gtristan commented on PR #1741:
URL: https://github.com/apache/buildstream/pull/1741#issuecomment-1227820050

   Overall, I like the install from source instructions here, however it looks 
like this is unfortunately again growing into a lot of overlap with the user 
facing instructions at: https://buildstream.build/install.html
   
   ---
   
   I wonder if the statement about *"Installing from distro packages if it is 
available for your distro"* and the whole convenience packaging method of 
*"Installation from pip"* is better suited to 
https://buildstream.build/install.html ... where it appears the pip install 
method is already mentioned.
   
   Lets keep the user facing install paths published at 
https://buildstream.build/install.html and have the version specific 
developer/packager facing instructions at 
https://docs.buildstream.build/master/main_install.html. This makes the two 
pages serve obviously different purposes, and makes the reading of either of 
these less crowded and intense.
   
   ---
   
   It could be good to have a forward in `main_install.rst` saying something 
like:
   
   > This page explains how to build and install this version of BuildStream 
from sources. If you are trying to install BuildStream on your computer it is 
recommended to try following the [general purpose installation instructions 
here](https://buildstream.build/install.html).
   
   ---
   
   This also goes for the section on *Using docker images*, if there are user 
facing images ready to be used by users, we should trust 
https://gitlab.com/BuildStream/buildstream-docker-images/-/blob/master/USING.md 
to document how to use the latest BuildStream 1 and BuildStream 2 images 
respectively, and link to that page from the user facing documentation at 
https://buildstream.build/install.html (without going into a whole detailed 
shpiel about it)... and of course we should touch up 
https://gitlab.com/BuildStream/buildstream-docker-images/-/blob/master/USING.md 
a bit to make sure it at least says `docker run -it -v `pwd`:/build 
<bst1imagename:latest>` and `docker run -it -v `pwd`:/build 
<bst2imagename:latest>`.
   
   ---
   
   After trimming out all that fat above, this would leave us with a more 
manageable structure of only:
   
   * Dependencies for building/running this version of buildstream
     * This would look so much more concise as a condensed table with two 
columns: *"Distro name"*, and *"Distro specific command"* instead of scrolling 
down lots of text talking about multiple distros
     * We don't need to separate the dependencies with extra information about 
"If you need a C++ compiler" I think, this is all about building from source 
anyway, just specify one command for each distro would be perfect.
   * Installing buildbox
     * Instructions about binaries
     * Link(s) to how to build buildbox from sources in upstream buildbox
   * Cloning the right git tag/branch
   * Installing buildstream from git checkout
     * Here I would remove the whole extra shpiel about *"Upgrading from git"*, 
if we have instructions to install from git, then the user will figure out that 
they can always go back and use an updated git version to install
     * Here it could be worth noting that `setup.py` installation is 
**supported** for both building, installing and testing, because this is the 
typical distro install path
       * But use `pip install .` as the normal install method
     * Here it is also worth noting that you can make the installation in a 
python virtual environment
     * Here it is also worth noting that depending on the system prefix or 
virtual environment where you installed, you may need to set `$PATH` 
accordingly or activate your virtual environment
       * This part allowing us to remove the conspicuous **Post-install setup** 
section which is all only about telling you to remember to setup `$PATH`
   


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