Re: GPS doesn't work in GNAT GPL

[Ada novice <shai.lesh@gmx.com>]

On Tuesday, September 18, 2012 8:41:01 AM UTC+1, Ludovic Brenta wrote:

 
> No but I do and I also fix other packages whenever I can.  The other
> 
> package maintainers too.

Gnat GPL can have more than one version a year and only the latest version of that year is kept on the website. Is there communication between you and Ada Core on which bugs you are fixing or which bugs they are fixing? How does it work? Gnat GPL is maintained by a large team I "suppose" while Debian Gnat is maintained by only you. As you can see, it may not be straightforward to go for Debian Gnat who is only maintained by one person. How much difference is there between Gnat GPL and Debian Ada?

 
> 
> I don't know about this problem; I don't run VirtualBox and don't
> 
> intend to.
> 

Yes I said that I was vague in the problem description as I removed the Debian Ada and did not keep track of the error message at start. But it might be simply due to some files missing in the Debian derivatives distro. When I will have time and internet connection to install Debian Ada again, I shall let you know the exact error message. 

I started to learn Linux via the Virtual Box and intend to continue with it till I can afford a separate computer to have Linux on the native hardware itself.

>  
> 
> > I have Linux mint Debian and Crunchbang Linux in two Virtual Boxes
> 
> > and I did not have any problems with screen resolutions. As they are
> 
> > both direct derivatives of Debian, so why not use them?
> 
> 
> 
> Because, by definition, they will always lag behind Debian and because
> 
> there is a possibility that they introduce new bugs; this has happened
> 
> in the past in other derivatives.  The Debian maintainers for Ada
> 
> expend great effort to ensure that all packages work well together;
> 
> derivatives take a snapshot of Debian at an arbitrary time, which may
> 
> break this compatibility (this has also happened in the past).
> 

The repositories of the derivatives such as Crunchbang and Linux mint can be changed as well. One can pick the stable, testing or unstable Debian. So there should theoretically not be any discrepancies between the parent Debian and the derivatives. I am only guessing here as I am new to Linux!
 
 
> Because derivatives don't have dedicated Ada maintainers, so if you
> 
> ever report a bug to a derivative, chances are nobody will ever look
> 
> at it.

This can be true. Crunchbang is reputed to have an active community though I never participated in it.


> 
> GNAT GPL Edition is great if you agree to recompiling most everything
> 
> from scratch with every installation.  You'll know what I mean when
> 
> you try GtkAda or AWS, when you want to run your executable built
> 
> with GNAT GPL Edition on another machine and when you upgrade your
> 
> GNAT GPL Edition to a newer version.
> 

I install the Gnat GPL year-wise in folders like /usr/local/gnat-year. I can easily remove the complete directory as well. So upgrading Gnat is not a problem to the best of my knowledge. I do not work currently with GtkAda or AWS but for other people who do, then perhaps the packaged Debian Ada is the way to go.


YC