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RE: Can I install Cygwin if I have a C: drive but run Windows from H:\WINDOWS\?
At 06:52 AM 8/18/2004, Hannu wrote:
>"Larry Hall" scribbled on Wednesday, August 18, 2004 1:10 AM:
>
>> At 04:32 PM 8/17/2004, Hannu wrote:
>>> zzzzzz-zzzzz@cygwin.zzz i.e. Larry Hall, wrote:
>>>> At 05:39 AM 8/17/2004, you <as quoted by Larry - "Fergus"> wrote:
>>>
>>> -zNIPz here and there-
<snip>
>>> While there _should_ be no requirements, one has to be realistic and
>>> recognize this possibly beeing a setup - or postinstall - malfunction
>>> triggered by the "nonstandard install location".
>>
>>
>> That would be a bug. But since Fergus was asking whether Cygwin
>> "expected" certain things in certain locations, the answer to that
>> would be "no".
>
>Of course, that's the intention. Nothing said about that.
>
>> If it weren't "no", then anyone installing Cygwin to
>> a drive other than C: would see problems. The lack of email to this
>> list on the matter is just one indication that Cygwin has no
>> expectations of where things live.
>
>The lack of messages might just as well be an indication of the number of
>people actually trying this particular thing.
>
>SIDENOTE: I've seen situations where a person attempting something similar
>just gives up immediately, without any questions. Just the comment "Crap! I
>don't wanna bother more with it!". No help requested even though there are
>several people knowledgable enough standing within arms reach.
> I've seen it not just once - and I must admit; I've done the same myself!
>(Download free/shareware/whatever software; installation doesn't work ->
>scrap it, try another similarily promising package)
Sure, I can see that happening in a general sense with any software. But
you're talking about generalities and (somewhat) philosophy. I'm targeting
the question at hand. I don't disagree with your assertions in general/
philosophically but I'm avoiding discussion along this line in this thread.
>> The code itself would be another.
>
>Hmm... I don't get this; is it a back reference to the "bug"-thing above?
What I meant was that if there were dependencies built in to Cygwin, they
would show up in the code as well. They don't.
>> ;-)
>
> Ahh, I *understand* this! ;-)
>
>
>> If a postinstall script is making some such assumptions, I'd expect we
>> would've heard quite a bit about that here too (or at
>> cygwin-apps).
>
> Not all malfunctions/mishaps get reported - a report requires some time and
>effort to put through; not to mention - the "WJM" attitude, at display
>relatively often, plays part in this. Many people won't stand up against it.
> It is desirable to have *good* problem reports, but when you request higher
>quality you also filter away some. It is a dilemma.
OK, let me clarify. With the amount of people using Cygwin, some portion of
those folks are going to install Cygwin somewhere other than "C:\Cygwin". If
there was a problem with doing that, we would have heard about it in some
volume (look at the volume of complaints we get about people not being able
to start Cygwin from 'cygwin.bat', for example). My point is the
premise that Cygwin requires, implicitly, some specific locations to work
is something that would be *very* noticeable and would generate some
traffic volume on this and/or the cygwin-apps list. And I would
have been one of the first to see the problem since I commonly install
Cygwin on other drives and in other directories. So, with my original
response, I was simply stating that the premise of the inquiry was false
and that something else locally is responsible for the behavior Fergus
sees. I think that's good and useful information and quite on topic
(Fergus and others are free to make their own determination of course! ;-) )
>FYI: My current employment is all about customer support; *I* _must_ handle
>those imprecise and badly phrased problem reports too; eventually the real
>problem gets revealed through the linguistic mist. (many .ro/.ru/.ba/.tw top
>domains emerge here -i.e. ppl not so used to english)
Yep, it's a tough job, though I would say Fergus's original question is
reasonably phrased and a fine question as far as it goes. But since the
information provided only goes so far, I could not provide any additional
feedback that might help him figure out what else could be causing the
problem reported. Following from that, as I said before, I completely
agree with your advice to read <http://cygwin.com/problems.html> as the
next step.
--
Larry Hall http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc. (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
838 Washington Street (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746
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