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OS2VOICE RPM Server
Roderick Klein:
--- Quote from: ivan on February 20, 2018, 05:22:49 pm ---Roderick, using your Tame example are you saying that there would be just ONE rpm file that contains EVERYTHING necessary for running Tame with a USB scanner or would we need to download several rpm files?
If it is the first then a simple WPI, like the original Tame distribution should suffice and the WPI database would also be updated.
If it is the second then we are seeing a basic change to OS/2. By that I mean using rpm is forcing a file system layout that is foreign to OS/2 to try and work with the basic OS/2 file system so things may or may not work depending on the bldlevel of the various components.
In engineering we tend to call such radical changes a solution looking for a problem to solve.
--- End quote ---
Its one example of where RPM is useful. What makes Warpin not use full is that RPM has a system to check on dependency of packages *and* download the required packages. With Warpin the customer needs to go to *a* website and download the package. Also an updated RPM package is around can ANPM (RPM) can download this. Warpin can not do this... I like Warpin but it simply lacks a couple of features a lot of end users need.
With the limited human resources I think WPI files are not the solution for the OS/2 community to keep moving forward. When Warpin was developed it was great and a lot of software was distributed with the IBM installer.
The IBM installer is not used a lot anymore. I see to many people at Warpstocks and the Dutch OS/2 user group that can not find software or know how to install it or keep easily keep track of updates. That is why I see people installing dual boot updates with Linux distro's that do provide this functionality.
For me the discussion about the directory structure that RPM puts in place. In fact maybe people like Paul Smedley could get MORE feedback if software could be installed and updated... The people in this forum might know how to keep track of DLL's and everything but enough OS/2 users do not...
Or did I misunderstand your posting ?
Roderick
Dave Yeo:
There is work being done to integrate warpin support into ANPM, which will help.
The real problems are,
One, not all software translates into the @UNIXROOT directory structure. eg BASEDEV's that have to go in x:\os2 or x:\os2\boot.
Two, RPM hell. This is already hinted at in this thread. Different programs requiring different versions of usbcalls.dll. Different games requiring different versions of SDL. Ideally everything would be recompiled after libraries are fixed/merged. In practice we don't have source code for everything and our systems DLL support is crap. In Linux land, shared libraries can be versioned and symlinked and even the symbols inside can be versioned. Programs can also be compiled/marked to use specific libraries. We're stuck with our 1980's era DLL structure.
Three, packages need to be maintained, recompiled against newer libraries and such, which takes manpower. There are lots of warpin packages that are no longer maintained.
In short, RPM has its uses, especially for software ported from *nix land. Warpin has its uses as well, especially for software that doesn't easily lend itself to the *nix file structure or even stuff that needs some rewriting.
As an example, I seem to be maintaining the screensaver, right now building it and packaging it as a warpin is simple as all the scripts are there and it expects to live in its own directory. It could be converted into an RPM and installed somewhere like @UNIXROOT/usr/lib/dss but I'd rather do other stuff when the WPI works well. With our shortage of manpower, there's probably lots of packages like this.
Andreas Schnellbacher:
--- Quote from: Roderick Klein on February 20, 2018, 11:46:25 pm ---What makes Warpin not use full is that RPM has a system to check on dependency of packages *and* download the required packages.
--- End quote ---
IMO a more relevant disadvantage is that automated uninstall isn't possible, but has to be done manually instead. WarpIN was designed as just an installation program. What we need is a package manger. RPM together with YUM is currently the only available option for us. To raise WarpIN to that state, too much work has to be done.
Andreas Schnellbacher:
--- Quote from: Dave Yeo on February 21, 2018, 12:56:26 am ---There is work being done to integrate warpin support into ANPM, which will help.
--- End quote ---
It would. But unfortunately, we're years away from adding that functionality to WarpIN's wic.exe, that's needed. It's doable, but it doesn't seem to happen soon. Adding an uninstall mode to wic.exe would be an important feature. Moreover, re-enabling WarpIN REXX scripts to access the database would be another one. Otherwise changing existing database entries (in case of an upgrade) won't be possible without uninstall and new install.
Rich Walsh:
--- Quote from: Andreas Schnellbacher on February 21, 2018, 01:01:30 am ---a more relevant disadvantage [to WarpIn] is that automated uninstall isn't possible, but has to be done manually instead.
--- End quote ---
WIC has long been able to do an automated uninstall, but people always thought you needed to have the original WPI available, so no one bothered to use that feature. However, that isn't the case.
Last week, I developed a way to have WIC uninstall a WPI using a dummy package that's only a few kb in size. Currently, the developer (not the user) must have the original WPI available to create the fake WPI. As I write this, it occurs to me that it may be possible to create the uninstall package by taking info directly from the WarpIn database. If so, then no one would need the original WPI. We'll see...
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