RE: module bug in 3.0.8

[Leo B. <le...@le...>]

Mark Lakata (la...@mi...) wrote:

> I am hesitant to upgrade for modules 3.* because of the many bugs (segvs)
> I have seen. Modules 2.2-beta seems to be much more stable (I have never
> seen a segv).
>
> Here's an example: I can load 'ie' and 'xdiff' independently, but if I try
> loading both, it bombs out. It must be the 'xrdb -merge' command that is
> the trouble maker, since I can load other modules without problem. If I
> had more time, I would try to debug it, but modules 2.2beta is working
> fine for us. Is there a compelling reason to switch to 3.*?
>
> [snippage]
>
> spark,~> module load ie
> spark,~> module load xdiff
> spark,~> module load ie xdiff
> Segmentation fault
> [more snippage]

Hello, Mark.

Disclaimer: just a user, not clueful enough to develop.

I wrestled with whether or not to stick with modules-2.2b (already
deployed in parts of the company, working mostly fine) or move to
modules-3.1.1 (built, tested, working fine for me).  I opted to make
the move to the newer version for the following reasons:

  1. modules-2.2b is a dead-end; doesn't build well with newer
     versions of Tcl, and should we find some new feature that
     we wish to use that exhibits a bug, there's no recourse.

  2. active development on modules-3.x by (primarily) R.K. Owen
     and Robert Minsk, perhaps other anonymous contributors.

  3. some cool features added recently like "is-loaded". (Thanks,
     Robert.)

The modules-interest list has been kinda quiet lately, but that's
probably due in large part to the stability of modules-3.1.1.  I
would suggest you try that version, and use a fairly modern version
of Tcl.  If the problem persists, please post more info (OS version,
build options, Tcl version, etc.).

Cheers,

- Leo