Re: Octave v4.4 in PPA

[Richard Crozier]

On 29/05/18 14:11, Oliver Heimlich wrote:
> Am 29. Mai 2018 14:28:05 MESZ schrieb Richard Crozier <address@hidden>:
> > Dear list,
> >
> > Are there any plans to update the "GNU Octave stable releases" Ubuntu
> > ppa with the latest release (4.4)? I might be able to help with this if
> >
> > there are specific tasks that need done to make this happen.
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Richard
>
> Dear Richard,
>
> I guess that the Ubuntu PPA will be updated after upgrading Octave to version 
> 4.4 in Debian.

really? I thought one of the purposes of an Ubuntu PPA (Personal Package 
Archive) was to make the latest versions of a package available before 
it was packaged officially in a distribution.


> The latter is currently delayed, because several Octave Forge packages are not 
> compatible with Octave 4.4 anymore. There has been some progress lately with 
> new package releases on Octave Forge. IIRC, these haven't been pushed in Debian 
> yet. Also some packages still might need some work to become compatible with 
> Octave 4.4.
>
> Best
> Oliver

For a PPA which users have to actively seek out and install, I think 
there might be less expectation of every forge package working 
correctly. It would be nice to at least have the option to use the 
latest release in a relatively easy way. I'm asking because I have a 
user who wants to use some software I've written which only works in 4.4 
and it's really quite difficult to get 4.4 if you don't build it 
yourself from source, which is non-trivial for the average user.

I also think it's a pity that it's actually easier to get Octave 4.4 for 
Windows than Ubuntu.

Having said all that, I realise there is significant work in maintaining 
a ppa, hence the offer of help if possible.

Richard





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