RE: Gnome/Linux Application Installer

["Fox, Kevin M" <kmfox bhi010 bhi-erc com>]

I think rpm allows you to specify the base install dir from the command
line. There could be a gnome program (I think one is in the works) to allow
easy installs of RPMS.

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Ben 'The Con Man' Kahn [SMTP:xkahn@cybersites.com]
> Sent:	Wednesday, December 23, 1998 10:43 AM
> To:	Fox, Kevin M
> Cc:	'Jason Tackaberry'; gnome-list@gnome.org
> Subject:	RE: Gnome/Linux Application Installer
> 
> 
> 	I think we're getting off topic.  :^)  Of course such a program
> can be written.  But, what are the things you would want to do in an
> install?  
> 
> 	Well, there are two basic types of people installing software.
> The admin wants everyone to be able to run the program.  (Usually) So
> applications installed by the admin need to be in /opt/gnome/bin (or
> whatever) and the configuration stuff needs to be accessible to everyone.
> 
> 
> 	A user will install to their home directory and all info will be
> local to them.  I don't think RPM can fully express this split at the
> moment.  (That's if we want people to be able to install software as
> users, I can see why this would be bad.)
> 
> 	Next, there are two types of installs.  Attended, and unattended.
> Certainly most software install *I* do are attended.  But when I do
> unattened installs, I want it to work.  
> 
> 
> On Wed, 23 Dec 1998, Fox, Kevin M wrote:
> 
> > Could there be a dialog program written that detects wether your in X or
> not
> > and then displays options? That would be nice. It could be added into
> the
> > RPM or have it installed on the box already...
> > 
> > I do kinda see the point redhat has with not wanting to show dialogs.
> This
> > allows for automatic updates and other things. Hmm...
> > 
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From:	Ben 'The Con Man' Kahn [SMTP:xkahn@cybersites.com]
> > > Sent:	Wednesday, December 23, 1998 10:26 AM
> > > To:	Fox, Kevin M
> > > Cc:	'Jason Tackaberry'
> > > Subject:	RE: Gnome/Linux Application Installer
> > > 
> > > 
> > > 	That's right.  You can run a script before and after the install.
> > > I think I remember this being just a shell script, so you can run any
> > > program at all.  
> > > 
> > > 	HOWEVER, interactive input is frowned upon.  And printing things
> > > to stdout is too...  (Think about the redhat installer.)  Debian
> allows
> > > and encourages prompting. (again, if I recall correctly)  
> > > 
> > > 	Anyway, one thing we could do immediately would be to grab
> > > stdout/stdin and put it in a small graphical dialog box. 
> > > 
> > > 	(An example of printing to STDOUT is the sshd install.  Give it a
> > > try.)
> > > 
> > > On Wed, 23 Dec 1998, Fox, Kevin M wrote:
> > > 
> > > > From what I have read about RPMS you can have them do just about
> > > anything.
> > > > Thay can run programs, so you can have it come up with dialogs but
> for
> > > ease
> > > > of use, dialogs have (at least I think) never been used.
> > > > 
> > > > > > 	And that's just the beginning!  What if things are a little
> > > more
> > > > > > complex?  What if the application needs to ask questions from
> the
> > > user
> > > > > > doing the install?
> > > > > 
> > > > > Which is why I think some sort of scripting language would be
> needed.
> > > > > That
> > > > > way you can script dialogs for the user, and also make a more
> custom
> > > flow
> > > > > for
> > > > > the install.
> > > > > 
> > > > > I don't know much about the guts of rpm and deb, but I doubt they
> > > support
> > > > > this.
> > > > > We need to spec out a format that allows scripting, and is also
> smart
> > > > > enough
> > > > > to properly clean up old versions of the package (although RPM
> seems
> > > to do
> > > > > a good job of this).
> > > > > 
> > > > > Jason.
> > > > > 
> > > > > 
> > > > > -- 
> > > > >         FAQ: Frequently-Asked Questions at
> > > http://www.gnome.org/gnomefaq
> > > > >          To unsubscribe: mail gnome-list-request@gnome.org with 
> > > > >                        "unsubscribe" as the Subject.
> > > > 
> > > 
> > > 						-Ben
> > > 
> > > ------------------------------------ |\      _,,,--,,_  ,) ----------
> > > Benjamin Kahn                        /,`.-'`'   -,  ;-;;'
> > > (212) 924 - 2220                    |,4-  ) )-,_ ) /\
> > > ben@cybersites.com --------------- '---''(_/--' (_/-' ---------------
> > >           Meet Linux: Forrest Gump as an operating system. 
> > > 
> > 
> > 
> > -- 
> >         FAQ: Frequently-Asked Questions at http://www.gnome.org/gnomefaq
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> >                        "unsubscribe" as the Subject.
> > 
> 
> 						-Ben
> 
> ------------------------------------ |\      _,,,--,,_  ,) ----------
> Benjamin Kahn                        /,`.-'`'   -,  ;-;;'
> (212) 924 - 2220                    |,4-  ) )-,_ ) /\
> ben@cybersites.com --------------- '---''(_/--' (_/-' ---------------
>           Meet Linux: Forrest Gump as an operating system. 
>