Compile Guncash

[Tommy Trussell]

On Mon, Mar 30, 2015 at 7:37 AM, Geert Janssens <geert.gnucash at kobaltwit.be>
wrote:

> I agree that building gnucash is 90% the same steps and commands on most
> (linux) distros. So I would recommend first writing a page with general
> build instructions. And that page should go into more detail on each of
> the topics you mention above.
>
> And then based on that one could make distro specific recommendations,
> like how to get the necessary build dependencies installed, or how to
> build a .dep/.rpm package, or how to deal with some very distro-specific
> oddity. These distro specific pages should refer to the base build page
> for everything that doesn't deviate.
>
> Does that make sense to you ?
>
>
Yes, I agree, though it conflicts with the inclination expressed by Colin
Law to me off-list (possibly he didn't mean to send just to me) where folks
want a Step 1, Step 2, Step 3, copy-paste "cookbook-simple" procedure. This
would only be feasible when making some of the technical decisions for the
end users, and being consistent. (In this way the getdeb packages are
wonderful -- someone with experience with Debian packaging rules is
building upon the work of others and doing the "hard part" on behalf of
folks who don't have the experience or patience to do it themselves. The
downside is GnuCash users are dependent upon them and their tiny volunteer
organization.)

One thing I imagined was a clever menu-selection arrangement that builds a
set of command-line scripts based upon choices by the site's visitor (such
as Ubuntu version, package or local install, compile time options, etc.),
and THEN the visitor can copy-paste the text into their own terminal and
sit back and watch the show. HOWEVER 1) I don't know that MediaWiki (or at
least a version without fancy plugins) supports that level of
interactivity. And 2) Few people (probably including me) would be able to
maintain such a complicated page over time.

I have some family issues taking my time today but I will try to review the
existing pages this week from a "novice linux user's perspective." I think
your suggestion is generally correct that the pages probably need to
re-focus on the core requirements of building and the niggling details for
each distro version may ultimately be fairly manageable.