Why isn't DSSS ('s net portion) more widely used?

[Pragma]

Gregor Richards wrote:
> Robert Fraser wrote:
>> DSSS seems like a great tool, but only a very small subset of 
>> available D libraries are installable via it. I can see it turning 
>> into something like CPAN, where you can easily get a module and its 
>> required dependencies, without really having to worry about version 
>> compatibility, etc, etc. ANy ideas on why it's not more widely used?
> 
> How many times have I asked myself this question X-D
> 
> The unfortunate truth is that most of the tools installable via DSSS 
> aren't even DSSS-maintained. I made the dsss.conf files for them and 
> maintain said dsss.conf files as patches.
> 
> Basically, it's a chicken-and-egg problem. Because D grew up to where it 
> is with no standard system for installation of libraries, trying to 
> force people to use one now is a bit difficult. I guess all I can say 
> is: If you have some specific library you'd like added to `dsss net`, 
> write the dsss.conf file yourself, and I can add it as a patch. It's a 
> gross, temporary solution, but at least it would allow dependent 
> libraries to be fully DSSS'd.
> 
> If somebody wants to start a DSSS advocacy group ... ^^
> 
>  - Gregor Richards

All I can offer are my personal experiences with trying to DSSS-ify a few of my projects:

I'm still finding it hard to develop reasonably complex DSSS scripts only because there's only one possible mode of 
testing them: net install.  There's no option to execute dsss.conf from the filesystem (via "-file <filename>" or 
somesuch), so I can't test my dsss.conf file out locally before exposing it to the world (unless I'm mistaken).  IMO, 
that's a big problem.

Another thing that's hurting adoption is that DSSS is still left-of-center in the D software landscape.  This is that 
chicken-and-egg problem you cite.  This tool won't become the core of anyone's toolkit until everything they could 
possibly want is supported by it.

Other than that, the documentation has come along by leaps and bounds since you started this, Gregor.  At first this was 
a real sticking point, but I'm just now starting to get my head around things.

-- 
- EricAnderton at yahoo