Am 16.02.2005 um 21:55 schrieb Brad Fuller:

> Where does one dnl the correct Linux distribution?
>
>  When going to http://www.squeak.org/download/index.html I am 
> presented with two links
>
>  * The "Master Squeak Unix site" at 
> http://www-sor.inria.fr/~piumarta/squeak/
>   This site lists 3.6 as the stable release and a version of 3.7 
> (3.7b-5 -- I guess that means beta version 5).

This is the developer's site where you get the latest and greatest. 
Recently moved to http://squeak.hpl.hp.com/unix/

>  and
>
>  * ftp://st.cs.uiuc.edu/Smalltalk/Squeak/3.7/unix-linux/
>    This site contains tars for version 3.7-5989.
>    (BTW: a tar file that looks like a source of version 3.6 is there 
> also. don't know why)

Actually it is Squeak-3.7-5989-i686-pc-linux-gnu-3.6-3.tar.gz which 
means it's an Squeak-3.7-5989 IMAGE bundled with a 
i686-pc-linux-gnu-3.6-3 VM. Bruce makes these bundles, and since nobody 
released a final 3.7 unix VM yet, he bundled it with the latest 
released VM, which happens to be 3.6-3.

>  Shouldn't there be one place to dnl? (mirrors are ok as long as they 
> are identical, these don't appear identical)

The download page (http://www.squeak.org/download/) points to the ftp 
directory.

>  I'm confused.
>  - Is the *nix 3.7 in beta, stable (released), or "?"

It's in beta, since Ian, the maintainer, didn't declare it released. 
However, many people have been using 3.7b5, it's a fine VM.

>  - are the 3.7 files identical at these two sites (the filenames 
> aren't)?

Yes.

>  - If 3.7 is the current stable release (it is according to this post 
> at the swiki: http://minnow.cc.gatech.edu/squeak.388), why doesn't the 
> Master Squeak Unix Site have this as a stable release?

That's up to Ian to answer - I guess he just didn't have the time to 
release

>  Suggestion (and I'm sure this has been discussed before resulting in 
> good recommendations):
>  why not provide the 3 platform-independent files for all platform 
> downloads. That'll make them all consistent. Maybe at the top of the 
> squeak.org site, there is a link to these 3 files (and the sources 
> file couldn't be g zipped).
>  Then, below this selection, provide the platform dependent file for 
> each specific OS?
>
>  Maybe the current way was decided because the goal was to make it 
> easy for windows/mac users? -- but they are just zip/sit files, not 
> auto-installers. So, I don't see that it's that much convenient.
>
>  If the reason that there are different links for each platform is 
> because each VM is released at different times, then perhaps change 
> the process: all final versions (stable release) are not completed 
> until all VMs are completed.

Well, the Squeak.org downloads are aimed at developers, so nobody 
bothered doing proper installers. For the non-technical Squeakland 
audience, for example, there are installers for Mac and Win, the next 
update even will have RPMs and DEBs.

>  I like RPMs (I'm running FC3 right now), but I'm happy to build if I 
> know what I'm getting.

There are RPMs at Ian's site. Don't they work for you?

>  As mentioned before, I'm creating audio tools -- but I need them to 
> run identically on 3 platforms: mac, win and Linux (understanding the 
> current audio issues with Linux).

AFAIK sound is fine on Linux?

> So, maybe this helps to identify my particular predicament. Still - it 
> would be nice to see clear distribution in general.

Sure, somebody just needs to do it.

- Bert -