MythTV HowTo (was: Re: [mythtv-users] Re: MythTV : Little Sleep, Lots Of Reading... | Failed.)

[Isaac Richards]

On Monday 09 June 2003 12:08 pm, Ray Olszewski wrote:
> His response to me was *correct* in that the HowTo discusses a specific
> version or LIRC, and this name change appears in a newer version. But while
> correct,  the response is not *helpful* to Debian-Sid users ... since the
> current version of LIRC in Debian-Sid is that newer version. A
> Debian-Sid-specific complement to the HowTo is needed to address details
> that Robert knows about but specifically declines to add to the HowTo (this
> is just one example; my past postings here have identified many others).

So write an entire section for users of Debian unstable, and submit it, don't 
just say 'the docs should say X for users of Y'.  Keep in mind that once you 
do that, you'd be expected to update things regularly for the (very) moving 
target that is unstable.

> In general, rigidity with respect to adding distro-specific information
> into the HowTo is what prompts people to write distro-specific supplements
> to the HowTo. Not being a Red Hat user, I do not know the extent to which
> Jared's notes address these kinds of distro-specific questions that Robert
> is reluctant to add to the HowTo ... but do know that last week's exchanges
> have completed the process of discouraging me from offering any more
> suggestions about or updates to the "official" HowTo.

I think it's best to keep information in the docs about actually released 
software.  If you're going to use CVS versions of software (for whatever 
reason), you're doing so at your own risk.  Things may change again in later 
versions of their CVS tree, for example.

> Isaac, the "official" HowTo can quite reasonably be limited to information
> about how to install Myth from "official" sources (including getting other
> required software from their "official" sources rather than distro
> packages). In that case, you should expect, even desire, to see
> distro-specific supplements, particularly ones geared to the idiosyncracies
> of prepackaged versions for the distros. (Another example would be the
> Debian-Sid packages moving ./setup to /usr/bin/mythtv-setup .) I even
> recall a posting, by you or Robert (I forget which) that explicitly said
> that documentation for distro-specific pre-packages of Myth should be the
> responsibility of the packager, not Myth.

That was for the packages.  Binary package should include instructions for 
anything that's changed from the official sources.  The Debian packages do 
this.  This does not have anything to do with distro-specific source based 
install instructions, which should be in the howto.

Isaac