************************************************************************
** NeoStats - IRC Statistical Services                                **
** Copyright (c) 1999-2004 NeoStats Group. All Rights Reserved.       **
** This program and all associated documentation is free but          **
** copyrighted software; see the file COPYING for details.            **
** Homepage: http://www.neostats.net/                                 **
************************************************************************

Tips for using the SVN version of NeoStats.
--------------------------------------------------------------

So you like to live life on the bleeding edge of NeoStats development? 

Although we do not support our development version being used in 
production environments, here are a few tips that might come in handy for 
those that want to follow development as it happens. 

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

1 The development mailing list - devel@lists.neostats.net

An ideal accessory for your copy of NeoStats development version is the 
development mailing list. This is an open mailing list to receive commit 
notices and discuss development issues relating to NeoStats. We recommend 
that regular users of the development version join our development mailing 
list.
To subscribe, send a mail to devel-subscribe@lists.neostats.net

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

2 Random crashes after getting the latest version

The development version of NeoStats is in a constant state of change so 
you may occasionally find that it appears to crash for no reason after 
getting the latest version. Before reporting this as a problem, please 
perform a full rebuild of NeoStats and all external modules that you use 
(secureserv, opsb, stupidserv, logserv and any third party modules). To 
perform a full build, run "make clean" then start from begin from the 
configure step as you would for a new installation. Also see below for a 
tip on faster clean rebuilds.

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

3 Speeding up full builds

To speed up full rebuilds of the core, it is possible to skip the 
configure step by using the following sequence:

1) make clean
2) ./config.status
3) cd curl
4) ./config.status
5) cd ..
6) make
7) make install

For external modules, use the following sequence:

1) make clean
2) ./config.status
3) make
4) make install

However, if configure.in or configure change in an update, you must use 
configure since your config.status needs updating. 

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

4 When external modules must be rebuilt

As a general guide, if stats.h or dl.h changes, the safest way is to 
rebuild all external modules (secureserv, opsb, stupidserv, logserv and 
any third party modules). If you ever get a crash in the core or an 
external module after using SVN update, make sure you have done a full 
rebuild of both the core and all external modules to discount this sort of 
error.

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

5 I found a problem, do you want to know?

Problem reports are often helpful to us but unlike the release version, 
problems with the development version are handled in a different manner. 
You must subscribe to our development mailing list and you should send any 
report to devel@lists.neostats.net if no one else has already reported the 
problem. 

Please do not post problems encountered in the development version on the 
NeoStats forums and only add them to the bug list if they also occur in 
release versions. Also, please indicate which revision you are running. 
This is given when you type 'svn update' to get files but if you forget, 
type 'svn info' to see which revision you are running. 

If you have modified NeoStats in any way, do not contact us unless you
can reproduce the problem on an unmodified version. We provide no support
at all for modifications made to NeoStats by others. 

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

6 I get warnings when I compile, do you want to know?

Generally no. Warnings are just that, warnings. The ones you are likely to 
encounter rarely indicate a problem and we do see them ourselves and fix 
them up as we work. We will also clean up any remaining warnings just 
before a release. Just consider them a feature of life with the 
development version. 

Warnings on released versions of our software should be reported through 
the usual channels of the forums or the bug list since they are generally 
issued by a particular compiler that we have not used so have not seen 
ourselves so you should also provide full details of your OS and compiler 
as for any other bug report. 

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

7 I have a feature request

There is some discussion about the specifics of a given feature request 
and improving features on the development list (particularly when we are 
working with an individual or a group on a feature e.g. sqlserv). New 
feature requests such as say support for a certain IRCd protocol that we 
do not yet have or a new type of module should generally be posted on the 
NeoStats forums or the bug list. 

-----------------------------------<>-----------------------------------

************************************************************************
** This document was last updated on February 9th, 2004 by M          **
************************************************************************
