[vtkusers] Improving VTK packages: some suggestions. [long]

[Prabhu Ramachandran]

hi,

>>>>> "Sebastien" == Sebastien BARRE <seb-ml-vtk at barre.nom.fr> writes:

    >> so if we discuss about installation, we should also try to
    >> remove the pcmaker and make a unique way of installing vtk.

    Sebastien> I'm not sure it's gonna happen soon :)

I agree with you.  Here are some thoughts:

   (a) CMake sounds nice but isnt there yet.  The same is true for the
   other suggestions at software-carpentry.  ScCons looks easy and
   nice but I dont know if there is a working implementation.

   (b) It is a far larger task to make changes that completely
   revolutionizes the way VTK is built.  This will take quite a long
   while.

   (c) What I had suggested is very doable, simplifies life for
   installations on any of the unices (and ofcourse simplifies package
   building).  As indicated in my earlier mail the ideas are
   relatively concrete - add simple shell scripts here and there and
   add hooks to the make files.  This will in all probabilty not
   affect the current functionality of VTK.

   (d) I dont know how the pcmaker thing works, so I really cannot
   comment on it but as I see it the pcmaker stuff is kind of
   independent.  It has a directory all to itself with things like
   tk82.lib and other executables.  So is it not possible to make a
   nice auto compile utility (using scripts) for Windows.  Just as an
   rpm requires a spec file there must be some equivalent for Windows,
   no?  Of course, I dont know how the MAC, plan9, amiga, BeOS or any
   other OS handles building...

So I ask the question again.  Should I go ahead and add my
improvements and send them to someone for approval?  Please let me
know.

<snip>

Thanks Sebastien for the information on build utilities.  It was
useful.  Would you mind if your doxygen conversio scripts were added
to the VTK source tree?

prabhu