Date: Mon, 10 Apr 2000 08:52:30 +0200 (IST)
From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
X-Sender: eliz AT is
To: Richard Dawe <richdawe AT bigfoot DOT com>
cc: Laurynas Biveinis <lauras AT softhome DOT net>,
        DJGPP Workers <djgpp-workers AT delorie DOT com>,
        Richard Dawe <rich AT tudor21 DOT net>,
        Zippo Workers <zippo-workers AT egroups DOT com>
Subject: Re: DJGPP library DSMs
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On Sun, 9 Apr 2000, Richard Dawe wrote:

> > > 7) Perhaps the installer and uninstaller should automatically run
> > >    install-info with the appropriate arguments (these arguments are
> > >    pretty standard).  This way, people won't need to put these
> > >    commands into the DSM files, which is error-prone.
> > 
> > No, I think it is up to indvidual packages: installers should be
> > generic, they don't know very good, which packages require it and which
> > don't.
> 
> I personally have mixed feelings about this. I still haven't used
> install-info. I would prefer all actions to be taken on installation to be
> included in the DSM. That way, one could install the package without a
> package manager, by looking at the commands in the DSM.

I agree with the goal, but I could also take it to the extreme and say
that the unzip command should also be there--so that someone could
install the package manually...

I understand that we need to draw the line somewhere, the question is
where.

> Why is putting these install-info commands in the DSM error-prone?

Because the command line will be written by humans, and humans tend to
err.  OTOH, the command itself is so standard that it cries for
automation:

  install-info --info-dir=/dev/env/DJDIR/info --info-file=<package>

> I intend to write a DSM writing guide at some point. I could describe
> running install-info in this guide.

Is it worth to duplicate what the Texinfo manual already says?