[Users] Instructions for setting up the ET

[Eloisa Bentivegna]

On 13/06/16 15:50, Ian Hinder wrote:
> Hi,
> 
> I have expanded the page
> 
> https://docs.einsteintoolkit.org/et-docs/Compiling_the_Einstein_Toolkit
> 
> to be a general page on how to compile the ET, including the different
> cases of
> 
> i) A supported cluster;
> ii) A supported or unsupported OS on a laptop or workstation; and
> iii) An unsupported cluster.
> 
> The latter is of course incomplete since is it complex.  There are
> obvious places in which people could add more information.
> 
> Some of the information
> on https://docs.einsteintoolkit.org/et-docs/Simplified_Tutorial_for_New_Users
> is now duplicated; we could use a MediaWiki template page and include it
> on both pages, or we could link to the compilation page from the
> tutorial page.  The main duplication is the table of optionlists etc for
> supported workstation/laptop operating systems.  This could actually be
> removed completely if "sim setup" knew how to choose these.
> 
> There are many unsatisfactory aspects to the whole process, and it is
> likely to be intimidating for new users.  It would be good to streamline
> this by actually thinking about a new user who is trying to do all of
> this for the first time, and seeing if simfactory or the instructions
> could make things easier.
> 
> Please take a look and feel free to improve it.

Hi!

Thanks for the new page. It seems to me that the complex part is just
the one that describes the setup of a system; once this is taken care
of, the instructions for compiling and running are just a line each. The
setup is probably the part that should be templated. Each tutorial on
the wiki can then have its own "sim build" and "sim run" line with the
appropriate thornlist and parfile.

As for the setup itself, I find it helpful when the documentation is
followed by a few examples, like setting up on Ubuntu, on MacOS, or on a
cluster where many users are likely to want to run. If a couple of these
are added at the end of what you have written, most users would probably
be able to configure their machine and follow any tutorial.

Eloisa