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GAUL software is out of date!

We have been hearing for some time that "GAUL software is out of date", that "GAUL should have software from the current millenium", etc., but it is a rare occurrence when these comments are accompanied by concrete information.

In practice, there are often compelling reasons why a software version released "last week" is not immediately installed for general use. Some of these reasons are purely practical, some are technical and some are policy-related.

With specific reference to GAUL comments:

  • it would be useful to know which versions of which software are considered "out of date". See for examples, the next four points.

  • re: "out of date before they start". It is difficult to install software that is newer than the "latest" released version. Our practise is to install current versions at reasonable intervals. We occasionally install older versions if required in order to build another tool or subsystem. These older versions are generally not installed as the default.

  • the current version of gcc is 4.0.0 released April 15, 2005. Given that this is a major release, we expect to wait for at least one revision before installing it as the default.

  • the previous version of gcc was 3.4.3 released November 2004, installed on GAUL in January 2005 and is currently the default gcc. (Note that it has been our policy since circa 1980 not to install new versions of software, especially as defaults, mid-semester.)

  • it is worth noting that there is often a cascading effect when upgrading software. For instance, the package QT must be built and subsequently used with the exact same revision of gcc. Changing the default gcc effectively means that QT must be re-built and all students must re-compile their modules with the new default gcc. This type of problem has sometimes been compounded when classroom demonstrations illustrate a new feature not available on the installed base on GAUL. When students try to use the feature, they discover (or perhaps are told) that "GAUL is out of date" but are never told why.

  • students should be made aware that it is common practise in industry to wait for a good reason to change from a version of software that either works well or has a known set of problems to a newer version with unknown problems. The system upgrade methodology that individuals may wish to use at home on their personal computer is not neccessarily the appropriate one in a large shared-resource network.

  • Rational Rose is installed on GAUL and is regularly used. This has been the case for several years.

  • Visual Studio .NET 2003 is installed on the newer (ACER) machines on GAUL. Visio is not installed.

 

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