Re: octave version

[Kurt Hornik]

>>>>> John W Eaton writes:

> On 22-May-1997, Kurt Hornik <address@hidden> wrote:
> | It's probably too late now that all changes have already been made, but
> | I am not too happy about them.

> No, it's never too late.

Good.

> I either want to solve the problem so that multiple versions can
> be installed together reliably if you just run

>   configure ; make all install

> for two different versions of Octave, or I want to do away with all
> the version information that is included in the installed stuff and
> tell people that if they want to install multiple versions, they
> should just run something like

>   configure --prefix=/usr/local/octave/2.0.5 ; make all install

> and then set their path appropriately (or make some symbolic links) to
> select the default version.

> The real reason is to avoid giving the impression that it is possible
> to install several versions and have them all work, when it really
> doesn't quite work.

> I suppose another possibility for the libraries would be to add
> version numbers to their filenames instead of adding another set of
> directories.  That is common with shared libraries, but I've not seen
> it done with plain old .a files.

You're right, that is not common.

> Also, the problem with info files remains.

> I don't think this is just a problem for people who want to work on
> Octave.  Some people will want to have previous versions installed
> `just in case'.

Well ... suppose that people are as smart as we are an run Linux.  If
e.g. you use Debian, you normally `cannot' (...) have two different
versions of the same package installed.  I would assume that the same is
true for RedHat or any system based on a modern packaging mechanism.

The question is whether the `average user' should have two different
versions around.  I think the answer should be NO if the newer one is a
bug fix release, and MAYBE if it also introduces new features, so
perhaps still NO overall.  Mostly a matter of raising the impression
that with Octave, it is always SAFE and hence a very good idea to have
the latest version installed.

For those who use your binary distributions, the install script could
also check for an older version, and suggest removing it ...

Best,
-k