Date: Thu, 6 Dec 2001 12:46:27 -0500 From: Michael Lucas <mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org> To: Doug Poland <doug@polands.org> Cc: stable@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: OpenOffice for FreeBSD Message-ID: <20011206124627.A4986@blackhelicopters.org> In-Reply-To: <20011206112833.A9824@polands.org>; from doug@polands.org on Thu, Dec 06, 2001 at 11:28:33AM -0600 References: <4.2.2.20011124073531.00a63b30@mailhost.dcfinc.com> <3C02BB76.8030209@umc.com.ua> <20011126222200.A9228@freeway.dcfinc.com> <20011206090544.A45277@hub.freebsd.org> <20011206112833.A9824@polands.org>
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On Thu, Dec 06, 2001 at 11:28:33AM -0600, Doug Poland wrote: > Is there anything the under-informed can do to help? Or is this > the exclusive domain of those rare linux/BSD gods we ports users > are so dependent on? There are always things people can do. They usually involve becoming informed, however. For a project like fixing OpenOffice, you could look forward to becoming *very* informed. In this case, you'd have to get OpenOffice source on your system. Try to build it. See what breaks. Track down the Linux-isms and genericize them. There's lots of examples in the ports tree of fixing this sort of stuff. Use the mailing list archives to help track down types of build problems. Post a pointer to a Web page containing your current status, and a tarball of patches. Post a status update every few weeks, so people know that you're making progress. Submit your corrections back to openoffice.org, so they make it back into the main build tree. You want to correct this problem as close to the source as possible, after all! Once you start to accumulate patches, and it becomes very obvious that you are actually making progress, you will find other people pitching in to help you. Your questions will get better answers. Depending on where you're are, and where you want to go, this might lead to you being better informed than you want to be. Case in point: I started writing FAQs a few months ago, and submitting them via send-pr. I now have a reputation as being someone who actually documents these things. When I email a question to a developer, they generally take the time to answer me. They know that the effort isn't wasted. I have cred, and I've become better informed as a result. It really isn't a matter of helping, it's a matter of doing. I started fixing Makefiles with only a few months of UNIX experience -- in fact, fixing Makefiles is a good way to understand your system. It can be done, it's just tedious, painful, and annoying. Your call. If you succeed, glory and praises will be heaped upon your name. If you fail, perhaps someone else will pick up on your patches and finish the fight. ==ml -- Michael Lucas mwlucas@FreeBSD.org, mwlucas@blackhelicopters.org http://www.blackhelicopters.org/~mwlucas/ Big Scary Daemons: http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/q/Big_Scary_Daemons To Unsubscribe: send mail to majordomo@FreeBSD.org with "unsubscribe freebsd-stable" in the body of the message
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