l_d_allan
3rd November 2005 15:00 UTC
nit: name of nsis installer file have 'setup' in it?
<alert comment="nit ... wish other freeware/shareware/pay-ware was as good as nsis such that suggestions such as the following were the norm, rather than more serious problems">
The downloaded nsis installation file from sourceforge typically has the name nsis-#.##.exe
FWIW, my vote would be to have a name something like: nsis-setup-#.##.exe. This would facilitate the default Windows Add or Remove Program utility recognizing it without having to click on the Files of type: dropdown combobox.
Perhaps I'm the only one, but I am very cautious about installing software, especially freeware that isn't necessarily well known. Typically, I do a trial install in a separate throw-away sandbox evaluation partition that can be restored if I find out that the application:
- is poorly behaved,
- lacks an adequate uninstaller, or
- is a hunk of junk
To this cranky old codger, it is disconcerting to not see the filename when I use
Add or Remove Program. It is one of those small, attention to detail issues (
fit and finish) that adds to the software's
oobe first impression.
Perhaps there are reasons I'm not aware of to not have
setup as part of the filename ... it isn't like the current filename adheres to the antique dos file 8.3 naming convention ... and linux expectations are moot. Perhaps guidance from sourceforge excludes having
setup in the installation filename, but they seem to be mostly oriented to linux open-source development, and Windows developers are more or less
second class citizens that they tolerate. :(
</alert>
Anders
3rd November 2005 16:11 UTC
are you telling me you are using the add/remove app to actually start the install, if so you are probably the only one in the world that does this ;)
l_d_allan
3rd November 2005 16:47 UTC
The add/remove utility is certainly clunky and almost a case study of how not to do something ....
but it is a habit I've had for a while ... over the years, more and more apps have a well behaved installer and uninstaller, but I don't assume that to be the case.
It is part of my routine for candidate trialware and freeware before installing on my main development partition:
- run AdAware,
- install the app in the sand-box partition
- rerun AdAware to see if crud shows up
- check the registry for inappropriate entries
- check if the add/remove utility has an entry, and whether it works thoroughly
Tedious, but I've had several miserable experiences of trying to get rid of malware that was all but impossible to uninstall ...
forehead meet palm experiences. (download managers and p2p utilities were notorious for this)
Also, as an open-source participant, I think it is part of the
fit and finish to pay attention to the small details. There are several (not many) website shareware repositories that actually have editors that do a real evaluation of submitted software. My impression is that they look more or less closely at details like this.
Or not :p
kichik
3rd November 2005 18:01 UTC
Wow, add/remove control panel is crazy... I'll think about it.
iceman_k
3rd November 2005 18:19 UTC
I like your use of italics :)