--- On Sat, 16/3/13, Hin-Tak Leung <ht...@users.sourceforge.net> 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. Oh, and some might call using a tool beyond its initial purpose and context an enhancement, rather than 'misuse'. Quite a lot of words, like 'certified', 'essential', have no meaning outside the small group of people who use and misuse them, as is 'misuse'. > --- 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 and often it means an "outdated host"; or in a 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
