RE: Packaging Question - Include Source in Binary Distributions?

[Iraklis Kourtidis <ik...@covia.com>]

Hi Craig,

IMHO the source code is useful, at least in the following circumstances:

1) some weird error occurs (because a struts user writes bad code), and the
line numbers for a file are given. Sometimes looking at the source helps
understand what the heck is going on in your own code and how to fix it.
2) The source for the struts-example sample application (although not part
of the source code you're likely talking about) was to me the most useful
resource in understanding Struts. Any other example I found on the web was
highly confusing and/or incomplete (including the 'resources' section of the
Jakarta Struts  home page.)

In either case though, as long as the code is still downloadable there won't
be any problem.

my 2 cents,
Iraklis

-----Original Message-----
From: Craig R. McClanahan [mailto:craigmcc@apache.org]
Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 3:31 PM
To: struts-dev@jakarta.apache.org; struts-user@jakarta.apache.org
Subject: Packaging Question - Include Source in Binary Distributions?


As we move towards a 1.0 release of Struts (really!  :-), one of the
things I am cleaning up is the way that binary distributions are
packaged.  Currently, we follow the typical Jakarta pattern of including
the source code for Struts in the binary distribution (in the "etc",
"src", and "web" directories), as well as in a separate download.

My question is, do people find the fact that the binary distribution
includes source code useful, or would it be OK to just point you at the
download URL for the source distribution if you want it?  For recent
builds, this would cut the size of the binary distribution by about one
third.

I'm fine with doing it either way, but wanted to get some feedback from
the community before making a final decision.

Craig