Re: Making demo programs more evident...

[Hans-Bernhard B. <br...@ph...>]

On Mon, 10 May 2004, Petr Mikulik wrote:

> Are you sure? I have two.
> 
> $ rpm -q gnuplot
> gnuplot-3.7.3-106
> gnuplot-4.0.0-1


> The former by SUSE, the other by
> 	checkinstall make install-strip

Well, suffice it to say that if you make a less complete RPM than SuSE,
the blame for that is entirely yours.

> No, they don't know, and no, they won't read it -- or stop reading before
> "how to install demos".

I strictly refuse to worry about people who don't read READMEs and follow
instructions contained in them.  If they don't bother, neither will I.

> Look at other software packages -- their "make install" installs more docs,
> faqs, demos. Why should gnuplot not do this?


> 	./configure --prefix=$HOME/usr
> 
> Now I want all goes into a useful directory there. Why not
> 
> 	$HOME/usr/share/doc/gnuplot-4.0.0/

Because it would break things for distributors, who want to build and 
install using '--prefix=/usr' and have the demos and other docs under
/usr/share/doc/packages/gnuplot, not under /usr/share/doc/gnuplot-4.0.0

I.e. we should leave the $(prefix)/share/doc directory alone.  If at all,
it'ld have to be either

	$(prefix)/share/gnuplot/4.0
or	$(prefix)/share/gnuplot-4.0

I would prefer the former, because it's more in parallel with our
installation directory for gnuplot_x11,
$(exec_prefix)/libexec/gnuplot/4.0/

> > copy of the demos into the online help, odds are distributors will manage
> > to break it.  But it'll likely be us who get the complaints about it.
> 
> Don't put the exact pointer, but say "see gnuplot doc installed on your
> system".

Somehow I'm not convinced that this phrase would help to reduce the number
of questions about where they might be...


> If every application of those 1466 wastes 700 KB as gnuplot, it is 1 GB of
> wasted HD. That's not negligable.

*If*.  But they don't, and they shouldn't.  There is a difference between
a distributor-built, supported RPM (or DEB) package, and locally built and
installed programs, see.

-- 
Hans-Bernhard Broeker (br...@ph...)
Even if all the snow were burnt, ashes would remain.