[CMake] cmake 2.4.8 RC 4

[Mike Jackson]

On Dec 21, 2007, at 3:35 PM, Bill Hoffman wrote:

>
>> Bug:
>> <http://public.kitware.com/Bug/view.php?id=6195>
>>> Another issue not explicitly discussed by me, but has been mentioned
>>> in other contexts is installing to /usr instead of /usr/local. I
>>> haven't checked in awhile, but last time I remember, the installer
>>> package for CMake installs to /usr instead of /usr/local. This  
>>> really
>>> needs to change if it hasn't already been fixed.
>
> So, if we installed into /usr/local it would not be in the default  
> path of the user.   They would install and nothing would happen.   
> So, I closed that bug as a won't fix.
>
> -Bill
>


Bill,
  In my NOT so humble opinion, this is a REALLY bad idea and here is  
why.

1) Not in the users default path argument is a bad argument. Your  
target audience is a developer. 99.9% of developers know how to set a  
path variable.
2) Apple "owns" /usr. It is my opinion that /usr is Apple's  
playground. Anything in there is subject to change at Apple's whim.  
If you install into /usr and Apple does something funky with it in a  
future update then cmake may break or other oddities.
3) Installing into /usr also clearly delineates what _came_ on the  
system versus what has been _installed_ on the system. This can come  
in handy for things like backups, system restores, system imaging and  
other areas. I can look in /usr/local and immediately see what has  
been installed onto my system.
4) With a post install script you can figure out if /usr/local/bin is  
on the users path and if not put it there.

What I would _really_ like to see is a system like "Textmate" or  
"BBEdit" where cmake is just a drag-and-drop install and the first  
time CMake GUI is launched symlinks to cmake, ccmake, ctest are put  
into /usr/local/bin (or somewhere else the use selects). This makes  
the installation and use of CMake much easier and approachable. With  
a little bit of effort CMake can become a first class OS X  
application which helps it gain mind share in the OS X market. I am  
_willing_ to help with that effort. What do you need.

-- 
Mike Jackson