Forum OpenACS Development: Re: acs-admin/install broken!!!!!

Your quote... You can get the packages from the 5.2 channel (see https://openacs.org/repository/5-3/) so 5.2 is actualy 5.3!!! This indicates the whole version process seems to be messed up. How difficult can it be to provide a simple install of the latest stable installation, I really don't get it.

Why can't we have a simple seperation:
1. STABLE, WORKS OUT OF THE BOX, NEWBIE PROOF, NO DEVELOPERS NEEDED USING THE LATEST STABLE PACKAGES AUTO INSTALLED IN ONE COMMAND!

I have no intention to venture into no mans land, HEAD or whatever fancy geek worlds exist I just like to use OACS promote it and set up a business centered around the toolkit. Constant system crashes don't really help .

2. ADVENTURE LAND/GEEKWORLD... please make this a seperate world, not linked in the default oacs user environment and make sure end users access is a simple option that will not mess up a working environment. I really like all the projects folks are working on like e-commerce, accounting contacts and all the things many people are looking forward to be able to use yesterday, but please keep them seperated from the latest stable release!!

That will solve major headaches and confusion. Until today I have no idea what HEAD is where I can find it and as I am not a geek I a don't care, yet whenever the system crashes It's because I have been using HEAD without realizing it.

Will this version provide me with down loadable packages? https://openacs.org/projects/openacs/download/one-revision?revision_id=583060
All I need is XOwiki,photodb, project manager, blog, dot folio, faq events, room reservations,logger, bug tracker and DotLRN. I realy don't understand why it is impossible to install this out of the box!

3. Why not set up a failsafe test mechanism prior to releasing a new version maned by newbies (people like me) to make sure a dummy can install the latest release?

Thanks
Ben

Ben

The release manager of .LRN makes sure all packages that belong to .LRN are a basis of the .LRN release tarball. You might ask him (for 2.3 that is Don) that he tags all .LRN packages as compatible for a certain released version of OpenACS once the release is out.

All other packages have to have a maintainer or someone who cares to say "Yes, this package works on e.g. oacs-5-3". I know for a fact that the head version of xowiki and xotcl-core as an example work with OpenACS 5.3, so they could be tagged with the compatability mark, the moment Gustaf releases them. But this is up to him to decide.

What people in the community can do though to help this process is to download a package from CVS (either the 5-3 branch or HEAD) and see if this package works in their stock installation. This can then be reported back (e.g. in the forums). Then you (preferably) or some other member can download the version, tag it as compatible and therefore release it in the list of packages. Note though if we are doing this: We raise expectations that the package really works, so the person reporting "This works" has a moral obligation to be sure about it 😊. Additionally the person tagging should make sure the maturity level is somewhat up to date.

I have to admit my guilt on not releasing the packages I am working on due to the fact that all of them require a version of acs-* package that resides in HEAD (in my case namely acs-mail-lite and acs-tcl).

Gustaf made a typo that's all. The 5.2 channel is at https://openacs.org/repository/5-2/

On thing you need to understand is that we are a volunteer community. Please feel free to orgainze whatever resources you have to improving the toolkit. Making it easier to use a great goal.

The main reason you can't find dotlrn compatible with openacs 5.3 is that dotlrn is a collection of packages that are tested and released together. The release process for dotlrn 2.3 is almost complete.

Using more exclamation points or capital letters does not make the job of managing the toolkit any easier.

You can download dotlrn 2.3 alpha now, and try it out, it works and testing helps the community greatly. https://openacs.org/projects/dotlrn/download/one-revision?revision_id=937416
This is the "failsafe" test mechanism prior to release. Interested parties download the alpha or beta release, and try it out. They report issues and help fix bugs before the release.

Or you can wait for the official release.
If after the release you find some aspects of OpenACS or .LRN that are not up to your standards, and you don't feel you can fix it yourself, you can always find a volunteer to work with you, or hire someone to fix what you need.