Mail Archives: djgpp/1997/09/14/14:57:40
Chirayu Krishnappa writes:
> However, it is my opinion that the current version of allegro should
>not be broken up into addons. Stuff such as communictaions (DZCOMM), etc can
>be addons and is easier to maintain and download that way. Maybe even the
>sound routines could be made addons but the rest is essential.
I think basically that is true. There will always need to be a core
library that contains all the "essential" functionality: it would be a
nonsense to have people downloading the putpixel() function but not the
line() routine :-) But I think we have now reached the point where
Allegro already contains most of the core functionality that it will
ever have: obviously with some exceptions, but in general the things
that are being added to it today are larger, more complex and
specialised things that would work very well as optional modules. I
think zbuffered polygon drawing, network support, a more sophisticated
GUI, a JPEG loader, etc, would all come under that category...
>I've heard of diffutils. So what I suggest is that Shawn release a
>version 2.3 or a 3.0alpha version (the current wip version). Then he
>can upload the diff's each time allegro is changes - till the 3.0
>version is out.
I'm going to start doing that, but I think a full zip of the latest code
is needed as well. The last time I tried just uploading a set of changes
(about three months ago), I got a lot of email from people who were
having trouble building it, and that was when I included the modified
files in their entirety without even using a diff program! There are
just too many ways in which a partial version can go wrong :-)
>Another idea would be to break up the distribution into different files
>like, docs.zip, examples.zip, kernel.zip, demo.zip, etc. What say?
I think that would create a lot of confusing for new users: it is one
thing to be able to download a lib, build it, and then go looking for
addon packages that will extend it, but the original installation should
be kept as painless as possible and should provide everything needed to
get up and running...
--
Shawn Hargreaves - shawn AT talula DOT demon DOT co DOT uk - http://www.talula.demon.co.uk/
Beauty is a French phonetic corruption of a short cloth neck ornament.
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