[asdf-devel] [Bug 769634] Re: cl file types on asdf2.014.6, SBCL 1.0.29.11.debian and Is there a tutorial for asdf?

[Robert Goldman]

On 5/13/11 May 13 -3:56 PM, Ernst van Waning wrote:
> Dear Fare, Robert,

I am moving this out of the ticket, because it's a general matter of
ASDF discussion now, especially since this ticket is fixed....

[I /hope/ this reaches Ernst, but I actually do not have his email
address, and I have no way of knowing if he's subscribed to asdf-devel...]
> 
> Thank you very much for your work.  Version 2.15 is downloaded and I
> intend to use it.
> 
> Please regard what I write below in a positive way.  To get up to speed
> with asdf2, I would like to read a tutorial.  Is there one?  If not, can
> I help write one?  
> 
> As I have Allegro and SBCL now, I would like to get asdf to place and
> find the respective FASLs in directories for Allegro resp. SBCL.  From
> the documentation
> (http://common-lisp.net/project/asdf/asdf.html#Controlling-where-ASDF-saves-compiled-files)
> I see that this should be possible.  After having read the entire
> document several times over the last few weeks, I still have no clear
> ideas about how to do this.  With due respect, it feels like the
> documents I write about my own work :-)  When I write about my own work,
> I am too deeply involved to write tutorials about it.
> 
> So, if there is a tutorial explaining how to start using asdf
> effectively, please point me to it; if not I am willing to help you
> write it.  It is hard for me to imagine I am the only one having
> difficulties here.
> 
> If asdf is (to be) the de-facto standard for defining systems in CL, a
> tutorial will help the CL-community understand and use asdf and perhaps
> even use CL-software written by others.  I might refer you to recent
> discussions on c.l.l. about curses of Lisp: imHo, Lisp is far from
> cursed, but needs more accessible documentation.  If that is not there,
> then we will find tricks or roll our own, which is not desirable if we
> want to be a prosperous community.

I would be reluctant to see us spawn YA document.  Instead, I would
rather see the manual get fixed.  I confess that I myself do not
actually know how to do this:  I am a longtime user of Gary King's
ASDF-BINARY-LOCATIONS (as are my colleagues at work), and I have simply
happily moved to

(asdf:enable-asdf-binary-locations-compatibility
   :centralize-lisp-binaries nil)

and all is well.

So I'm not the right person to write such a tutorial.  That said, if you
were to provide corrections/extensions to this part of the manual, or a
stand-alone FAQ, I would be more than happy to fold that material into
the manual.

Question: if you aren't fussy about /where/ the binaries go, isn't it
enough to simply let ASDF start up, and it will keep your binaries
apart, using the output-locations as configured out of the box?  I am
more used to people having the problem of needing to /disable/ these
translations, or use a-b-l compatibility, than people having trouble
with the built-in code.

best,
r