[plt-scheme] Why is Planet better than PLT archives?

On Dec 29, Bill Wood wrote:
> 
> OK, I have some questions as a PLaneT *user*.  There's a nice
> package that I want to use in my app.  My goal is to get the package
> installed into my file system in a sane place, like the collects
> dir.

(I think I can answer these, Jacob will correct me if I'm wrong...)


> 1)  Do I just write a mzscheme source file with the appropriate
>     (require ...) form (and possibly a dummy expr to be evaluated)
>     to get the package loaded locally?

The `require' form should be sufficient.  You can also get packages
through the command line tool.


> 2)  If the package consists of more than one module will the one
>     require do the trick, or do I have to figure out some dummy app
>     that exercises all the facilities to get everything transferred?

Packages often contain several files with multiple modules, and the
whole thing will be fetched.  Some modules may require other planet
packages, which will be fetched automatically (by the same `require'
form that are part of the first package).


> 3)  I have PLT installed in /usr/local.  Do I have to be privileged
>     to do the download/install?

No -- planet keeps its files in the user's private area.  It is a
per-user tool, not a per-installation.  If you have several users on a
single machine which use a shared plt installation, each user will
have their own planet cahce.

-- 
          ((lambda (x) (x x)) (lambda (x) (x x)))          Eli Barzilay:
                  http://www.barzilay.org/                 Maze is Life!