install.sh

[David Lee]

On Thu, 11 Mar 2004, Peter Bonivart wrote:

>                        [...] what I wanted to ask you and Julian is if
> there's going to be a portable install.sh for all distributions or one
> separate for the tar distribution? Also, will it come with Solaris
> packages? You posted recently about sending Julian a portable install.sh
> working on Solaris and Julian has been asking about Solaris packages
> some weeks ago and I, among others, offered to help out.

What I sent to Julian (as a sketchy, proof-of-concept, draft idea) was a
version of the existing "install.sh", revised for general portability.
It separates out those things which might have environment-specific
alternatives (e.g. install-mechanism of rpm/pkg/deb/...) and calls them as
appropriate. I hadn't actually fleshed out the pkg detail: rather I was
trying to demonstrate a structure within which such details could later be
inserted as appropriate.

Note that "install.sh" does many different things: the installation of the
MS code itself (in an OS-sympathetic way) is but one part of many.  Much
of its value lies in its coordination of all of these parts, by means and
with details which are variable across systems and environments.

> I understand the last month has been h--l for us all but I just wanted
> to know if it's something that is being/will be worked on further. I'm
> so interested in this that I will do something Solaris specific
> (complete with SA and Clam) soon but since Julians first release would
> probably embarrass my efforts I just want to hear from him before I
> start. :-)

My suggestion is that we wait for Julian at least to approve the idea and
possible structure for this portable "install.sh" (a later message from
him indicates that he hopes to do this).  Only then do those of us with an
interest in particular environments (e.g. you and me for Solaris/pkg) need
to get started, by confirming that such a framework will be OK for the
details of our particular environment.

(But if Julian is happy for some of us meanwhile to investigate (perhaps
offline?) the Solaris/pkg aspects of MS itself, then that would be fine.)

Sound OK?


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