RC1 compile/link error

[purslow at sympatico.ca]

041115 Randy Chung wrote:
> As both the person who edited the release notes
> and someone who's put in a lot of time trying to make it possible
> to build 4.0.6 and 4.2 side by side, here are some things you should know:
> 1) A lot of time has been put in trying
> to get both 4.0 and 4.2 installed side by side;
> I've spent a lot of time working with the configure scripts
> and the autoconf/automake toolchain, and I assure you, it's not easy to do
> in fact, there were reports from one of the libtool devs(?)
> that libtool was broken in one very specific instance,
> which happens to be the instance at hand here

if the problem is Libtool, then that should be said prominently
on the Xfce WWW site & users will be warned not to expect much.
look what it says under 'Documentation -> Installation Guide':
all is light & no problems are to be expected ...

nor is there anything to warn users
that 4.0.6 & 4.1.x may not work if installed simultaneously.
in fact, till last Thursday -- when something non-Xfce intervened --
i was happily using 4.1.91 in /usr/local while 4.0.6 was installed in /usr .
and today, after moving some library items aside,
all of 4.1.99.1 has installed (i omitted mixer, systray & toys).

however, when i try to start it -- after changing the PATH
& moving /usr/lib/pkgconfig items aside & rebooting -- it won't start:
Xfce4-session can't find  libxfsm-4.2.so.0 ,
which of course is not in  /usr/lib , tho' it is in  /usr/local/lib .

i have never encountered this kind of problem with other packages:
eg i have had the Gentoo version of Lynx in /usr
& my own compiled & installed version in  /usr/local .

do other projects perhaps not use Libtool ?  if so, why does Xfce4 use it ?
if they do use it, why do they not have the same problems with versions ?
could you learn something from Gentoo's slots ?

really, you can't expect a user -- naive or thoughtful --
to uninstall a stable working version of Xfce4
in order to install a potentially buggy version of the next release
& if they don't, you won't get the same level of feedback about bugs.
no problem, if the  2  versions can be installed side-by-side.
 
> 2) It's not that we don't want you to report bugs.
> Please understand that this issue has come up before ad nauseum
> and while it may be new to you it's tired and old for us
> (and I haven't even been here that long!)
> Accordingly, we've become rather short on patience.
 
i've been reading & occasionally contributing to this list since c May 2003
& i don't remember seeing any discussion of this issue
except for the rather irritable reactions to my own messages.

if you're getting tired of the problem,
why not give a higher priority to solving it ?
as i said above, other projects don't seem to suffer from it.
there can be no question about the ability of Xfce4 developers
nor about the time & effort they put in, but i do question priorities:
look at all the new bells & whistles being daily debated on this list,
while a fundamental problem has been shunted aside.

> Don't get your feelings hurt; it's not meant to be personal.

no-one on a mailing-list is important enough to get upset about (big smile).

-- 
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