On Sun, 2004-09-19 at 10:04, Phil Mattison wrote:
...
> I found an existing source (http://www.freehdl.seul.org/) and
> downloaded it. The web site is pretty Spartan and there does not
> appear to be much activity related to the project. When I attempted to
> compile the code, all seemed to be going fairly well, but then gcc
> crashed while compiling one of the files. I'm using gcc 3.3.1 with
> Mandrake 9.2. 

It didn't look to me like the compiler was the problem. It looked more
like the code was not completed to a compilable state.

> So the quandary is this: How much effort is justified attempting to
> debug the build process for a totally unknown piece of software? 

I think that depends greatly on how badly you need it. Me personally, If
they don't offer a "stable" release (only cvs snapshots) I don't waste
much time.


> In the process I realized some of the premises behind the whole FOSS
> distribution model. The idea is to distribute source code because that
> can be compiled on the user's system, taking into account at
> compile-time any peculiarities of the user's system. Ignoring for the
> moment the module/library dependency problem, there also seems to be
> significant compiler- and tool-version dependency problems.

I have the distinct privilege of being a contributor to one of the boost
libraries. I've noticed the compiler/platform issues tend to be less
when I write standards conforming code. But there's always the odd duck
that just won't work. 

...
> I guess if you actually write your own software it isn't free. But I'm
> digressing again.

Interesting point. I've always looked at is as investing in my skills.
It's still not free but at least I'm getting my money's worth ;-)
 
> So I guess the question is, does anyone have any suggestions what is
> the shortest route to making a decision whether an unknown GPL source
> package is worth bothering with? Or does everyone only build stuff
> that "everyone knows" is good?

As I mentioned earlier, if there's no "stable" release I don't spend
much time. I also tend to stay away from unknown (or little known)
projects. Unless you read the code you never quite know what it'll do to
your system.

Bart

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