Re: Call For Articles

[Pierre Phaneuf <pp@ludusdesign.com>]

Ingo Ruhnke wrote:

> Yep, a install script for tar.gz files could be usefull, but I think
> it would only be usefull for larger packages, where you have some
> options when installing (for example CD games, where you can choose
> which data should be installed), on a simple 2MB tar.gz there is maybe
> nothing  which is worth the efford to customize the package with an
> install script.

I think mostly *every* package has at least one option: where to
install. And there are generally two modes of installation: a normal way
(say, set the prefix to /usr or /opt) and a "local" way (put everything
in $HOME/package-name).

So this is rather common I think.

> > I also intend on including an RPM spec file in the tar.gz so that a user
> > could convert it easily to an RPM by himself.
> 
> Aren't SourceRPM's meant for that reason?! But never the less if you
> include the RPM spec file it won't hurt anybody. If you wrap that
> throu a install script it could be very handy. If the user is able to
> choose if he wants to build and rpm and install that or if he wan't to
> install the thing under /usr/local, without the help of rpm.

The idea is that some people don't have RPM. :-)

And having the install script detect if that system uses RPM is a very
nifty idea. It would allow very simple removal of the package afterward.

-- 
Pierre Phaneuf
Ludus Design, http://ludusdesign.com/
"First they ignore you. Then they laugh at you.
Then they fight you. Then you win." -- Gandhi