[SM-Users] What Version Should I Be Using To Help With Testing

[Kevin Monceaux]

Fellow SMGL enthusiasts,

I'm still working my way through an initial Source Mage install on my test
box. I've hit a few snags, some of which might be my own fault. So, I'd
want to go through the process again making careful notes before reporting
any problems. Anyway, I see several items marked as [DONE] on the "Road Map
towards 1.0" page. Are the items marked as [DONE] included in the 0.9.6
ISO? I think I've had a problem with one item in particular:

Sorcery supports full dependency ordering [DONE]

After the initial install, rebuild, and system-update I tried casting
kde-profile in hopes of checking out Source Mage's GUI system. For the most
part I use console-based apps but installing KDE gives any source-based
distribution a thurough workout. Several spells needed X libraries and I
selected xorg each time I was prompted to choose an X server. Then, sorcery
tried to cast some of the spells that needed X before casting xorg. The end
result was that some spells failed causing many others to be skipped. So,
now I've got an xorg cast running. I'm guessing sorcery should have cast
the spells in the appropriate dependency order.

Would a new user reporting problems with the 0.9.6 ISO help the Source Mage
team in moving towards the 1.0 release? If not, what would be the best way
for me to help? I'm not quite ready to convert my main box to SMGL yet.
Since I'm running SMGL on a test box there's no problem running an unstable
test version. The only drawback is the test box in question in an older
Pentium MMX 200mhz box. So, compiling can take a while. If I remember
correctly when testing Gentoo on it it took over a week to compile KDE.

P.S. I think Source Mage might be the first distribution I buy clothing,
etc., for. I love the raven in the logo and have been eyeing a Source Mage
t-shirt. When I see the logo I start thinking, "Once upon a midnight
dreary, while I ponder weak and weary ..."


Kevin
http://www.RawFedDogs.net
http://www.WacoAgilityGroup.org
Bruceville, TX

Si hoc legere scis nimium eruditionis habes.

[seth]

Post by Kevin Monceaux
Fellow SMGL enthusiasts,
I'm still working my way through an initial Source Mage install on my test
box. I've hit a few snags, some of which might be my own fault. So, I'd
want to go through the process again making careful notes before reporting
any problems. Anyway, I see several items marked as [DONE] on the "Road Map
towards 1.0" page. Are the items marked as [DONE] included in the 0.9.6
Sorcery supports full dependency ordering [DONE]

You aren't having a problem with this. This is full tree dependency
ordering. If a spell is broken, sorcery did its best to skip things
further down the tree branch that won't build to your specs due to the
dependency being missing. What makes full tree ordering nice is that
when you cast an update to an existing install, things like xfce, which
depend on build order will not only install in the correct order, but
update in the correct order too (it takes into account existing as well
as new packages for determining dependency order).

Post by Kevin Monceaux
After the initial install, rebuild, and system-update I tried casting
kde-profile in hopes of checking out Source Mage's GUI system. For the most
part I use console-based apps but installing KDE gives any source-based
distribution a thurough workout. Several spells needed X libraries and I
selected xorg each time I was prompted to choose an X server. Then, sorcery
tried to cast some of the spells that needed X before casting xorg. The end
result was that some spells failed causing many others to be skipped. So,
now I've got an xorg cast running. I'm guessing sorcery should have cast
the spells in the appropriate dependency order.

bugzilla might have these already listed. KDE is not maintained by any
single maintainer that I'm aware of so it's not likely to succeed.
Gnome tends to be better at building reliably. What grimoire did you
actually use?

Post by Kevin Monceaux
Would a new user reporting problems with the 0.9.6 ISO help the Source Mage
team in moving towards the 1.0 release?

Once it's installed, it's likely not a problem with the 0.9.6 iso. Even
if it is, we often work around it anyways. So far I don't think you've
mentioned a problem with the ISO in this email.

Post by Kevin Monceaux
If not, what would be the best way
for me to help? I'm not quite ready to convert my main box to SMGL yet.
Since I'm running SMGL on a test box there's no problem running an unstable
test version.

stable-rc grimoire is what you want to run. It's what will become
stable once it's tested and fixed up. test is the very bleeding edge.

Seth

[Jeremy Blosser]

Post by Kevin Monceaux
Would a new user reporting problems with the 0.9.6 ISO help the Source Mage
team in moving towards the 1.0 release?

Yes.

Post by Kevin Monceaux
If not, what would be the best way for me to help? I'm not quite ready
to convert my main box to SMGL yet.

The ISO is the main thing driving the real 1.0 release schedule. However,
most people don't really need to install over and over to really put it
through it's pace, so for day-to-day what's usually needed as far as
testing is just filing spell bugs (and fixing them ;-).

Post by Kevin Monceaux
Since I'm running SMGL on a test box there's no problem running an unstable
test version. The only drawback is the test box in question in an older
Pentium MMX 200mhz box. So, compiling can take a while. If I remember
correctly when testing Gentoo on it it took over a week to compile KDE.

It depends on how early you want to help catch bugs. The test grimoire is
where most day-to-day changes go on and what most developers and "power
users" run. Anything committed to test is "supposed to" at least compile
for the person that committed it, anything beyond that is technically a
bonus, though it's really pretty stable usually.

stable-rc is always the branch undergoing testing to become the next stable
release. Most of its testing is automated, but if you wanted to run it day
to day it would help guarantee it's solid. Some of the main devs tend to
keep at least one stable-rc box around to keep an eye on it but I don't
think many people run it actively.

You probably want to run either test or devel sorcery. I run test sorcery
on production servers. devel sorcery is currently quite actively working
on a staged install transition, similar to gentoo's "sandbox install"
thing. That's pretty exciting for us but may be a rocky yet so again, it
depends on how dirty you want to get your hands.

Post by Kevin Monceaux
P.S. I think Source Mage might be the first distribution I buy clothing,
etc., for. I love the raven in the logo and have been eyeing a Source Mage
t-shirt. When I see the logo I start thinking, "Once upon a midnight
dreary, while I ponder weak and weary ..."

The raven's name is Quoth, BTW. :-)
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: not available
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 232 bytes
Desc: not available
Url : http://lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/sm-users/attachments/20060718/20cc8229/attachment.bin

[Eric Sandall]

Post by Kevin Monceaux
Fellow SMGL enthusiasts,

<snip as Jeremy replied to most of it>

Post by Kevin Monceaux
After the initial install, rebuild, and system-update I tried casting
kde-profile in hopes of checking out Source Mage's GUI system. For the most
part I use console-based apps but installing KDE gives any source-based
distribution a thurough workout. Several spells needed X libraries and I
selected xorg each time I was prompted to choose an X server. Then, sorcery
tried to cast some of the spells that needed X before casting xorg. The end
result was that some spells failed causing many others to be skipped. So,
now I've got an xorg cast running. I'm guessing sorcery should have cast
the spells in the appropriate dependency order.

Welcome to the Valley, Kevin. :)

The problem you describe is most likely due to missing dependencies.
Sorcery itself supports full dependency ordering, but that only works
in so far as the packages themselves describe the correct
dependencies. :) So if you do run into this problem please file bugs
about which packages are missing which dependencies. Usually looking
at the compile log of the failed spell is enough, as it's something
like, "Cannot find -lX11", meaning there's no X installed yet. ;) Or
just include the compile log and we'll figure it out.

Be sure to ask if you have any questions and we'll do our best to help
you out.

Thanks!

-sandalle