Re: Hmm. Why no binaries?

[Michal Kolodziejczyk <miko@...>]

On 13.09.2011 21:24, Stefan Reich wrote:
> Well, since I wrote the letter, I guess I might explain why I did that.
> 
> It's about LuaJIT.org. I'd like to see binaries there. Because
> binaries are simple and reliable and sources are a hassle and
> unreliable.

I would argue that it is exactly the other way around. Given you have
the right environment, all you need to do is to "click" or type the
package name, and it will be got, compiled (from the sources) and
installed on your system.
For example, in my archlinux the process looks like this:

$ yaour install luajit2

It can not be simpler, and what I get is a binary build for my type of
processor, my set of libraries (currently installed on the system) and
my list of features (like stripping binary files, documentation etc),
and the dependencies are automatically found and installed.
Every single package in linux can be (re)compiled this way if I want to.

If I had to install binaries, I would need to keep the libraries
versions compatible with those of the packager's system, because
upgrading my libraries could make luajit unstable (for juajit it is not
big problem, because it has almost no dependencies).

So what you are really looking for, is either a system with "developer
environment", which can compile it for you, or a "binary distribution"
of your system with all packages compiled with the same compiler, the
same set of libraries, the same compiler settings etc.

OTOH, having binaries of luajit compiled by the author (with great
chance of different platform/compiler/setting/libraries on his system)
would make this binary work unstable (or not working at all) on your
system, which in turn increases number of support request/complaints to
the developer, frustrating him (because it is not his fault, and he
cannot create different binaries for every user).

So, either install tools which would allow you to comiple it seamlessly
from the sources, or look for a binary distribution dedicated for your
platform with everything included. But please avoid installing random
*.exe and *.dll files found on the internet - they will most probably
not play nice together.

Regards,
miko

PS. I know that this is a developer point of view, which is far from
(mostly Windows/MacOS) user point of view. But the single developer
cannot afford supporting every user like Microsoft/Apple can (if they
do, anyways).