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[Shane H. W. Travis]

On Fri, 11 Feb 2005, Vlad Dascalu wrote:

> Instead of chomping the "trees within the forrest" individually like
> that, we should look at the big picture and remove the whole manual
> command line installation process at all.
...
> This will allow us to automatically install what we are missing, and
> leave the users to resolve only those packages that produced errors.

Let me re-state something I wrote a while back:

"But no... just because someone's hungry, it's not enough to make them a
sandwich. No, we have to create an automatic sandwich-making machine that
will fulfil all their hunger needs from now to eternity, and ensure that
we never have to go back into the kitchen again.

It'll be ready in a few months.

(I hope.)

You weren't needing to eat before that, were you?"


A sandwich-making machine would be hella cool, and it's certainly worth
tinkering with because it would make our lives easier if we got it working.
Until that day, however, we still have to deal with the problems of hungry
individuals.

A 'dependency automated install framework' would be hella cool, and it's
certainly worth discussing/designing because it would make our lives easier
if we ever got it working. Until that day, however, we still have to deal
with the problems of those who are having module dependency issues.


> "an attempt to try to find out what version we really need to require"
> is not "actually a good example of getting the big picture".

Hmm... leader of the project says it is, Vlad says it isn't. I wonder who
I should be listening to?



> It's an example where you try to fix the tree first without fixing the
> forrest.  That is, an example of trying to solve one specific dependency
> without having a dependency automated install framework to begin with.

Just because the focus is different does not make it wrong. In attacking it
this way, Frederic is attempting to deal with the problems facing
*individuals*. You are proposing solutions that deal with the problems
facing the *system* as a whole. The two are not mutually exclusive, nor are
his efforts somehow 'lesser' than yours just because they're less lofty.


By all means, plan for the future. Long-term goals are needed... but so are
short term solutions.  You wanna talk about creating a sandwich-making
machine? By all means, do so... but don't criticize someone who is trying to
address the issues that exist *at this moment* by actually getting his hands
dirty and making a sandwich.

Shane H.W. Travis       | The greatest of all mistakes is to do nothing
travis at sedsystems.ca    |  because you can only do a little.
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan |   Do what you can.  -- Sydney Smith