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List:       kde
Subject:    Re: InstallShield for KDE?
From:       "Cory R. Crooks" <badman () velocity ! net>
Date:       1999-11-02 16:29:22
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Exactly, and taking this idea one step further, you might even want to
look into implementing some kind of very rudamentary NLP to parse the
README and find words like "options", then list those options in handy
checkboxes, with what the installer *thinks* is their meaning (with a
handy little "Go to README" button to jump to the point in the README
file which lists that option and it's meaning, so as to be sure of what
the option actually means...)

IMHO the hardest part about this is the "front end" to the README. We
want something so that newbie's DON'T have to read text files to install
something. We want them to be able to select a few options (or have
those options selected for them), and then hit the "Install" button and
not worry. If it were feasible to parse some abitrary file (README or
not) and extract compile time options, installation directories
(specially for pre-built binaries w/ wierd install paths like "Put xyz
where libsomething.so.1 is, but don't put abc their, put abc in where
libsomethinelse.so.1.0 is, and symlink it to ... you get my drift), and
other useful info, it wouldn't be all that hard to implement the rest...

-- Cory R. Crooks
crc149@psu.edu

patrick wrote:
> 
> Not a bad idea but... it is not as simple as taking a gz file and
> running tar, ./configure, etc, since it is not automatic for tar.gz
> files to be source.  They can just as easily be an installable
> binary.  Sometimes the binary comes with its own install script
> and other times you get to figure out where you want it yourself.
> 
> You could, perhaps, have an installer automatically untar/ungzip
> the file and look for a config file/makefile and, if found, do the
> ./configure, make, etc series.  You may also want a dialog to pop
> up asking where you want it to go, or have a default location
> (/usr/local?) but with an option to change the location - not all
> source files or binaries have a preselected home.  The readme might
> suggest a location but...
> 
> You would also likely want an ability for the installer to recognize
> a src.rpm file and have it do the --rebuild command, THEN an rpm
> install.
> 
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Timothy R. Butler [mailto:kde@uninetsolutions.com]
> Sent: Monday, November 01, 1999 8:16 PM
> To: KDE general mailing list
> Subject: RE: InstallShield for KDE?
> 
> Cory,
>  Good thought... perhaps I'll look into that. Now if the KDE project
> would
> release a toolkit for Perl, I could design something nifty for the
> project
> related to this...
> 
>   Best,
>      Tim
> 
> -----------------------------------------
> Timothy R. Butler
> [...]
> > Subject: Re: InstallShield for KDE?
> >
> >
> > Well, seeing as how (as you seem to put it) 99% of all packages are
> > packaged the same it probably wouldn't be too hard to just write a
> > simple shell script.
> > i.e. If *gz, the do the "tar xvzf" thing ./configure && make && make
> > install
> > If *rpm, do the "rpm -ivh" thing... ect...
> 
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