RE: [ROOT] Making test example on win98

From: Dave Casper (dcasper@uci.edu)
Date: Wed Jan 24 2001 - 08:11:12 MET


> Please do not discontinue the windows distribution.  It has been very
> helpful for our group.  I'll take it as is.

I agree that it is worthwhile as is, but it would be much more valuable to
Win32 users if the GUI worked.

While I share some of Anton's frustration, I don't really agree with his
suggestion that Windows users of Root can't be expected to contribute needed
support.  The Linux users of Root are physicists just like us, and I
personally believe Win32 is easier, not harder, to program than Linux.
Clearly the reason Root works at all on Windows is because people (like
Valeri) have invested substantial amounts of time.  Rene and Fons have
always addressed any (minor) Win32 specific problems I have run into with
lightning speed.

I will be going to CERN in a couple weeks (for three months) and will find
time to talk to Rene and Fons.  Like most or all of us, I am a physicist and
not a programmer, so I can't make an a priori commitment of a specified
amount of time.  First I would like to understand in more detail exactly
what the problems are and how close they are to being solved.  A few months
ago, I recall reading that someone had nearly finished the graphics port for
Windows and was hung up on some technical point.  If I can attack a specific
problem, it will be more feasible than to take on some broad open-ended
responsibility.  I'm not a Win32 system programming expert, but in my own
work I can generally figure out what is going on from the documentation and
make it work after a sufficient amount of flailing.  I would think others
might be able to contribute on a similar basis.  The way to attack a problem
which looks too big to solve all at once is to break it down into smaller
problems.  We all know that making Root more stable on Win32 will pay off in
greater productivity later.

"Better to light a single candle than to curse the darkness," etc.


Dave
dcasper@uci.edu



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