Re: New mailing list for installing Octave?

[Keith Goodman]

My guess is that we need to maintain the file

http://www.octave.org/cgi-bin/cvsweb.cgi/octave/doc/faq/Octave-FAQ.texi

which we can do by either

1. Submitting patches against it one FAQ at a time (if John would like
to approve each one), or
2. Dump the whole file in a wiki and start pounding on it. And then
submit one big patch, after which we can go back to method 1.

I think the best way to get more Mac users on board, except for a dmg,
is to help Fink. Instead of having many people separately figure out
how to compile Octave on the Mac, a few people can figure it out and
then many can use it. If it weren't for Dirk Eddelbuettel, the Octave
package maintainer for Debian, I would never have tried Octave.

Compiling from source may not be faster on Fink but with Fink
Commander it is point and click.


On 5/9/05, Joe Koski <address@hidden> wrote:
> on 5/9/05 7:29 PM, Bill Denney at address@hidden wrote:
> 
> > I'd be willing to help with this, too.  I'm more of a user (and peripheral
> > developer, I guess), but I'd be willing to help as I can.
> >
> > Bill
> >
> > On Mon, 9 May 2005, Keith Goodman wrote:
> >
> >> I'd like to help.
> >>
> >> If anyone answers a question on the Octave mailing list that they
> >> think should be included in the FAQ, then tag it (put the word FAQ
> >> somewhere in your answer). I'll edit some of them and propose them for
> >> the FAQ.
> >>
> >> In the meantime I'll look over the existing FAQ and write up my
> >> experience compiling (unsuccessful so far) the latest Octave CVS on
> >> Debian.
> >>
> >> On 5/9/05, John W. Eaton <address@hidden> wrote:
> >>> On  9-May-2005, Eric Mesa wrote:
> >>>
> >>> | I'd be for that.  It would allow us to provide help or get help
> >>> | depending on what part of the spectrum we're on.
> >>>
> >>> I don't really think it is necessary.  Although traffic on the help
> >>> list does seem to be increasing, it is still not that busy.
> >>>
> >>> One thing that might help is an improved version of the FAQ.  Would
> >>> someone (or group) like to help out by maintaining it?
> >>>
> >>> Thanks,
> >>>
> >>> jwe
> >>>
> 
> Let's keep in mind that the wiki at
> 
>   http://wiki.octave.org/
> 
> is supposed to be a place to post compile/install information such as this,
> as well as any other useful information. A while back some vandals attacked
> that site, so now you have to get permission to post there. It is still a
> good place to look for ideas, and maybe that's what John is referring to as
> the FAQ, or maybe not.
> 
> On a Mac, keeping octave updated is a matter of hitting a moving target
> while on a moving platform. Both octave and OS X change rapidly, so any
> tricks you learn today, may be obsolete tomorrow. At one time I had the
> great idea of doing a .dmg installer for octave and octave-forge. After a
> bit of research, I realized that it would require quite a bit of time just
> to keep up with the octave and OS X evolution of versions. I decided that a
> reliable make file would be good enough.
> 
> A poster to one of the Apple lists correctly stated that the first few
> versions of a new Mac OS are "crippled," mostly by missing header files for
> gcc. I tried to build octave-2.1.64 several times before Apple issued an
> upgrade to OS X 10.3, and, suddenly, the octave build that was a big problem
> completed without errors. We need to file bug reports with Apple, or they
> won't know that there's a problem. Knowing that something is missing is the
> trick. Maybe our Linux cousins can help us state what's missing to Apple.
> 
> Fink can help Mac users, but they're usually running a version or two
> behind, and any octave installs from the newer "unstable" branch require a
> build-from-source process that is just as lengthy as the standard make file.
> 
> There is an Apple list for unix-porting. When stuck, OS X users like me
> should probably try there to see if anyone there has solved the problem with
> missing headers or libraries. Then we could confidently file the Apple bug
> report.
> 
> "Freeware" like Octave isn't free, especially on a Mac. There is effort to
> install it, and we should all be willing to help keep it going by
> contributing effort from time-to-time. I'm sure John won't object to
> monetary contributions, either.
> 
> Joe
> 
> 
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.
> 
> Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
> How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
> Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> 
>



-------------------------------------------------------------
Octave is freely available under the terms of the GNU GPL.

Octave's home on the web:  http://www.octave.org
How to fund new projects:  http://www.octave.org/funding.html
Subscription information:  http://www.octave.org/archive.html
-------------------------------------------------------------