On Mar 16, 2013, at 10:13 AM, Hin-Tak Leung wrote: > Network access is *not* a given, nor is the privilege of installing arbitrary > "uncertified" and "non-essential" tools - whatever the meaning of > "uncertified" and "non-essential" are, those being defined, as is "design > goal", etc, by some small committee. > > It is a very common scenario, e.g. banks & telecom, some part of > public/government service and health care. This does not seem to sink in > without repeating. >
Network access is not needed to build R - apparently that fact did not seem to sink in, either. This entire thread is based on false assumptions and as such the only place for it is /dev/null > --- On Sat, 16/3/13, Hin-Tak Leung <ht...@users.sourceforge.net> wrote: > >> I'll quantify the first part - R is >> perhaps the only public software project hosted on a >> subversion repository for which the result of 'svn export >> ...' does not build. Not only that it does not build, but >> make it a feature that it does not build. >> >> Very few other projects actively try to go in that >> direction. >> >> --- On Fri, 15/3/13, Hin-Tak Leung <hintak_le...@yahoo.co.uk> >> wrote: >> >>> The decision to actively discourage >>> non-subsersion usage of snapshot build is already made >>> (r62183). So I am just here to register a differing >>> opinion. >>> >>> - it is not about subversion vs >> other-version-control-tools. >>> There are two parts of R's dev build process which >> requires >>> an active network connection - tools/rsync-recommended >> and >>> capturing `svn info` into R's headers. The former can >> be >>> overridden with "./configure >>> --with-recommended-packages=no". A few changes had been >> made >>> in the last 6 months to make the latter mandatory. It >> used >>> to be optional. >>> >>> --- there are genuine needs for testing snapshots in a >>> non-networked minimalist environment - e.g. banks or >> telecom >>> industries - where one wants a "standardised host" >> build, >>> and often it means an "outdated host"; or in a virtual >>> machine environment - which are non-networked for >> security >>> reasons, and also do not have tools beyond necessary >> for >>> compiling and building. This is quite a common >> scenario. >>> >>> --- AFAIK, 6 months ago, a snapshot copied to an >>> non-networked host will build with "./configure >>> --with-recommended-packages=no". Of course copying >> those >>> recommended package tar balls across would be nicer. >> This is >>> sadly no longer the case. >>> >>> - dependent on `svn info` and sitting on top of a svn >>> checkout possibly also affects cross-compiling. But >> then, it >>> is not clear whether it is still possible to >> cross-compile >>> R, since quite a few changes have been made to remove >> the >>> capability of cross-compiling R for windows on unix >> hosts in >>> the last few years. >>> >>> - testing dev snapshots is about trying things and >> fixing >>> bugs before release. Making it difficult for non-core >> people >>> to "try", seem to go against that ethos. If that's the >> case, >>> maybe the repository could be closed off to anonymous >> check >>> outs altogether, just to make it clear that testing >>> snapshots before releases or even close to release, is >> not >>> welcomed. Just a thought. >>> >>> - although the official repository of the "main" linux >>> kernel branch is git-based, there are mercurial >> mirrors; >>> AFAIK the digital video broadcasting hardware support >> of the >>> linux kernel is officially in mercurial repositories, >> but >>> have git mirrors; likewise much of Xorg's is in >> mercurial >>> but have git mirrors. I haven't heard of any much >> bigger >>> public projects than R where some actively discourage >>> others. >>> >>> - To be honest r62183 itself is probably a good reason >> to >>> move away from server-side repositories to distributed >>> repositories (hg/git/arch/bzr). Local enhancements - >> i.e. an >>> in-house fork - some of which are never going upstream, >> such >>> as a local revert of r62183 (or a local revert of any >> other >>> upstream commits) is one reason why some have >> distributed >>> repositories. >>> >>> Lastly, a minor grip. The current head of the HK >> government >>> is probably sometimes called "HK Leung", just as some >> might >>> call a certain old lady "UK Windsor" and a certain >> black >>> person "US Obama". >>> >> > > ______________________________________________ > R-devel@r-project.org mailing list > https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel > > ______________________________________________ R-devel@r-project.org mailing list https://stat.ethz.ch/mailman/listinfo/r-devel
