In message <199603092132(_dot_)NAA15827(_at_)newt(_dot_)com>, you wrote:
"Ronald F. Guilmette" <rfg(_at_)monkeys(_dot_)com> writes:
The general idea/trend of unbundling components annoys me however. I hate
to have to scrounge for things that should have been included in the same
distribution with package XXX (where XXX is anything useful you might get
off the net).
The example you gave was of something that was necessary to build
the software. Agreed, this is annoying.
We are not (I don't think) proposing to remove anything vital to
building MH, rather just the optional add-ons which makes your life
easier. Furthermore, the less directory is a great example of
something that is totally expendable--most systems already come with
a pager. Ditto for the mh-e--GNU Emacs already comes with mh-e.
Agreed.
Telling where to get these things is a fine compromise. Ftping
software isn't a hassle, finding the ftp site with the latest and
greatest, non-locally-hacked, version is.
Agreed. The biggest hassle factor is often just _finding_ the latest
``official'' release of various packages.
(I wish I had a dollar for each time I'd seen someone post to one of
the GNU newsgroups or to one of the *.sources.* newgroups that ``The
latest release of package XXX is now available!'' and then they don't
even tell you where! Jeeeesh! Eye caruuuuumba!)
-- Ron Guilmette, Roseville, CA -------- Infinite Monkeys & Co. ------------
---- E-mail: rfg(_at_)monkeys(_dot_)com ----------- Purveyors of Compiler Test
Suites -
------ Copyright (c) 1996 by Ronald F. Guilmette; All rights reserved. -----