From: Junio C Hamano <gitster@pobox.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Nov 2009 06:48:52 GMT
Subject: Re: [PATCH v2 6/6] INSTALL: document a simpler way to run uninstalled builds
Message-ID: <7vaay41p9n.fsf@alter.siamese.dyndns.org>
In-Reply-To: <1259561971-25730-7-git-send-email-mmogilvi_git@miniinfo.net>

Matthew Ogilvie <mmogilvi_git@miniinfo.net> writes:

> diff --git a/INSTALL b/INSTALL
> index be504c9..ee718c6 100644
> --- a/INSTALL
> +++ b/INSTALL
> @@ -39,7 +39,19 @@ Issues of note:
>     with --disable-transition option to avoid this.
>  
>   - You can use git after building but without installing if you
> -   wanted to.  Various git commands need to find other git
> +   want to.
> +
> +   The simplest option for running some manual tests of a build
> +   before installing it is to use the wrapper scripts that are built
> +   and saved into `pwd`/bin-wrappers.  Either invoke the scripts in
> +   bin-wrappers using their full paths, put bin-wrappers in your
> +   PATH, or copy/symlink just the bin-wrappers scripts into somewhere
> +   already in your PATH.  But this option is slightly inefficient,
> +   so for a more permanent solution we recommend either installing
> +   git (you can set a prefix to install right next to your
> +   build directory), or use the alternative below.

Drop "simplest" and "slightly".

I think you forgot to mention an important improvement you made since the
earlier iteration on the wrap-for-bin script in the cover letter.  With
the new wrap-for-bin, we do not have to worry about the case a random
binary in the directory is run without first adding anything to user's
$PATH anymore, no?

With that change, this round's implementation deserves to be recommended
as the new preferred way to run "use after building without installing", I
think.  So how about making the text like this?

    You can use git after building but without installing if you want to
    test drive it.  Simply run git found in bin-wrappers directory in the
    build directory, or prepend that directory to your $PATH.  This
    however is less efficient than running an installed git, as you always
    need an extra fork+exec to run any git subcommand.

    It is still possible to use git without installing by setting a few
    environment variables, which was the way this was done traditionally.
    But using git found in bin-wrappers directory in the build directory
    is far simpler.  Just for a historical reference, the old way went
    like this:

	GIT_EXEC_PATH=`pwd`
	PATH=`pwd`:$PATH
	GITPERLLIB=`pwd`/perl/blib/lib
	export GIT_EXEC_PATH PATH GITPERLLIB