Re: gEDA-user: gEDA DLL hell

[sdb@xxxxxxxxxx (Stuart Brorson)]

> > As an aside, mixing and matching different versions of gEDA/gaf components
> > will never work.
> 
> But what should user do when he has an old version of gEDA and needs
> a new one? Erase the disk and reinstall the operating system completely?

One problem with unix is that software installation/removal wasn't
architected into it from the get-go.  The GNU "configure && make &&
make install" dance really helps with installation, but deinstallation
remains a problem.

I generally recommend installing geda into its own directory (in my
case, /usr/local/geda).  You can do this with the CD ROM because it
asks you where to install.  Alternatively, you can edit the Makefile
and set the prefix to your favored install location (by default it is
${HOME}/geda).   Then, when you upgrade gEDA, all you need to do is 
rm -fR the geda directory, and then rebuild the whole thing.

In any event, installing gEDA (or any large, developing SW package)
directly into /usr/ or /usr/local/ isn't the best idea since it's hard
to remove it, particularly if it has many components.  Therefore,
installation into a separate directory is usually better.  The price
you pay is that you need to then add the new directory to your $PATH
and to $LD_LIBRARY_PATH.

Stuart