discuss: Versioning Issues (Oracle 8i HOWTO)
Subject:
Versioning Issues (Oracle 8i HOWTO)
From:
Stephen Darlington ####@####.####
Date:
16 Jun 2002 17:15:29 -0000
Message-Id: <6586F915-8147-11D6-85BC-0003931E3FF4@zx81.org.uk>
Hi,
I thought I'd open this question "to the floor" as I've been getting a
steady stream of people requesting to update my Oracle 8i for Linux
Installation HOWTO, but it's currently state is deliberate.
There are a number of problems:
1. There are quite a number of versions of Oracle that people are still
trying to install. You'd be surprised how many people are still trying
to install 8.1.5 which is nearly three years old; I even get emails from
people still using 7 and know of at least one company still using Oracle
6 (obviously not on Linux). The Oracle market is much more conservative
than that of Linux and not everyone has the latest and greatest.
What I'm trying to say is: I don't want to write out all the useful
information that is currently in the document, even though much isn't
relevant for R3.
2. There are loads of Linux distributions. Just because my document is
about RedHat 6, it doesn't mean that's what everyone else will try. Even
if you don't recommend using anything else. Distributions vary rather
more than you'd expect and cause lots of little problems that all need
writing down. Again, we need to keep as much *relevant* information as
possible while keeping the document readable and concise.
3. If there were either lots of versions of Oracle *or* lots of versions
of Linux, you might be able to write a single document to cover all the
options. As it is, I don't see how it's possible without littering the
document with "if this.." "otherwise that..." "unless..." It would make
it completely unreadable and useless to almost everyone.
As the HOWTO currently stands, most of the questions I get emailed are
already answered. The document is just too long for a lot of people to
read. Its structure has evolved to help most people most easily. I,
therefore, don't consider more caveats to be a realistic option.
In order to solve these problems, my answer has been to write the HOWTO
about Redhat 6 and Oracle 8.1.5 and have small errata on my website. I
feel that this is a reasonable compromise, however that opinion does not
seem to be universal.
So, does my approach seem reasonable? Or can anyone else think of a
better approach?
Cheers
--> Stephen
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Stephen Darlington (www.zx81.org.uk)
"Never put a sock in a toaster"
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