[GRASSLIST:3655] Re: pre-compiled grass0pre4 with PostgreSQL, MESA, R...?

[Glynn Clements]

pa paras wrote:

> Hi all. I've noticed many people (including myself)
> are running into difficulties trying to get a running
> version of GRASS with the PostSQL, MESA..., libraries
> installed.

> I hope this is not a stupid suggestion but
> I was wondering if it would be a good idea
> to release a pre-compiled grass package including all
> the common libraries (e.g. PostSQL, MESA, R, ...).

It's not a stupid suggestion, in the sense that it isn't obvious that
it's not a good idea; until you actually try to do it.

The main problem is that most of the libraries which GRASS uses are
already supplied with all of the common Linux distributions. If we
supplied our own versions, some of the time it would result in
conflicts, possibly causing existing software to cease to function.

Another problem is the amount of work involved in producing
pre-compiled libraries for all of the popular distributions (we would
typically need to support two major versions of each distribution,
e.g. both RedHat 6.x and RedHat 7.x).

-- 
Glynn Clements <glynn.clements at virgin.net>