On 05/04/2010 06:21 PM, Josip Rodin wrote:
On Tue, May 04, 2010 at 09:39:30PM +0100, Alan Buxey wrote:
3.) Install the the main FreeRADIUS package from there, for example with:
apt-get install -t lenny-backports freeradius
alternatively, grab the source and build it yourself. the choice is yours.
No, I think that is a false choice for these users. We should not be
telling random newbies to take a route that has time and time again been
demonstrated to be too complicated for them to handle, when they can easily
use a more efficient method - install safe working binaries. That also has
the benefit of keeping them in the loop for later updates from the same
reliable channel. If they explicitly tell us that they already use Debian,
then we can't have much reason to have them avoid these Debian-specific
methods that accomplish our goals - to make these people happy users of FR.
This is one fairly trivial bug, even if one knows very little about
compiling source code - one just has to google, and/or read the official
web site (wiki), and find that all they have to do is install that one
package and restart the build process, and they're good - yet numerous users
have sent an e-mail to the list saying it's been a showstopper for them.
I do not see what is there to gain by telling these people to keep using
a method they clearly do not understand enough to be able to solve a
relatively easy problem with. Sure, they can apply this quick fix now, but
will it help their FreeRADIUS experience, and in turn will it help
FreeRADIUS? Isn't it better for all to get them past the installation phase
as quickly as possible, and not have to rehash these tangential issues,
when time could be better spent educating them about core issues such as
FreeRADIUS configuration semantics, or RADIUS protocol issues?
+1
I completely agree. Building *and* installing FreeRADIUS from source
requires technical skill that exceeds the technical competence of a
significant proportion of the users on this list. One only needs to
spend a short period here to see this is clearly the case.
I have to agree with Josip that whenever possible users should be
directed to install pre-built packages with the advice to build it
yourself being dispensed only with great care.
It would also help if we could converge on a stable release that's
usable for a significant duration. Users are told to run the latest
release, which may be only a few weeks or months old which makes it
difficult for the distribution channels for pre-built binaries to keep
up by always having the latest release available. Since it's often the
case the latest release is not available in the distribution channel
users are forced into building it themselves with all the bad results
and frustration vented here. If we had a stable release I suspect a lot
of this frustration would be mitigated.
--
John Dennis <jden...@redhat.com>
Looking to carve out IT costs?
www.redhat.com/carveoutcosts/
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