[Lazarus] Tutorial Compiling/installing FPC and Lazarus from Sources of SVN

[Marcos Douglas]

On Fri, Jul 23, 2010 at 11:34 AM, Juha Manninen <juha.manninen at phnet.fi> wrote:
>
> Marcos Douglas wrote torstai, 22. heinäkuuta 2010 20:09:54:
> > > BTW,
> > > At the moment we have two wiki pages about installing.
> > > Juha has started to clean up / update the 'Getting_Lazarus' page and
> > > put each target onto a page of its own, which IMO is better than
> > > putting every thing onto one page.
> > > Eventually the other page should be removed and there should be only
> > > one left. Preferably it should be renamed to something with install,
> > > installing or installation in its name.
> > > So better put your stuff there.
> >
> > If Juha not finished clean/update yet, IMO is better he terminate first,
> > right? After, he can move this tutorial or talk to me if he prefer...
>
> Please feel free to continue your work.
> I improved the Getting Lazarus page but I am not really happy with the
> results. There are two wiki pages, or three including yours, and a BuildFAQ
> about getting and installing Lazarus and FPC, and then the big FPC manuals.
>
> My purpose was to make something short and concentrated for people (like me)
> who just want to get it done and not read a long detailed manual.
> The task is difficult because there are so many combinations.
> Getting release Lazarus for Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Linux, Redhat lLinux etc...
> Getting svn trunk Lazarus for Windows, Mac, Ubuntu Linux, Redhat lLinux etc.,
> using different SVN clients. Getting those SVN clients. Using those SVN
> clients etc...
> Then there is getting and installing FPC using different methods, which really
> doesn't belong to Getting Lazarus page.

I agree with you.
As I written at the first time in this wiki, I preferred not to change
anything, even if I thought something should be changed.

> The problem with wiki pages is that people add detailed info there but don't
> or can't organize the whole page structure. Like on Getting Lazarus,
> instructions for getting SVN trunk version are pretty simple. Then somebody
> (with good intentions) added long instructions, onto the same page, about how
> to use TortoiseSVN on Windows. Then somebody (again with good intentions)
> added his long Windows CMD scrips to automate tasks. They are not needed for
> most people.
> As a result the page became very long and the relevant information was very
> difficult to find. Other wiki pages have the same problem.

I did. I added 2 Windows CMD scripts to compile FPC and Lazarus. But
are 2 small scripts. They just change PATH and call make. This is more
simple than change PATH in ' Windows System Properties', I think.

> I separated some OS / platform specific sections to their own sub-pages.
> Later I started to think it would be better to make many complete pages each
> for one platform only. They would contain partly duplicated info but it would
> all be relevant to the person who reads the page.
> Like:
>  Getting and installing Lazarus for Windows
>  Getting and installing Lazarus for Mac
>  Getting and installing Lazarus for Linux (maybe separate pages for Ubuntu
> and some other distros)
>
> would cover release and svn versions of Lazarus for only one platform / page.
> And the same thing for FPC:
>
>  Getting and installing FPC for Windows
>  Getting and installing FPC for Mac
>  Getting and installing FPC for Linux
>
> It is important not to pollute the pages with some seldom needed details.
> There can be other comprehensive manuals for that.

I agree. But compiling the source from the SVN can not be so simple
for most people. So I think in this case (using SVN) the information
should be detailed and, if possible, automate tasks using scripts.

> Marcos Douglas: if you have vision and energy you could make a bigger revamp
> with these download/install pages, not just adding one more page there.

I have the energy. But I'm a little time in the community. Is that if
I start changing the documentation, the oldest will give me an earful?
I don't know... but if I have support, I continue.
Another problem is: I think my English is not so good :(

> Regards.
> Juha

Thanks Juha.
MD