On Jan 5, 2007, at 1:12 AM, Paul Cunningham wrote:
>
>
> If you want all the bits for th.... many good hints elided
Thanks for all the bonus info.
> ...up to start automatically at boot time (as CCD packages aren't
> allowed to to install stuff in the normal places, it all installs
> into /opt/sfw).
blastwave also installs into "non-normal" locations (/opt/csw) but it
ends up running. I think their model is worthy of emulation --- both
in terms of "meta packaging" (you ask for CUPS, you get CUPS ... not
a series of manual steps with README files) and in terms of usability
(it just starts ;>).
However, I do have at least enough of CUPS installed so that simple
printing to remote (macintosh based, which is also behind the
community release by a wide margin) printers. On my next reboot we'll
see if I guessed right (I hadn't found the right READMEs before your
note) on setting it up for starting automatically (I copied the
init.d and rc* entries into the filesystem ... I think the blastwave
folks integrate with smf more cleanly but I'd already pkgrmed their
version so I'm less than certain about that).
...
>
> Also note, on the web download site there used to be a tarball
> bundle for all the cups printing stuff that made it easier to grab
> all the required packages in one go, but I'm not sure if that is
> still put on the sdlc web site for the ccd packages.
We have been a bit psychotic about this sort of thing in the past,
and I'd thought we'd gotten past it (but I wasn't paying attention,
so perhaps that was just wishful thinking). It seems to me that there
are a variety of requirements:
1) The pkg database or equivalent is a must have for sane
adminstrative control.
2) Generally speaking, it should be possible to have a single
instance of each
version of installed software (so each user having their own
tarballs copied
isn't the right approach ;>)
3) Non-root installation should be feasible ... and for many things easy
4) Software installation in the "default" location/fashion should be
nearly
user thought free (viz. easy).
the blastwave approach, merging debian-style and sysV packaging
pretty much covers everything but the non-root installation
requirements (and if the packaging tools themselves finally handled
that requirement, wouldn't require more work on the maintainer's
parts ;>).
So my immediate printing itch aside (and if someone expert in
printing would like to work with me offline to determine if the
unreleased NV build-bits I'm using are somehow at fault vs. some
subtle CUPS version issue between my mac and solaris systems or other
CUPS issue) my key plea to the companion-discussion list is "can we
make installing companion software at least as easy as blastwave?".
No doubt there are personalities, politics and technical issues that
haven't occurred to me ... but it sure seems to me that a desirable
merger of efforts could be helpful. The blastwave folks have got
generally nicely packaged, reasonably current bits. The opensolaris
site has the obvious location and bandwidth. Is there any chance of
leveraging each other's efforts?
Keith H. Bierman keith.bierman at Sun.COM | khbkhb at gmail.com
<speaking for myself, not Sun*> Copyright 2006
