[PyKDE] Re: I Wish To Register A Complain

[Jim Bublitz]

On 09-May-02 Phil Thompson <phil at river-bank.demon.co.uk> wrote:
 
> So, why don't users want to test pre-releases and release
> candidates?

> I'd like some feedback on this problem - what would motivate you
> as a user to test a beta version with your application?

Perhaps one reason holding people back is that they may have
applications in development or in use that are PyQt based and
they're reluctant to swap a stable version with a (possibly)
unstable version. It isn't simple to have two versions of sip/PyQt
running simultaneously on a system, but it's very easy to switch
between versions (especially if you *don't* do a 'make clean' after
installing so no recompile is necessary). Do the Makefiles support
an easy uninstall of the current version (without requiring a later
recompile)? If not, could you either modify the Makefiles or provide
a simple Python script to do that? Reinstall is just a simple 'make
install'. That would allow people to switch easily between stable
older versions and pre- or rc versions.

At present, everything is in python/site-packages (usually) for the
sip runtime and PyQt. The new version of PyKDE will require
replacing the sip executable as well (usually in /usr/bin or
/usr/local/bin I would guess). If users want to do this on their
own, it's not hard to put together a Python script to do it. Don't
know what's involved with doing this on Windows.

The other thing that might be helpful is if people could contribute
test code for various pieces of PyQt (and PyKDE too). For example,
most of the people who submit bugs to the list already do an
excellent job of isolating problems and writing small test scripts.
If those could be cleaned up and submitted we could eventually
build up a test suite that reflects how users are applying
PyQt/PyKDE. I tend to test more for development related problems
rather than real application stuff. People can also just pick a
class or group of classes and write test code for as many methods
as possible. I don't know if Phil has the time to collect this
stuff. I don't really have the time and in addition I don't have a
Windows based machine, but if no one volunteers to co-ordinate this
(hint, hint), I'll accept submissions and try to put something
together.

I suspect most people wouldn't believe how much time goes into
these projects already, so in my case, while I would love to see a
comprehensive test suite for PyKDE, it probably won't happen any
time soon. OTOH, to contribute in this area, you don't need to
understand anything about sip or very much about C++. If you can
write Python code that works (or hopefully breaks in this case)
that's all that's required. Phil or I (mostly Phil) can take care
of the underlying problems if we're aware they exist.

Alternatively, you can develop your own test suite for things that
are important in your apps, and simply test each new release and
report bugs, or use your app as a test suite. Knowing the amount of
testing that goes into a PyKDE release, PyKDE users would be wise
to do this anyway.

I've been guilty of not keeping up with the current sip versions,
so I need to clean up my act too.


Jim