From: Sam Roberts <sroberts@...>
Date: 2003-04-07T22:12:53+09:00
Subject: Re: Call for standardised installation procedure -> an example & suggestion

I'd like to echo the sentiment that even the simplest thing needs an
install command.  Take "iconv" from the RAA:

- it has an extconf.rb, but doesn't respond to --help (I had to read the
  Pickaxes's chapter on mkmf, and figured out how to map dir_config()'s
  argument to a command line argument...)

  Suggestion: mkmf's create_makefile() should implement a --help option!

- It lacks an install script, so I am about to start doing some more
  reading to see where it goes.

  Observation: it's not enormously obvious where to install single files
  for beginners.

Cheers,
Sam

Quoteing google@tompayne.org, on Sun, Apr 06, 2003 at 07:05:27PM +0900:
> I'm helping maintain Ruby and Ruby packages in Gentoo Linux.
> 
> Currently, different packages have different installation procedures.
> For example, some use the extconf mechanism, some use Minero Aoki's
> setup.rb, and others roll their own.
> 
> It would make my job a lot easier if just one were chosen, and perhaps
> made part of the standard Ruby distribution. A standard installation
> procedure would make it much quicker for me to add packages, and
> reduce everyone's reading of READMEs.
> 
> Personally, I vote for Minero Aoki's setup.rb:
>   http://i.loveruby.net/en/setup.html
> 
> Ideally I would like it to be a _requirement_ for all packages in the
> RAA to support the standard installation procedure (whatever that
> turns out to be).
> 
> Comments? Flames?
> 
> Tom
>