Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!lll-winken!uunet!wugate!wupost!kuhub.cc.ukans.edu!anu-news!list From: CONSLT32@UNOMA1.BITNET (Tim Russell) Newsgroups: news.software.anu-news Subject: Usability of SLP (was Re: News V5.9 availability?) Message-ID: <2736@zeus.unl.edu> Date: 17 Jul 89 18:05:41 GMT References: Sender: ANU-NEWS Discussion Reply-To: Tim Russell Lines: 34 Comments: Warning -- original Sender: tag was NEWSMGR@UNOMA1 Bob Sloane writes: > > Do you have any specific evidence that SLP diffs are less reliable than the > patch program or is this just your personal feelings? Other than the BITNET Certainly - SLP uses line numbers ONLY, while patch includes small sections around the changed parts and searches for them, moving the patch around if it needs to, because someone has made a local change. Patches still fail, but not nearly as often, and you're told about it and the failed patch is saved in a file with ".rej" on the end so you can apply it by hand. > problems of folding lines at 80 columns (which would kill the patch program) > what problems have you had with SLP diffs? Why should we depend on a program I've had the problem that patches have failed, mangled up my files, and NOT TOLD me that they did so. Patch lets you know, as I said. > that is unsupported for VMS when we have a program that works and IS > supported? How do we know that this patch program will be any better than SLP > diffs? I think we should stick with something that is a supported product and > that everyone has already. That's one advantage that SLP has, I agree: everyone has it. However, it's a small matter, I would think, to stick patch in with NEWS. SLP is supported? Sure, fill out an SPR and wait for three major releases of VMS to go by. At least we'd have the source to patch. -- ---------------------------------+-------------------------------------------- Tim Russell, Computer Operator | Internet: russell@zeus.unl.edu Campus Computing | Bitnet: russell@unoma1 University of Nebraska at Omaha | UUCP: uunet!zeus.unl.edu!russell ---------------------------------+--------------------------------------------