Don, this does make sense. I'll update the parser to do the database check, thanks for that info.
On loading into OpenACS 4, yes, it would be really interesting. I like the idea of moving some stuff over just to see how it is. The prospect of a large merge is a little daunting, but it would be pretty easy to move over individual packages, and see how they go.
My thought on the repository was that one would eventually be able to select a preferred architecture, and see packages which support it, which sounds in line with your concerns.
I'll post a follow up here with a little more info on how that goes. Out of curiosity, have you folks done any 9i porting yet?
