|
|
|
|
|
|
by tjr
4265 days ago
|
|
|
Paraphrasing some actual experiences I've had: I want to install GNU Guile 2 on my Mac laptop so that I can write a prototype of an AI program. To install Guile 2 I need to install some prerequisite library. The prerequisite library won't build with the version of GCC I have installed. The easiest way to upgrade GCC is to get the newest version of Apple Xcode tools. The newest version of Xcode tools requires the latest version of OS X. But I also run Avid Pro Tools for music production on this computer, and the latest version of OS X is not clearly compatible with my version of Avid Pro Tools. So I'd need to pay $300 to upgrade Pro Tools so I can upgrade OS X so I can upgrade Xcode so I can upgrade GCC so I can build a library so I can install Guile 2. |
|
|
In this case, I'd suggest using a VM driven by Vagrant, unless you really need to be running native under OS X. That provides an isolated and repeatable environment, but at the cost of learning whole other domains of experience. My suggestion also hugely reinforces Dr. Guo's point: we've perhaps solved a problem by adding piles of additional tooling layers: (vagrant CLI, Vagrantfile interface, VM domain knowledge, setting up a Linux host (even as a toy environment), setting up a Linux host as a build environment, etc.) Heck, if we're doing it right it'd be nice to use a provisioning tool to automate the VM and build environment setup. All of this stuff is awesomely powerful, but front-loading a student project with it is nuts unless there's a domain expert who's building this tooling for them and coaching the students through it. Again, that's not the sort of thing that's likely to happen for per-student research projects.