Greetings, Michael DePaulo! >>>> >>>> This release removes the cache database generation from the postinstall >>>> step >>>> due to its often excessive length. Users will need to manage the >>>> database >>>> themselves with mandb(1) in order to use whatis/apropos(1). >>> >>> >>> IMHO, this sounds like a serious decrease in Cygwin's usability. >>> >>> How do Linux distributions handle this? Linux distros install many >>> more packages by default, so doesn't their cache database generation >>> typically take much longer? >> >> >> Exactly why they don't seem to do it during postinstall either. For >> example, in Fedora this is handled by a cron job. A future release may add >> that functionality, but it is clear that postinstall is the wrong place for >> it.
> I disagree, but I need to read more about the subject in order to have > a well-informed opinion. The TL;DR version of the issue is that compilation of database is slow and prone to fail, plus the database should be re-indexed each time a page is added, removed or changed. If Cygwin do this only at man-db postinstall, the database WILL go out of reality pretty soon. >>> Also, should documentation (or perhaps the info a user sees when they >>> start Cygwin for the 1st time) be updated? >> >> >> How so? >> >> Yaakov > Consider the example of where I work. After I install the corporate IT > department's SCCM "package"/"script" for Cygwin (1.7.16, last updated > August 2012), I am greeted by this message every time I start the > Cygwin Terminal: > ---- > Your group is currently "mkpasswd". This indicates that your > gid is not in /etc/group and your uid is not in /etc/passwd. This is about to change in a short while. > I am not suggesting that users see a mandb message every time they > launch cygwin. This could be resolved in a more graceful way. I.e. motd/fortune/etc. > But I am suggesting that that users see it when they > 1st launch cygwin. They already see this message: > ---- > Copying skeleton files. > These files are for the users to personalise their cygwin experience. > They will never be overwritten nor automatically updated. Users will only see this message, if the $HOME directory is created anew. I, for one, do not see a reason to keep Cygwin users' $HOMEs separate from a system %USERPROFILE%. > Also, users who are particularly reliant on the apropos command > probably don't know about running the mandb command. It's analogous to > users launching the Windows "Help and Support" Center, but its search > bar returning 0 results they haven't run another utility 1st. That's an issue worth resolving. We just need to find a way to do it in a non-abusive fashion. -- WBR, Andrey Repin (anrdae...@yandex.ru) 16.08.2014, <03:57> Sorry for my terrible english... -- Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/ Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple
