RE: Gnome/Linux Application Installer

["Ben 'The Con Man' Kahn" <xkahn cybersites com>]

	Yup it does.  (Although not every RPM allows itself to be
relocated...  I'm not sure why.)  But I'm not clear on how it works.  If I
relocate say...  myapp-0.0.2.i386.rpm which has files like so:

/usr/bin/myapp
/usr/lib/myapp/config
/usr/lib/myapp/config/myapp.conf
/usr/lib/myapp/config/myapp.jpg
/usr/lib/myapp/defaults/myapp.userfile
/etc/myapp.conf

	Then...  Where do these files go when I relocate?

On Wed, 23 Dec 1998, Fox, Kevin M wrote:

> 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
> > >          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. 
> > 
> 

						-Ben

------------------------------------ |\      _,,,--,,_  ,) ----------
Benjamin Kahn                        /,`.-'`'   -,  ;-;;'
(212) 924 - 2220                    |,4-  ) )-,_ ) /\
ben@cybersites.com --------------- '---''(_/--' (_/-' ---------------
          Meet Linux: Forrest Gump as an operating system.