[libdb-develop] [ANN] LibDB 0.0.1 Released

[Morbus I. <mo...@di...>]

Download: http://osdn.dl.sf.net/sourceforge/libdb/libdb-0.0.1.tar.gz
Blog Entry: http://www.disobey.com/dnn/2004/02/index.shtml#001575
Release Notes: http://www.disobey.com/noos/LibDB/?ReleaseNotes001
LibDB Homepage: http://www.disobey.com/noos/LibDB/

LibDB 0.0.1 has been released. It consists of a web-based installation
program that checks file permissions, verifies the required modules are
installed, and connects to the user's database to import the default schema
and sample data. That's all it does. You'll be installing a program that
doesn't yet exist.

Why bother creating an installer for code that hasn't been written, as
backwards as putting jelly on the outside of your sandwich? Two reasons.
First, I knew the installer code could be used for the rest of LibDB: the
same frameworks are used for template parsing, database access, settings
retrieval, language determination, etc.. The installer helped stress-test
and debug before the "proper" and "important" work.

The second reason concerns end-usability. Too many times, in too many
projects, the documentation and packaging is always written after the code
has been debugged and tested. But the biggest lie any developer can tell
themselves is that they'll *ever* be done debugging and testing code.
There's always going to be one more thing to fix, one more feature to add,
one more piece of goldplating to layer the ox with. The documentation and
packaging, continually being put off, rarely get finished. All this great
code, and no clue how to get it working.

For people to use LibDB, they need to get it installed. The "casual" user
profile (as described in the ProjectGoals), when faced with installing a
web-based application, is assumed to have only an FTP account and "generic"
web host, where tech support is a three hour (or three day) test of
patience. The installer had to be as walk-through-ish as possible, and it
had to be developed first.

Documentation-wise, there are 100+ database fields. They're described in
the DatabaseSchema, but no one is ever going to check the "manual" for what
"provenance" means. That's why every field is described in the DB itself:
the help can be retrieved right along with the matching data. Contextual
help, built into the database, viewable in the interface, without extra
effort. The same attention will be applied to tasks: when the user wants to
*do something* compared to *define something*.

So, LibDB 0.0.1 is merely the installer, and I need your help to refine
this very important step of the end-user process. Grab the download, check
out the README.txt, and let me know what I'm missing, what can be improved,
and what doesn't work. I'm specifically looking for suggestions on the
verbiage used. Is it understandable? Is there something that can be stated
more clearly? Where did I lose you? Email comments to mo...@di... or
use the InstallationNotes:

  http://www.disobey.com/noos/LibDB/?InstallationNotes

-- 
Morbus Iff ( i know a little of everything, a lot of nothing. )
Technical: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/au/779
Culture: http://www.disobey.com/ and http://www.gamegrene.com/
icq: 2927491 / aim: akaMorbus / yahoo: morbus_iff / jabber.org: morbus