[PLUG] A pleasant installation surprise

[Art Clemons <artclemons@aol.com>]

Recently, I decided to get the latest version of Calibre, the software 
for handling ebooks and the like.  I like it in part because it usually 
allows reading and/or conversion of electronic publications in almost 
any common format.  It also sadly may enable the breaking of some 
Intellectual Property laws (specifically it can remove DRM from many 
protected formats, making it a likely violator of the DMCA absent fair 
use exceptions).

The pleasant surprise though was that it came in a format that allowed 
compilation in almost every recent version of Linux and it came with its 
own versions of its dependencies too.  Since I normally run Slackware, 
pre-compiled versions of non-distro software are all too often much 
out-dated, and compilation often involves getting an error during 
compilation, then figuring out how and where to get the missing 
libraries or programs.  Calibre though compiled right properly with the 
most recent version, and I remember the last time I compiled Calibre, I 
spent several days dealing with first one compilation error or missing 
dependency and then after dealing with that having to repeat the process 
for the next error.  The lists of requisite software and libraries in 
all too many programs now is not only inaccurate but compilation can 
depend on finding a library or program that cannot be compiled or 
requires first dealing with its requisites, which further delays 
compilation and usage.

I wish most Linux software either followed similar practices or 
alternatively lessened the number and types of dependencies.  All too 
often the dependency is some software that frankly I'll never actually 
need but it's included regardless.

___________________________________________________________________________
Philadelphia Linux Users Group         --        http://www.phillylinux.org
Announcements - http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug-announce
General Discussion  --   http://lists.phillylinux.org/mailman/listinfo/plug