[asdf-devel] Some points raised

[Robert Goldman]

On 9/24/10 Sep 24 -9:07 AM, Pascal J. Bourguignon wrote:
> Robert Goldman <rpgoldman at sift.info>
> writes:
> 
>> On 9/24/10 Sep 24 -3:49 AM, Juan Jose Garcia-Ripoll wrote:
>>> http://groups.google.com/group/comp.lang.lisp/msg/93a4b06a66b0b335
>>>
>>> 1- The new configuration and file searching mechanism is causing some grief.
> 
> As a user, I'll just note that I browsed the manual, didn't understand
> much, and for now I'm just using:
> 
> (asdf:enable-asdf-binary-locations-compatibility
>  :centralize-lisp-binaries     t
>  :default-toplevel-directory   (merge-pathnames (format nil ".cache/common-lisp/~A/" (hostname))
>                                               (user-homedir-pathname) nil)
>  :include-per-user-information nil
>  ;; :map-all-source-files ???
>  :source-to-target-mappings    nil)
> 
> and asdf:*central-registry* until I have time to learn how to do it in
> the new way.
> 
> 
> So I would say that indeed, the documentation could be improved.

This is pretty much the same for me.  I had a workaround for
configuration in ASDF 1:

1.  ASDF-BINARY-LOCATIONS worked for me (decentralized binaries) and

2.  I developed a limited clone of `find` in portable common lisp called
ASD-FINDER that you point at a directory and it returns a list of all
the subdirectories that contain .asd files (and it supports prune).
Then, for each of my projects, I had a configuration function (e.g.,
PROJECT-FOO), which would invoke the ASD-finder to set up
asdf:*central-registry* appropriately for that project.  I would start
up lisp, invoke the project function for the project I was working on at
the moment, and then be ready to go.  I haven't yet determined what's
the appropriate way to replace this for ASDF2, so still use it.

> 
> 
> 
>>> 2- Lack *-user mailing list and need of subscription for questions. Is
>>> there a sufficiently large comunity here and do we want to open the list?
>>
>> With all due respect, opening a list is pretty much never a good idea.
>> It's just asking for spam.  Per my response to the above complainer, I
>> think it would be great if there was a help web site that
>>
>> 1.  Allowed OpenID login --- no need for new accounts
>>
>> 2.  Served up questions to the interested through email digest and RSS.
>>  As a potential question-answerer, I don't have time to log in to such a
>> web site.  I would need to have the questions pushed at me.
>>
>> Is there any such existing software that we could adopt?
> 
> I'm using gmane, and the overhead to subscribe is really minimal: just
> reply to a message gmane sends back the first time you post...

So should we just set up an asdf-help mailing list?