Miernik <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
> On Fri, 6 Sep 2002, Paul A. Rombouts wrote:
>
> > I've made available as a patch file wwwoffle-2.7e-par.diff.gz.
> > The URL for a webpage where this patch is made available can be found at the end
> > of this message.
> > The file wwwoffle-2.7e-par.diff.gz can be used to patch AMB's original version
> > 2.7e source. After that you can study the modifications I've made in the code,
> > but you can also compile, install, and run wwwoffled in the traditional manner.
>
> Will that be incorporated in the next version of WWWOFFLE?
> I'd like it to be.
The patch that Paul has released will NOT be included in the next
version of WWWOFFLE.
This is a broad and very direct statement, so let me clarify it with
some more details. There are several different types of changes that
this patch makes. The comments below apply to Paul's patch just as
much as they apply to any other patches that people send me.
1) Some changes will definitely not be included.
These are for example the changes that stop it compiling on anything
except Linux. One of the goals of WWWOFFLE (and all programs that I
write) is portability. This means using standard functions and not
requiring that the user installs lots of extra programs or uses a
particular operating system. Some of the changes require the use of
GNU make, perl, gcc and GNU libc. I know for certain that there are
lots of users that do not use Linux and all (or any) of these
programs. These changes will not be included ever in WWWOFFLE.
There are some other changes that will not be included, these include
changes to source code layout (e.g. indentation) and replacing
transparent standard C library functions with opaque wrapper macros.
Several people have commented how easy my code is to read. I think
that a standardised coding style and using standard C library
functions that all C programmers know and not too many macros helps
this.
2) Some changes should be included.
These are usually obvious to spot. Some are spelling mistakes in
source code or obvious programming errors. Anything that is obvious
in this sense should be included, the problem is finding it.
3) Some changes that might be included.
The new functionality that Paul has added is obviously useful to him.
There is a risk of adding features too quickly and having a program
that is difficult to maintain and difficult for new users to
understand. Any new features that are added also potentially add new
bugs. If anybody that uses these new features thinks that they are
really great then let Paul and me know.
Finally I will be taking the approach that Linus Torvalds takes with
patches to the Linux kernel. There is no way that I will apply a huge
patch of over 670 kB (uncompressed). There is also no way that I am
going to read through this to find the changes that fit into category
number 2 above.
--
Andrew.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew M. Bishop [EMAIL PROTECTED]
http://www.gedanken.demon.co.uk/
WWWOFFLE users page:
http://www.gedanken.demon.co.uk/wwwoffle/version-2.7/user.html
