Re: Building 22.1, on Ubuntu

[Richard G Riley]

David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> writes:

> Richard G Riley <rileyrgdev@googlemail.com> writes:
>
>> David Kastrup <dak@gnu.org> writes:
>>
>>> If you are going to compile Emacs yourself, you better read the
>>> instructions for doing so.  If you don't see that you understand
>>> them or don't want to invest the time until you do, it would likely
>>> be easier if you just installed a precompiled version of Emacs 22.1
>>> from Gutsy instead.
>>
>> Because you can do it, doesn't mean that others, with less
>> experience and/or ability, can.
>
> Experience is not something magically bestowed onto you.  It is
> something you have to acquire.

Yes. And sometimes that experience is passed on by word of mouth and or
help groups like this. Some people need the INSTALL file described in a
different way. It's why help groups exist. Almost everything asked here
has been asked before and could probably be solved via google.

>
>> I concur that trying to build Emacs on Ubuntu is not for the faint
>> hearted or those with limited build environment experience.
>
> This has nothing to do with Emacs.  In fact, Emacs is pretty much at
> the top of the painlessness scale when it comes to configuring and
> compiling a graphical multi-platform application.

No one suggested otherwise. But it's not too extreme to consider that
there may be people here familiar with the processes involved. Often
people need a helping pointer and not just an RTFM - there is a lot of
information out there and sometimes it is hard to see the wood for the
trees. I sympathize with your point of view to a degree, but it's always
worth, IMO, stepping back and putting yourself into the shoes of the
person asking for help. It is very simple - if it really were so easy or
so self evident, then why do so many people ask the same things?

> In fact, the main complaint people have with the build procedure
> appears to be that it _still_ builds something useful even in severely
> limited build environments.

I haven't see that complaint, I must admit.