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Re: Is the Cygwin installation process likely to change significantly anytime soon?


On Mon, 25 Jul 2005, Larry Hall wrote:

> At 04:20 PM 7/25/2005, you wrote:
> >Hi,
> >
> >I'm writing a little bit about the Cygwin platform for an O'Reilly C++
> >book, scheduled for release later this year. Since I've found package
> >selection using setup.exe to be a little tricky, I've written a
> >detailed decription about how to install everything, how to install
> >just the development tools, and how to install just g++, make and their
> >prerequisites. I'd like the book to be useful for several years,
> >however, so I'm a little nervous about providing information that is
> >likely to change soon. Therefore I'd like to know if there are plans to
> >change the installation process in the near future. For example, it
> >would be very helpful to know how stable the following features of the
> >current installation process are:
>
> I actually have no say on when any of this could change but given the
> history and recent conversations on some of these topics, I think I
> can help you develop a better sense of what could happen here.
>
> >  - Name of setup utility: setup.exe
>
> I doubt this will change.  It was chosen ages ago in the hopes that it
> would be a well understood name for the Windows crowd.  So far, there's
> been no real complaint about the name and, better yet, no indication
> that someone can't install because they can't figure out what executable
> to run.  I'd say the name 'setup.exe' is here to stay.
>
> >  - Link to setup.exe from cygwin.com: "Install Cygwin Now"
>
> Pretty much the same response here.  This seems to work well so it's
> likely this will not change.
>
> >  - Link to setup help page from cygwin.com: "get help on using
> > setup.exe"
>
> Sorry, I'm not sure what you're referring to here.

I believe he's referring to the middle column of the little table on the
main Cygwin page (the link to the right of "Install or update now!").  In
my experience, web design is rarely constant for long, and a lot could
happen in 2-3 years (setup.exe could get on-line help, for example).
While the URL below is likely to stay the same, the format and wording of
the actual link may change.

> >  - URL of setup help page:
> > http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html
>
> I expect this is also unlikely to change any time soon.  If documentation
> needs change, it could but that's really up to the maintainer for the
> User's Guide.
>
> >  - Tree view for package selection, including toggling between
> > "Default", "Install", "Reinstall" and "Unistall" and the "Bin?" label
> > above the column of checkboxes for binary packages.

I would say that at least the order of the toggles will change -- there
have been numerous requests for this.

> Traditionally, development of 'setup.exe' moves pretty slowly, or in
> bursts at best.  Obviously, this could change at any time but if you're
> a betting man, you may want to lay your money down on a relative
> status-quo here.  That said, there has been much more development going
> on in the last 6 months than the previous 6 (or even year) and much talk
> about the package selection control.  So of all the things you've
> listed, I think this control is the one thing that is less likely to be
> stable than all the others.  It's hard to say whether it would retain
> exactly the same UI, even if the internals were changed.  My guess is
> that the UI would change at least some, since usability is one of the
> major concerns about this control. I would expect that there will always
> be some kind of tree control here but the options for binary and source
> packages has been some cause for confusion and, as a result, may change.
> Even the widget for cycling between the options you listed (and others)
> may be replaced.  And there is the occasional "radical" suggestion that
> the current program be junked and replaced with a completely new
> variant, which obviously may bear little resemblance to the current one.
> But I wouldn't expect any major changes between now and the end of the
> year.  Beyond that is less clear both in scope and timing.

Just to give a heads-up, I'm (slowly) working on a standard Windows
control implementation of the package chooser.  If all goes well, it may
be integrated into setup at some point [I'm hoping within the next 2-3
years :-)].  The good news (for the OP) is that the control is going to be
very similar visually to the current chooser.  The column headers,
however, may change.

I also would not count on there only being tree ("Category") and list
("Full", "Partial", etc) views forever, but I currently don't have any
code or estimates on how and when this may change.
HTH,
	Igor
-- 
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     |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'		Igor Pechtchanski, Ph.D.
    '---''(_/--'  `-'\_) fL	a.k.a JaguaR-R-R-r-r-r-.-.-.  Meow!

If there's any real truth it's that the entire multidimensional infinity
of the Universe is almost certainly being run by a bunch of maniacs. /DA

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