On Thu, Oct 07, 1999 at 10:20:25AM +0200, Jean-Marc Lasgouttes wrote:
> >>>>> "Lars" == Lars Gullik Bjønnes <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> Lars> There is some differences between folks that are just users and
> Lars> developers. And I don't think that the developers should put
> Lars> restraints on themselves to allow users to compile on their
> Lars> antiquated installations.
>
> A compiler which is two years old is not antique, IMO. I understand
> your concern, but all the question is to know what tradeoff we put
> between our comfort and actually having users. If I download a program
> and find out that I will have several programs/libraries to install
> just to get this program to run (and I am not even sure this program
> will be useful to me) I will not try it.
I am very much of the same opinion as Jean-Marc. One of the reasons
I'm even partially involved with LyX is that I only needed to download
two tar files: the source code itself and XForms. Once I had XForms,
all I needed were the source updates.
When I download source to try out a new program, there are N things
that put me off:
- I need to download/install multiple libraries that I've never heard
of before and seem to have no use to me otherwise.
- It uses the newest, trendiest version of one or more standard
libraries, without regard to how stable those libs are. I do not
appreciate being forced to put the stability of my existing apps at
risk for a new program.
- It requires a cutting/bleeding edge compiler. If it's not yet in
widespread use, I see no point in upgrading something.
Furthermore, I may not have root access on certain platforms, thus
preventing me from even being able to upgrade the compiler.
I doubt I am the only one who feels this way.
--
John Weiss
