paf@uts.amdahl.com (Paul A. Fronberg) (05/15/89)
In regards to patch frequency, what about News 2.11 or Pearl. There are now 17 patches for 2.11 and I forget how many came out originally for pearl. Patch, itself, is up to 8. There are two major problems that I see with comp.sources/comp.misc and official patches. One is that the patches may not be posted in a commonly read newsgroup. As an example, the sources for 2.11 were posted in mod.sources (comp.sources?) and the official patches appear in news.software.b. It was by pure accident that I even saw the news patches and found where to look for them. This is probably the extreme case, but I am sure that other cases may be found (elm). I claim that all offical patches should be issued through the moderated source group that the program was originally posted. This would allow easier administration of fixes and put them in a known group. The second problem is that with certain critical programs (news, patch) it probably makes sense, at some point, to do a repost with all the patches applied. With news 2.11, I found that I had to upgrade the patch program to apply som patches. Also, I had to get a patch that I'd missed due to system problems and had one arrive slightly mangled. Perhaps certain programs should be periodically posted once a quarter or once a year just to ensure that the community has up to date versions. News and patch would be prime canidates. As an aside, I wonder what the average net patch level for news is, or the patch program? Are there still sites using 2.10.* ?
stever@videovax.tv.Tek.com (Steven E. Rice, P.E.) (05/16/89)
In article <bahx024m26XB01@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, Paul A. Fronberg (paf@uts.amdahl.com) writes: > In regards to patch frequency, what about News 2.11 or Pearl. There are now > 17 patches for 2.11 and I forget how many came out originally for pearl. > Patch, itself, is up to 8. ^ | Well, yes, Patch is up to 8. In fact, it is at least up to 12, because that is the latest patch I have: > From: lwall@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) > Newsgroups: comp.sources.bugs > Subject: Re: patch 2.0 patch #12 > Message-ID: <2313@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV> > Date: 23 Jun 88 18:52:14 GMT > References: <583@hscfvax.harvard.edu> > Reply-To: lwall@devvax.JPL.NASA.GOV (Larry Wall) > Organization: Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, CA. > Lines: 298 [ deletions ] > System: patch version 2.0 > Patch #: 12 > Priority: LOW > Subject: some faulty declarations > > Description: > Certain systems were producing compilation errors and warnings due > to some faulty declarations. > > Fix: From rn, say "| patch -p -N -d DIR", where DIR is your patch source > directory. Outside of rn, say "cd DIR; patch -p -N <thisarticle". [ etc. ] At least, keeping up with changes to Larry's programs is fairly easy. The following comes from the patch file quoted above: If you are missing previous patches they can be obtained from me: Larry Wall lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov If you send a mail message of the following form it will greatly speed processing: Subject: Command @SH mailpatch PATH patch 2.0 LIST ^ note the c where PATH is a return path FROM ME TO YOU in Internet notation, and LIST is the number of one or more patches you need, separated by spaces, commas, and/or hyphens. Saying 35- says everything from 35 to the end. You can also get the patches via anonymous FTP from jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov (128.149.8.43). To get the updates from your current patch level of 8, send a message of the following form: To: lwall@jpl-devvax.jpl.nasa.gov From: blurfle@foo.com Subject: Command @SH mailpatch blurfle@foo.com patch 2.0 9- This procedure has worked for me in the not-too-distant past. I cannot vouch that it is functioning this very minute, because I sent in two requests last Saturday that I have not yet received replies to. Try it, though. Steve Rice ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord! * new: stever@videovax.tv.Tek.com [phone (503) 627-1320] old: {decvax | hplabs | uunet | uw-beaver}!tektronix!videovax!stever