Re: [Bug-stow] stow-2.1.1 needs a perl module

[Adam Spiers]

Hi Nelson,

On Mon, Dec 12, 2011 at 2:35 PM, Nelson H. F. Beebe <address@hidden> wrote:
> On about 25 flavors of Unix here in our test lab, builds of stow-2.1.1
> all failed.  I tracked down the problem to a perl module that is
> needed, but had never been installed on any of our systems:
> Test::Output.  Once that module was installed, validation tests and
> installations have gone smoothly.

Yes, this is mentioned in the first paragraph of the INSTALL file.

> Given that other sites are likely to be missing that module too, I
> think that the stow configure script should check for its
> availability, and terminate early if it is not found.

I don't think it's unreasonable to ask users to read INSTALL.  Even if
they don't, it's a pretty obvious document to consult if they
encounter problems during installation ;-)  Also, installation via
Module::Build *does* check dependencies already.

Having said that, I've add the check to configure.ac too, so it will
be in the next release's configure script.  It issues a warning rather
than terminate, because it's still possible to get a working
installation without the test modules.

http://git.savannah.gnu.org/cgit/stow.git/commit/?id=215e0dac13b7b861d6db4a6d4d4d6dd891a80592

> As an aside, a good friend of mine is the co-author of an article on
> stow and depot that appeared a decade ago in the LISA 2001
> proceedings, and I read it again over the weekend.  The authors of
> that paper lay out a plan for a future merger of rpm + depot/stow
> capabilities to support networked as well as standalone systems.  As
> far as I know, nothing has happened to further that goal, but it might
> be useful fodder for future GNU stow development.  Here is a pointer
> to the paper:
>
>        R. P. C. Rodgers and Ziying Sherwin
>
>        A Management System for Network-Sharable Locally Installed
>        Software: Merging RPM and the Depot Scheme Under Solaris
>
>        Proceedings of LISA 2001: 15th Systems Administration
>        Conference, December 2--7, 2001, Town and Country Resort
>        Hotel, San Diego, CA
>
>        ISBN 1-880446-05-7
>
>        
> http://db.usenix.org/publications/library/proceedings/lisa2001/tech/rodgers.html

Wow, that sounds fascinating.  I'll take a look when I get a chance.
Thanks a lot for letting us know!

Regards,
Adam