[Mailman-Developers] mailman installation error

[Ron Jarrell]

At 01:34 PM 11/6/00 -0800, you wrote:


>Ron Jarrell wrote:
>> 
>> At 10:35 AM 11/4/00 -0500, Barry A. Warsaw wrote:
>> 
>> >>>>>> "mt" == mike tran <mtran@bmedesign.com> writes:
>> >
>> >    mt> After I did ./configure --with-cgi-gid=nobody
>> >    mt> --with-mail-gid=mailman and make install.  Then I ran
>> >    mt> check_perms.  It keep telling me that it cannot find the
>> >    mt> module "paths" in line 19 of check_perms.  Any suggestions is
>> >    mt> appricated.  I am using RH 6.2 and the latest Apache with
>> >    mt> python 1.5.2
>> >
>> >Look in /home/mailman/bin.  If there's no paths.py file in there, your
>> >installation failed somehow.
>> 
>> Actually, this probably is a doc problem.  I've dealt with this several times on
>> the users list, and in all but one case (where their python was hosed) it was
>> people not clearly following the directions.  They're supposed to install,
>> then run check_perms out of ~mailman/bin.  Where there's a paths.py(c).
>> 
>> However, what confuses a lot of people who only skim, is that in
>> ${srcdir}/mailman/bin there's a check_perms.  (The distribution copy).
>> Which, of course, doesn't have a paths.py installed yet, and thus, doesn't
>> work, but looks like it ought to, particularly to a complete newcomer who
>> doesn't understand how things go together.  (Heck, it took *me* a couple of
>> days to figure out whatinhell they were doing wrong.)
>> 
>> There probably needs to be a mention in the install file to *not* run check_perms
>> until *after* you install, and to run it from the *installed* base.  Or rename the
>> install copy to check_perms.dist, and install it as check_perms...
>
>It's hard to imagine how to make this more clear, though; it *is* step 3, which
>is numbered, and after the "make install" step, and it *does* say 
>
>    - cd to $prefix
>
>    - Run bin/check_perms
>
>I mean, the next thing is to add things around that point saying "no, really, we really
>mean exactly what we say here, and not what you think you're reading, so read this
>carefully, please.." but you'd think that would be obvious from the INSTALL file
>being the one concise thing you have to read and follow to install Mailman...

Yea, I know.  *I* didn't have have any problems following it the first time, back when
I thought python was a big assed snake :-).  But given the number of people who've
I've talked to that *this* was the problem (it's up to about 10 now) there must be a
huge number out there scratching their heads going "this software sucks".  These are
likely the same people who use the blowdryer in the tub, cause the tag said something
about "use blowdryer" and "near water"... :-)