Re: gtk-install list

[Owen Taylor <otaylor redhat com>]

On Thu, 2003-10-23 at 08:23, kameron cole wrote:
> I do think such a list would be a good idea. 
> 1) clearly this thread has generated many posts, which contradicts those 
> who continue to insist that installing gtk from source is, instead, 
> simple, or that failures result from lack of knowledge - whether theses 
> last two be 'true' or not, there are clearly people who need help.

I'd much rather concentrate on ways that we can reduce the amount
people need help:

 - By fixing problems that people run into that are fixable
   automatically
 - By improving the docs
 - By making sure that people find the docs
 - By providing links to prebuilt binaries and install scripts

Rather than providing forums for people to commiserate about how
hard it is.

> 2) the contention was raised that people who have trouble installing gtk 
> have simply not found the instructions at
> 
> http://developer.gnome.org/doc/API/2.0/gtk/gtk-building.html
> 
> that's a bit presumptuous, in my opinion.  I would contend that the 
> instructions are both vague and incomplete, which leads me to agree that

Many people having questions clearly *haven't* seen these docs. 
(I.e., they say reply to thank you when it's pointed out)

If you think the instructions are vague and incomplete; I'd love
to have your suggestions about improvements. Generally bugzilla
is the best place to make suggestions about documentation 
improvements.

> 3) these instructions need to be updated/improved - and, what better way to do this
>  than collecting experience through the archives of a gtk-install list?

There is a huge amount of archive experience already from this list
about installing GTK+; I'm not sure what good it would do to have
more experience somewhere else.

Mail on *this* list is virtually all either:

 - About installation
 - Should be on gtk-app-devel-list.

It's only worth splitting a list when there is something left on either
side.

The other problem with a gtk-install-list, is that I don't think anybody
would read it who wasn't having problems installing GTK+. Lists work
best when they are give-and-take; you help someone with a problem,
someone else helps you with your problem.

Regards,
						Owen