Re: gnumeric-list Digest, Vol 27, Issue 1

[Prof J C Nash <nashjc uottawa ca>]

I've seen a number of msgs on this list about compiling a verion, 
usually the latest, of Gnumeric. I've tried myself too.

What I haven't found yet, and not only for Gnumeric, is a good how-to on
actually doing such compiling safely and cleanly without disrupting 
one's working environment. That is, I have 2 "main" working machines, 
one running Xandros 3.02, which gets Gnumeric 1.4.3 (sigh!) using 
apt-get, and Ubuntu Dapper, which get's (as far as I can tell) 1.59 (it 
may have just got to 1.61). But to really check tests, I need the latest 
release.

The difficulties are that if one tries to install the "new" libraries, 
existing and needed applications can become unworkable. Some sort of 
safe sandbox (chroot environment) is likely needed. But some good, sane, 
advice would be helpful. I've had suggestions of putting up Gentoo, but 
I've played distro-roulette enough to now be very careful about making 
changes. I've also some critical, everyday things I must keep working.

To ensure that I'm not just complaining, if someone sends me rough notes 
and I get things working, I'll be happy to edit and prepare the HowTo 
and to the extent my schedule allows maintain it. I use Linux, but I'm 
prepared to try to help out on other platforms with editing a HowTo or 
possibly running a WinXP boot that I do have available.

JN  (nashjc _AT_ uottawa.ca for off-list communications)

--
John C. Nash, School of Management, University of Ottawa,
Vanier Hall 451, 136 Jean-Jacques Lussier Private,
P.O. Box 450, Stn A, Ottawa, Ontario, K1N 6N5 Canada
email: nashjc on mail server uottawa.ca, voice mail: 613 562 5800 X 4796
fax 613 562 5164,  Web URL = http://macnash.admin.uottawa.ca
"Practical Forecasting for Managers" web site is at
http://www.arnoldpublishers.com/support/nash/