On Fri, Aug 15, 2014 at 8:05 PM, Andrey Repin <anrdae...@yandex.ru> wrote: > 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.
Understood. I was thinking that the db was generated every time you updated or installed packages. That's how Debian and its derivatives do keep it up-to-date. (Actually, they only run mandb if 1 or more of the updated/installed packages have manpage. It's handled by their "dpkg trigger" feature.) Reference: http://askubuntu.com/questions/178773/is-there-a-way-to-see-what-exactly-the-processing-triggers-does-per-package-ba >>>> 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... > Thanks, I have a much better understanding of the situation now. I agree that there is no simple solution. -Mike -- 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
