Re: Trying ARK feedback

   From: Will Partain <[email protected]>
   Sender: [email protected]

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

In the "Customizing your 'team' for your site" section:

   hosts/ (info about hosts at your site) 
   We assume you're going to try-ark on just one host. That one host should
   have an XML file much like the appropriate one in `sample1' (`slicker' is
   a SPARC Solaris box; `slippy' is an Intel Red Hat Linux box...) 

So, I thought:  (a) Should the XML file go in the host or the hosts directory?
And (b) was my failure to make an XML file for my host responsible for the
errors in my fourth try-ark attempt?

   > --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.

I see the danger in relying on free-floating environment variables, but
my point remains:  That was a lot of by-hand configuration for my first
minimalist try-ark exercise.  I expect that my fourth and final try-ark
failure is due to a small configuration error hidden somewhere in the
longish (relative to what I was attempting to do) setup sequence.

Are you philosophically opposed to an /etc/ARK.conf file?  Or how about an
$ARK_SRC/ARK.conf file, that everything within $ARK_SRC refers to?  Or
perhaps $ARK_SRC/<team-name>/ARK.conf?

Or maybe Harlan can pull a rabbit out of the autoconf hat?

(Or maybe use the PIKT macro preprocessor?  Just kidding!  :))

Am I overstating the problem?  In a full-fledged ARK setup, will this sort
of by-hand basic path editing be not much more than for a minimalist try-ark
setup?

   > --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 :-)

Even at this very early stage, I think/hope you can see a bit better now the
importance of investing time and effort to installation and setup, making the
docs clear and accurate, and making the procedure as easy and painless as
possible.  It pays big dividends now and into the future.

Berto

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Robert Osterlund, Unix Systems Manager                [email protected]
Grad School of Business, U of Chicago                       phone: 773/702-8898
1101 E. 58th Street, #309, Chicago, IL 60637, USA             fax: 773/702-0233