Path: utzoo!utstat!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!algor2.algorists.com!jeffrey
From: jeffrey@algor2.algorists.com (Jeffrey Kegler)
Newsgroups: news.software.b
Subject: Re: C news: file ownership and running build 47386 times
Message-ID: <1989Nov20.120629.28412@algor2.algorists.com>
Date: 20 Nov 89 12:06:29 GMT
References: <3054@splut.conmicro.com>
Reply-To: jeffrey@algor2.ALGORISTS.COM (Jeffrey Kegler)
Organization: Algorists, Inc.
Lines: 29

In article <3054@splut.conmicro.com> jay@splut.conmicro.com (Jay "you ignorant splut!" Maynard) writes:
>On top of all this, I've lost count of the times I've had to abort build
>because I forgot to tell it that I don't have mkdir(), or that my chown
>is /bin/chown, or... Can't build be set up to remember what it did last
>time? (Yes, Henry, I'll make the changes if you'd like.)

What I did as a workaround is create a prompt-less version of build
(build.algor2) with all my answers hacked into it.  To make a minor
change in the C news configuration, I hack build.algor2.  I always have
the option of falling back to the build script.

I have suggested to Henry by Email that he create an editable
configuration file, build.out, so the process looks something like:
     build --> build.out --> doit.*, again.root --> ...

Henry is reluctant to do this because keeping the installer from
editing build.out into garbage (or producing warnings when he does)
would be difficult and I guess he does not want to be associated with
a approach that lacks these checks.

I have also suggested that a shell script that checked permissions on
all C News files would help installers.  I do not think it would be
difficult, but don't have the time to do it myself right now :-).

-- 

Jeffrey Kegler, Independent UNIX Consultant, Algorists, Inc.
jeffrey@algor2.ALGORISTS.COM or uunet!algor2!jeffrey
1762 Wainwright DR, Reston VA 22090