RE: Installation fo PilotManager V1.100

["Bharat Mediratta" <Bharat@xxxxxxxxx>]

> I am not a hot programmer, (just a dumb mgr) but I would think the
> the program could execute perl on your system to check the version
> number, then initialize the link or the ENV variable, and be done
> with it.
> 
> Am I missing something here?    perl -v and $0 should have
> the entire story.  Something really lazy has been programmed that
> has cost 500 people times 30 minutes == really stupid.

Hoo boy.  

<rant>

Laziness is the mother of invention.  Never confuse it with stupidity.
If it weren't for my basic laziness, you wouldn't have PilotManager in
the first place.

First of all, the problem that Michelle is seeing is a fairly uncommon
one (I know, I've read almost every single PilotManager bug
report). This is because her version of Perl is installed in a
non-standard location and she doesn't have the correct environment
variables set to tell her shell where the libraries are.  PilotManager
is a perl script and is therefore dependant on Perl.  If your Perl
is incorrectly installed, there's no chance that PilotManager is 
going to function properly.  

PilotManager is a very dangerous tool.  It has the ability to trash
each and every bit of data on your Pilot.  Without some safeguards, it
is very easy for it to simply smash all the appointments on your
calendar, or remove all your memos.  Is that what you really want?
No.  In order to make sure that PilotManager is doing what you WANT
and not merely what you TELL it to, I instituted safeguards.
PilotManager will not automatically run on any version of Perl that I
have not tested it on.  If YOU want to take the chance and run on a
different version of Perl, it gives you precise directions for how to
do so.  However, it won't take that chance on your behalf.

> 
> Who has the sources??

Everybody does.  PilotManager (and most Perl scripts) are shipped with
full source code.  Knock yourself out.

> 
> Hope I am not too far off base, just really curious why this
> is so common a problem and not automated yet.

Because, in a nutshell, automation is not the key to the universe.
Sometimes it's actually necessary for a thinking human being to be
in the loop.

</rant>

-Bharat

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