Hi Stephan,

Stephan Wiesand <[log in to unmask]> writes:

> I have my doubts regarding a generally useful ROOT build, though: This
> software has tons of build time options, often depending on external
> software. A "one size fits all" build would probably depend on a dozen
> or more additional packages most users won't care for. On the other
> hand, building ROOT for a certain use case is fairly trivial. This may
> explain why there are few prebuilt packages around.

The built-in Debian and Red Hat package builders that come with ROOT
build out to an array of binary packages (at least it is true for the
Debian target - I haven't actually tried the RH one).  So there is some
granularity in what one can install.

I agree with you that it seems most people need to pick and choose ROOT
versions beyond what may be provided in binary form.  Another aspect is
that many users of ROOT use it as part of a larger suite and they have
tools that install the suite, including ROOT.  Trying to use a
system-install of ROOT is a shoe-horning effort.  This was the reason
the Debian packages were never a good fit for me (despite supporting
Christian's good work on making them).

An individual not tied to an exact version could benefit from binary
packages.  But, I wonder what fraction of existing or potential ROOT
users fall into that category.

Regards,
-Brett.