Re: INSTALL file (was Re: [HACKERS] Re: HISTORY for 6.5.2)

On 29-Nov-99 Bruce Momjian wrote:
> 
> I hope we can get everyone with ideas together before 7.0 is released.

It can be greatly simplified but will require changes to configure which
I don't think I can do.  I haven't really gotten to know autoconf yet and
I think Peter said he's tied up till after the first of the year but he
still wants to dig into it.  Is after the first too late?

Vince.


> 
> 
>> On Sep 20, Bruce Momjian mentioned:
>> 
>> > I agree our INSTALL is very large.  Is there some way we can simplify
>> > the install process?
>> 
>> On the one hand a database server is probably not your everyday
>> ./configure && make && make install program you get from freshmeat and you
>> do want to put some time into a proper installation. On the other hand the
>> INSTALL file is really way too long and makes for unpleasant reading.
>> 
>> Here are a couple of ideas.
>> 
>> * Chapter 2 "Ports" should be moved to the README file (has nothing to do
>> with the actual installation).
>> 
>> * Move the gory details of item 5 (flex) to a separate file (README.flex).
>> 
>> * Move the locale stuff into a separate file.
>> 
>> * Same with Kerberos
>> 
>> * Move the release notes at the end to CHANGELOG.
>> 
>> That should make the file somewhat smaller, then also it is really to
>> verbose at times and is formatted really oddly, at least on my system.
>> 
>> Okay, now I really went out of my way and redid the whole thing. You'll
>> find the result attached. This is merely an idea of what I would consider
>> simpler. I removed some inconsistencies, things that were unnecessary, too
>> complicated, etc. Okay, I removed a lot of stuff, but most of the stuff
>> people can really figure out themselves if they need them in the first
>> place. And I shrunk the thing to 25%.
>> 
>> Perhaps there should be a separate Install FAQ of the sort "My shell said
>> 'export: Command not found.'" or "What's a shared library?" to move the
>> really annoying stuff out of people's ways.
>> 
>> Comments?
>> 
>> -- 
>> Peter Eisentraut - peter_e@gmx.net
>> http://yi.org/peter-e
> Content-Description: New INSTALL file?
> 
> [Attachment, skipping...]
> 
> 
> -- 
>   Bruce Momjian                        |  http://www.op.net/~candle
>   maillist@candle.pha.pa.us            |  (610) 853-3000
>   +  If your life is a hard drive,     |  830 Blythe Avenue
>   +  Christ can be your backup.        |  Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania 19026

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