Re: Trying ARK feedback

Ah, Berto, you lovely lovely person!  I apologize for the
frustration caused, but thank you profusely for Stuff to
Sink Les Teeth Into.  I'll deal with some now, some later.

> --http://ark.sourceforge.net/download.html
> 
>   case sensitivities:  Sidai should be sidai, Sample1 should be sample1

Fixed, I hope.

> --http://ark.sourceforge.net/try-ark1.html
> 
>   % cd $ARK_SRC/myteam1/packages
> 
>   The packages (plural) dir is empty.  Should be
> 
>   % cd $ARK_SRC/myteam1/package

Yep.  Bugs.  Fixed all the ones I could find.  (I changed
the cvs checkouts to be 'cvs checkout -P' so it will prune
the confusion-causing empty dirs.)

> --Why .ark-profile?  Why not .ark_profile (a la .bash_profile)?
> 
>   Moreover, you have the environment variable ARK_PROFILE (with underscore)
>   referring to .ark-profile (with hyphen).

I always prefer '-' to '_', if only because of one less trip
to the shift key.  However, ARK-PROFILE isn't a valid shell
variable name.

Anyone else out there care or have an opinion??

> --team.xml:  A pain to have to edit every path.  Variables?  (Or PIKT macros?!)

Deferred.

> --hosts/ (info about hosts at your site):  Refers to "much like the
>   appropriate one in 'sample1'."  My sample1/hosts dir is empty.

Same bug as above.  Fixed.

> 
> --in try-ark:
> 
>   export ARK_PROFILE;ARK_PROFILE=/users/fp/partain/.ark-profile-sample1
> 
>   .ark-profile (without the appended -sample1)?

I have a special .ark-profile for doing sample1.  You're
right: it's confusing, and I'll not tell you about it :-).

>   for pkg in rsync--2.4.6 shtool--1.5.1 m4--1.4 ; do
> 
>   Why the special treatment for these packages?

Deferred.

> --First attempt at try-ark:
> 
>   $ ./try-ark 2>&1 | tee /tmp/try-ark.1.out
>   ./try-ark: warning: this script may be overly paranoid and, um, wrong...
>   repository info for team sidai is wrong in /home/berto/.ark-profile
> 
>   Added
> 
>     repository[sidai]    = /workspace/partain/ark/sidai
> 
>   to .ark-profile.  I had left that out because I don't want to mess
>   with sidai stuff at this point.  I just want the core ARK stuff and
>   what little I want to first attempt in myteam1.
> 
>   Why is Sidai insinuating itself into the picture at this point?  Sure,
>   it's the first among equals, but I'm thinking, "Am I about to mess my
>   fresh Mandrake 8.0 installation with some unintentional, and unwanted,
>   Sidai customizations?"

Deferred.  (But you're over-worried about Sidai, I fear :-)

[skipping a bit]

> --Fourth attempt at try-ark:
> 
> So, I'm wondering should I create a localized version of slicker.xml
> and put it in my (a) myteam1/hosts directory or my (b) myteam1/host
> directory?

Where did it start hassling you about 'slicker'?  (Which
obviously should be one of your machines, not mine.)

> At this point, I'm thinking:
> 
> --Should I review the past several months of ark-dev postings to figure
>   out where I've gone wrong? what I should do next?

No need to review the archives.  Just give us a chance to
think here :-)

> --Post my problem report to ark-dev?  (That's what I'm doing right now.)

Absolutely the right thing; much appreciated.

> --Without looking at the ark-dev archives, I sense that I may be treading
>   down some of the same dead-ends that Harlan (and others?) have taken (but
>   Harlan has been brave enough to post accounts of his travels/travails).

If I don't hear about it, I really can't help.

> --This is too much by-hand configuration, editing of this file and
>   that.  I should be able to specify environment variables, in my
>   .ark-profile, [snip]

OK, will muse on this, (and welcome what others think).

There is a "philosophy" issue again, however.  Your XML
files are supposed to describe your system/site.  Period.
End of story.  Not random environment variables in
individual users' .profiles, not random bits of stuff in
/etc.  Instead, there's supposed to be a set of bits, under
CVS (or other) control, that is the *complete* description
of your site.

> --Where is the on-disk equivalent of the try-ark1.html page?

sample1/webpages/try-ark1.txt

>   ... .  Just have a page telling how to download the
>   package, then keep an *up-to-date* INSTALL or README or
>   TRYME file right there in the sample1 top-level
>   directory.

Am musing on that as we speak...

> --Do I have to know Python (and know it fairly well) to be able to use
>   this thing?

I profoundly hope not.  You do need to learn not to fear
exception tracebacks for now :-( -- in the fullness of time,
they will turn into ordinary error messages, but they are
helpful to me/us for the time being.

> --How many people have encountered similar sorts of hassles (similar to
>   mine) and just given up interest?

Haven't a clue.  We have the small consolation that we are
somewhere between pre-alpha and alpha quality software :-)

> ... .  I'm prepared to pitch in with more installments.

Hang tough!  Let me (get Matt to) think for a little bit...

Will