1      444 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libcallback.la
-rw-r--r--    1     1726 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libtrampoline.a
-rw-r--r--    1     3722 Oct 25 07:32 /usr/local/lib/libvacall.a

 
> > Perhaps  GNUstep  would have  more  visibility  if  it could  be  just
> > compiled and installed  out of the box without having  to delve in its
> > depths, like any other package...
> 
> Absolutely. I guess this is a major turn-off. Take a look at certain
> reviews of "I install version x.y.z of the new XYZ operating system" and
> the problems they run into -- and the readers' comments along the line
> of "well, if I was trying to install it and ran into crap like that, I'd
> stop at that point and'd never come back to try again."
> 
> Probably similar experience will keep users away from GNUstep without us
> ever being aware of it.

-- 
__Pascal_Bourguignon__
http://www.informatimago.com/