Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!mailrus!uflorida!thedon.cis.ufl.edu!seeger From: seeger@thedon.cis.ufl.edu (F. L. Charles Seeger III) Newsgroups: comp.unix.admin Subject: Re: Software installation opinions needed Message-ID: <24542@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU> Date: 23 Sep 90 21:52:11 GMT References: <25908@shamash.cdc.com> <1990Sep19.144819.12179@dg-rtp.dg.com> Sender: news@uflorida.cis.ufl.EDU Organization: UF CIS Dept Lines: 39 In article moore@srl.mew.mei.co.jp (W. Phillip Moore) writes: | | However, I see one minor point overlooked. The reason many of these | installations are simple and over-automated is because not all sites have | UNIX gurus ... Which is a fine justification for providing an automated installation script. It is in no way a justification for assuming that this idiotic installation script should be the only way to install the package. Most binary distributions that I have had the misfortune to wrestle with provide little or no indication of how to install the package other than the script itself. Of course, the script will often fail because of the assumptions that it makes, even if one were to try executing it. In article <929@mwtech.UUCP> martin@mwtech.UUCP (Martin Weitzel) writes: | | The more knowledgable administrator can have a look at the script | before he or she runs it. This is feasible when the script is, in fact, a script. There are instances where the installation "scripts" are executable binaries. SunOS 4.1 is a non-unique example of this. Even when the scripts are readable, my feable mind sometimes has a little trouble remembering all the shell variables along the way. I (gasp) sometimes resort to a pencil to keep track of them. Why should I have to waste time reverse engineering such a script in the first place? Please, if you are doing "release engineering" (or whatever it is called), send out a *specification* of what needs to be done during the installation process and how the installed system is supposed to operate. Then make sure that the scripts (or example command lines) are kept in sync with the specification (or vice-versa). This should also make it easier to debug the installation if there are problems. I think that this would would reduce the load on the support phone lines as well. -- Charles Seeger E301 CSE Building Office: +1 904 392 1508 CIS Department University of Florida Fax: +1 904 392 1220 seeger@ufl.edu Gainesville, FL 32611-2024