[rt-users] Documentation for installing extensions

[Jo Rhett]

On Dec 15, 2014, at 2:20 PM, Alex Vandiver <alexmv at bestpractical.com> wrote:
> I was not trying to argue that we cannot make this simpler for new users
> -- I agree that we can, and should.  I was primarily addressing what
> seemed to be your belief that most CPAN modules could be installed via
> copying a single file, or that this was a widely documented custom for
> CPAN modules.

Again, back to “you must be a perl hacker to use RT”.  My entire point is that installation instructions can and should be self-sufficient, without requiring a person to utilize “common knowledge” of something they might not be experts in.

> I hear you that modules in other languages are often more
> straightforward to install than Perl's -- and that while our bar for
> installation is currently set at the same as Perl's, that is not to say
> that we cannot do better.

Take a look at the published usage charts for the Perl language and decide if you want RT to have the same (plummeting) trajectory.

> I don't disagree that plugin installation could be made better, and it's
> an area we'd like to improve on.  Where you've made actionable
> suggestions, I believe we've responded to the best of our ability.  The
> larger-scale changes necessary to make plugins be one-click installs
> cannot, obviously, appear overnight.

Puppet modules are not one-click installations. In fact, I can’t think of any extensions outside of web browser extensions which are even a few clicks. This is not what I have said.

I have suggested that the installation instructions should be self-standing and complete. This is a significantly easier task.

> Where did you find you needed to add -I /opt/rt4/lib 


Perhaps phrased more straightforward — what about your installation places /opt/rt4/lib in @INC ? Without that, it cannot find the RT-specific paths and makefile creation fails.

I suspect you’ve got this in your path because RT is your job. That’s not true of a normal person. You shouldn’t test in your RT dev setup.

-- 
Jo Rhett
+1 (415) 999-1798
Skype: jorhett
Net Consonance : net philanthropy to improve open source and internet projects.