What about a 'make No_I_Really_Really_Really_Mean_It-install' option, or
something along those lines that prints a warning, asks 'Are you sure you
wish to do this here zany thing?' then installs to the -proper- (indicated
by which) location? That'd be good. Reason being: I'm a programmer, so I
can easily read make output and find out what seems to be going on (as
indicated by finding this oddity and fixing it), but I know my mom
couldn't and would simply become frustrated and scared. And, if we ever
plan to take over the desktop, there needs to be some method of making all
software install and magically begin working, so upgrades will simply be a
one-command or one-click process. This is one of the Good Things about
Microsoft software: InstallShield standardized install.
Admitted, my mom would never use Make, but I grade software based on
'Mom-friendlyness'. One thing that I think continues to stand in the way
of the Open Source Revolution is the little difficulties people always
complain about, install being one of them. My mom would not be able to use
Linux as of right now, not even the big-huge distros, because she wouldn't
be able to figure out little details like networking, RPM, or Debian
Package Manager. That's why I made the suggestion about make install
installing in the 'expected' place, and why I think it's a good idea.
--Me
Things will be bright in P.M. A cop will shine a light in your face.
On Tue, 30 May 2000, Paul D. Smith wrote:
> %% Johnny Wales <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> writes:
>
> jw> Well, looks like the 3.79 install didn't quite work.
>
> Yes, it did.
>
> jw> I did a configure,
> jw> make, make install, and everything went off without a hitch. Ah! I've just
> jw> found the bug. Here's my uname -a:
> jw> Linux vegas 2.2.13 #1 Tue Nov 9 00:09:41 GMT 1999 i586 unknown
>
> jw> It's a SuSE 6.3 system, and which make results in:
> jw> /usr/bin/make
> jw> while the make install installs to /usr/local/bin/make. After
> jw> copying it over, everythign appears OK. You might wanna change the
> jw> make install somehow to integrate the which make command so as to
> jw> be sure to install make in the right place.
>
> No; the current behavior is correct. GNU tools always come configured
> to install in /usr/local by default. That's a requirement of the GNU
> standards.
>
> It's equally likely that the installer _doesn't_ want to overwrite the
> system default "make" as it is that she does. There is no way that the
> installation can or should guess.
>
> See the INSTALL file that comes with GNU make for help with this.
>
> --
> -------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Paul D. Smith <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Find some GNU make tips at:
> http://www.gnu.org http://www.ultranet.com/~pauld/gmake/
> "Please remain calm...I may be mad, but I am a professional." --Mad Scientist
>
