[Chicken-hackers] Re: [Chicken-users] eliminate the Chicken Windows binary distribution?

[Brandon J. Van Every]

John Cowan wrote:
> As I laid it out on chicken-hackers, there are four groups of potential
> users:
>
> 1) Those who will only install binary packages.
>
> 2) Those who will install source with the
> fetch-unpack-configure-make-install sequence.
>
> 3) Those who will install source even if they have to adjust the makefile
> or even the source code a bit.  (This is me.)
>
> 4) Those who will install source even if there is no makefile.
>
> The question is, how many of these groups are we willing to cut off?
> I suspect that the answer is different on Windows than on Unix.
>
>   


We already handle 2) 3) and 4) exceedingly well.  They aren't under 
discussion.  Only 1) is.

Of 1), there are 3 subcategories:

1a) people who notice that only C:\Program Files\Chicken can be used, 
and who don't mind
1b) people who notice that only C:\Program Files\Chicken can be used, 
and who take grave exception
1c) people who don't notice anything is amiss, because they have a C:\ 
drive and don't tend to customize anything

I'm a 1b) myself.  If I saw a binary requiring this, I'd conclude that 
it's junk.  I wouldn't evaluate it any further, I'd move on to the next 
boutique programming language.  My impulse isn't to play with stuff and 
work around the kinks so I can "have some fun."  My impulse is to find 
production tools that actually work and are well supported.  Red flags 
about support, cause me to dismiss projects.

Requiring a source build wouldn't cause me to dismiss a project, because 
I'm a DIY open source developer.  I presume that's the demographic 
Chicken is actually capable of reaching.  I don't think it's ready to 
address any other demographic yet.


Cheers,
Brandon Van Every