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Re: Adding packages (was: mkfs.jffs2 support in CYGWIN)


On 08/27/2009 02:59 PM, Andy Koppe wrote:
How to install is here:
http://cygwin.com/cygwin-ug-net/setup-net.html

I don't think it's terribly obvious that you simply need to run setup.exe again to add more packages after initial installation. This is not a common thing to do with other installers, and with some installers this might even mess things up, so people might be wary of doing this.

I think it's safe to say that most Windows installers are for monolithic software. You install once and you're done. So I expect allot of any disconnect with people is because of this. Of course, for those programs that do allow one to install portions and come back to change that in some way later (this includes a number of popular MS offerings), what I've seen as a "pattern" is to force people to go to "Add or Remove Programs" or "Programs and Features" (depending on the O/S) to do this. I don't think that's a great model or metaphor either though I'd have to say that using 'setup.exe' to update/install Cygwin software rather fits with it.

There's the message on the intial setup screen, but that's easily
overlooked or forgotten. And the page above only mentions it in
passing.

The lack of awareness of how to add packages might also explain why
lots of people seem to select "All" only to then complain about how
long the Cygwin install takes and how much space it occupies.

I don't recall much in the way of complaints in this context ("I can't figure out how I would add stuff later so let me just install everything now so I don't have to worry about it.") I expect someone has had that thought at sometime though.

So to help matters, perhaps setup.exe could be installed as part of
Cygwin, and a suitably named link to it added to the start menu? Even
better if that link would take it directly to the package selection
screen.

Adding a link to <http://cygwin.com/setup.exe> shouldn't be allot of work and may help if the menu was properly named. Beyond that requires significant changes to 'setup.exe' which would require some volunteer effort to make it happen. An alternative might be for someone to set up a web page that would allow the user to pick the packages and that would invoke 'setup.exe' with the right flags to do all that. Of course, that's a different kind of effort, though it shouldn't require changes to 'setup.exe'.

--
Larry Hall                              http://www.rfk.com
RFK Partners, Inc.                      (508) 893-9779 - RFK Office
216 Dalton Rd.                          (508) 893-9889 - FAX
Holliston, MA 01746

_____________________________________________________________________

A: Yes.
> Q: Are you sure?
>> A: Because it reverses the logical flow of conversation.
>>> Q: Why is top posting annoying in email?

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