Randy McMurchy wrote: > Hi all, > > Earlier there was/is a discussion on why BLFS is adamant about describing > the various commands/descriptions/parameters/options used in the instructions > for BLFS packages. I would like to present a really good example why these > trivial (to us Editors) blurbs in the book are important. > > Installing the Obexd package today I noticed: > > 1) There is a sed command that adds a header file to one of the .c files in > the tarball before configure is run, there is no description of what it does > in the "Command Explanations", and without the sed command the package builds > and installs with no problems. Shouldn't readers be advised to why they must > run this command that apparently does nothing to help the build? > > 2) There is a --sysconfdir=/etc switch to configure, yet there are no files > installed to /etc and no explanation why this must be passed during the > configure phase of the build. It seems as though the original editor who > installed the package used it 'just in case' there may be configuration files > in /etc. We cannot guess about this. We must be certain when we put stuff in > the book. Otherwise, we look like we are guessing at configuration options. > > 3) The --libexecdir= switch points to a non-standard location. libexecdir > location has always been /usr/lib/packagename, yet in the Obexd instructions, > the location varies from this. Is this because other packages expect it to > be where the libexecdir switch points to it, or simply because the Editor > who originally put the package in BLFS decided to go against the standards > that we have created? > > 4) The packages is a simple CMMI installation that varies from the standards > that BLFS has been using for years and years. Shouldn't there be some sort > of explanation why the instructions vary from the standards? > > Sorry for the rant, it got longer than I wanted, but I wanted to point out > that (as Bruce said) BLFS is not a linear installation process. We do not > know where a reader will start his/her BLFS adventure. So, because of this, > we must realize that a reader needs information as much as possible, as > mundane and redundant that it may seem to us Editors.
It's good for you to point these things out. I sometimes do things too quickly and thus get it wrong. The sed for an include without explanation may have been because of a large number of identical changes needed (IIRC, I think it was embedded copies of gnulib and a change to glibc). I completely forgot about the --libexecdir blfs standard. A --sysconfdir=/etc setting may have been needed at one time and I don't always check things like that for a point release. Thanks for the reminders. -- Bruce -- http://linuxfromscratch.org/mailman/listinfo/blfs-dev FAQ: http://www.linuxfromscratch.org/blfs/faq.html Unsubscribe: See the above information page
