Re: gnome developer docs - not sgml

[Todd Graham Lewis <tlewis mindspring net>]

On Mon, 2 Nov 1998, Miguel de Icaza wrote:

> > Apparently the FSF and associated developers have decided (again) that 
> > GNU/<insert OS here> is the only platform.  :-(  For all intents and purposes 
> > GNOME is out of the running as a GUI for any platform but Linux.
> 
> What is this?  I have compiled GNOME in IRIX and Solaris myself.  Yes,
> you have to install some extra libraries, but why is that such a
> problem?

If you consult the FAQ, then you will see a list of platforms on which
GNOME has been reported to work.  Granted, you may have to do some work
to get them going, but they still do work.  GNOME is not being optimized
in the direction of making it minimally dependent on outside resources;
it is being optimized in the direction of offering maximum functionality
to the user and to the programmer.

That said, there is absolutely no reason that a Solaris or other Un*x
user could not more fully document the requirements for getting GNOME
running on their respective platforms, and/or build tools to make this
process easy.  I personally think that it would be trivial to build a
tool to walk users through making their un*x environment GNOME friendly.

I am not going to do it, because I do not run Solaris.  Since when did
you volunteer to solve my problems, and why should I do it if you don't?
However, that's not to say that _you_ could not do it.  I am sure that
other Solaris users would appreciate your efforts.

I _would_ be happy to document in the FAQ any steps which make this
process easier for non-Linux users.  Both GNOME and the FAQ and platform-
agnostic, and I want to help all GNOME users with the FAQ, not just
Linux users.  Send me changes if you have them.

> I rather depend on extra libraries than not providing the
> functionality.  

Considering the goals of GNOME, I think that this is completely the
right approach.

--
Todd Graham Lewis            32°49'N,83°36'W          (800) 719-4664, x2804
******Linux******         MindSpring Enterprises      tlewis@mindspring.net