Re: Octave on Condor

[Si Hammond]

> | My main question is - is it possible to compile Octave for Condor  
> and
> | if so how does one go about doing that? I've tried just sticking
> | condor_compile gcc and g++ in CC and CXX etc. But this doesn't seem
> | to work very well.
>
> What happens?

Various minor problems - the pic directory is not created etc. But  
after getting over these, the octave binary will not link - there are  
literally hundreds and hundreds of linker errors stating that  
functions are not defined. I've tried adding various things to the  
paths and altering it but same result.

> Is the problem something to do with Octave or is it a problem with
> Condor?  Maybe someone on the Condor help list could be of more
> assistance?

I *think* its not really a Condor problem - my guess is that there  
are quite a number of complexities in compiling Octave for Condor  
since Octave is a pretty big compilation anyway thats even before you  
put it near Condor!

I have posted to Condor user list, awaiting response at the moment.

> Also, I've always found it quite strange that Condor is apparently
> distributed with some variant of a free software license (though not
> GPL compatible):
>
>   http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/condor-public-license.html
>
> but the source does not seem to be publicly available:
>
>   At this time we do not distribute source code publicly, but instead
>   consider requests on a case-by-case basis. If you need the source
>   code, please e-mail us at ADDRESS explaining why, and we'll get back
>   to you.
>
>   http://www.cs.wisc.edu/condor/manual/ 
> v6.8/7_1Obtaining.html#SECTION00815000000000000000
>
> So is it really free (libre) software?  Could someone get the sources
> for Condor by asking (case by case basis) and then redistributed them
> under the terms of the Condor Public License (wihout requiring further
> specific permission)?

I found this a bit weird as well, I've seen discussions on the Condor  
mailing list - I think part of the reason is the code is absolutely  
massive in places and I think they have varying levels of  
documentation. Getting it all documented and converted to sutiable  
coding styles etc will probably take a huge amount of time. I haven't  
asked for the code - its bad enough configuring the binary let alone  
the build script!

Thanks for replying, any tips/advice you've got on the above would be  
most useful! If we get all this sorted, I'd like to investigate the  
possibility of hosting the compiled binary on the net somewhere so  
other Condor users can get hold of it. I think it could be a good way  
of getting some MATLAB users to move to Octave.

> jwe