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Groups > comp.programming > #6788
| From | "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.programming |
| Subject | Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute |
| Date | 2016-07-24 11:37 -0500 |
| Message-ID | <dvk966F444gU1@mid.individual.net> (permalink) |
| References | (2 earlier) <dvk3gqF2o61U1@mid.individual.net> <nn2m7t$o38$2@dont-email.me> <MPG.31feaa066d4b1a4c98a3b2@news.eternal-september.org> <nn2nt0$u39$1@dont-email.me> <MPG.31feb28b4acda68298a3b3@news.eternal-september.org> |
"J. Clarke" wrote: > In article <nn2nt0$u39$1@dont-email.me>, rjh@cpax.org.uk says... >> >> On 24/07/16 16:34, J. Clarke wrote: >> > In article <nn2m7t$o38$2@dont-email.me>, rjh@cpax.org.uk says... >> >> >> >> On 24/07/16 16:00, Osmium wrote: >> >>> "Richard Heathfield" wrote: >> >>> >> >>>> On 23/07/16 23:13, Wally W. wrote: >> >>>>> To all who write uninstallation programs for software you >> >>>>> distribute: >> >>>> >> >>>> Whenever possible, I prefer not to do this. To delete my software, >> >>>> you >> >>>> just delete it, and you're done. Either >> >>>> >> >>>> cd where/did/you/put/it >> >>>> rm * >> >>>> >> >>>> or maybe, just maybe, there are sub-directories, so: >> >>>> >> >>>> cd where/did/you/put/it >> >>>> rm -rf * >> >>>> >> >>>> (careful!) >> >>>> >> >>>> or, if you're on Windows, one of the many Windows equivalents of >> >>>> doing >> >>>> the same thing (such as dragging a pretty yellow box onto a picture >> >>>> of >> >>>> a dustbin - alas, I can't promise sweeties to those who get this >> >>>> right). >> >>>> >> >>>>> If your uninstallation program can't leave the machine in the >> >>>>> condition you found it, then tell the user what is different. >> >>>> >> >>>> Hear, hear! But if your program /needs/ an uninstallation program, >> >>>> there had better be an extraordinarily good reason. (And sometimes >> >>>> there is. But it's rarer than many people think.) >> >>> >> >>> I long for the good old days too. >> >>> >> >>> But doesn't your approach fail in one of the most elementary cases on >> >>> Windows? A new program with a new data file. You want to click on >> >>> the >> >>> data file and invoke the program. How can you do that without >> >>> changing >> >>> the data used by the OS? To me, that is SOP and not rare at all. >> >> >> >> But the /user/ is responsible for setting up that association. The >> >> user >> >> double-clicks on "foo.bar", and Windows says "huh? You'd better choose >> >> a >> >> program for that", and the user chooses my program, and that's the >> >> user's choice, so it's the user's problem. >> > >> > And the tech support guys think badly of you when they have to remote- >> > access 10,000 machines and set up that association that _should_ have >> > been set up by the installer. >> >> I understand your point but I don't agree with it. File associations are >> a pain in the neck, because they rely on a false premise - i.e. that the >> file extension uniquely determines the type of the file. >> >> I once had to write a program to inspect the first few bytes of a PDF to >> discover whether it was a Portable Document Format file (a document) or >> a Program Description File (a format used by a screen layout descriptor >> utility for COBOL programmers). The program had to decide which one it >> was, and then call either Acrobat or the screen layout thing - and the >> users associated .pdf with /my/ program, rather than Acrobat or the >> utility. >> >> File extensions go at least as far back as VM/CMS, but they were never >> designed to uniquely determine the type of file (even VM/CMS used file >> mode descriptors rather than extensions to determine whether a file was >> supposed to be executable). File associations were a badly-designed >> overlay onto file extensions, and Microsoft has done little, if >> anything, to address the problems that file associations cause. > > <Sound of world's smallest violin> > > We get it, you don't like Windows and resent being compelled by forces > beyond your control to write for it. That doesn't justify doing a half- > assed job. I probably dislike Windows as much as Richard does. If we could revert to the pre-install era I would be willing to pay the price by doing a manual file association. But I am not at all sure that is the only change in practices that would be needed, it was just the most obvious one that occurred to me. Perhaps someone that has actually written official install/uninstall code could give more insight. When Windows has a problem the cure is to add another layer of magic. But I never know what all is happening in the new layer. For example, I have a very old (and very bad) book on the registry. Despite its age, it already has over 300 pages. That's a lot of magic!
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To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-23 18:13 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-24 06:44 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Julio Di Egidio <julio@diegidio.name> - 2016-07-24 04:53 -0700
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-25 04:13 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-25 08:28 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 09:40 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-24 10:00 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 16:18 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 11:34 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 16:46 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-24 10:55 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 17:08 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 12:24 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 17:37 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 13:16 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 18:53 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 15:11 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-24 14:45 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 21:31 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 18:06 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 23:53 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 18:04 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 23:47 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 19:34 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 14:03 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 12:10 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> - 2016-07-24 17:36 +0100
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-24 11:37 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-07-24 13:24 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-24 18:29 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 20:34 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Mark Storkamp <mstorkamp@yahoo.com> - 2016-07-25 10:00 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-25 11:22 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-25 18:55 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-26 00:19 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-26 04:24 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-07-26 09:13 -0500
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Öö Tiib <ootiib@hot.ee> - 2016-07-26 14:11 -0700
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-27 02:58 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-27 13:47 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 13:24 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 13:40 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Wally W. <ww84wa@aim.com> - 2016-07-24 13:42 -0400
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute Kaz Kylheku <349-534-5780@kylheku.com> - 2016-07-24 18:29 +0000
Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute SIKDER EMRAN <sikderemran4321@gmail.com> - 2016-07-31 03:19 -0700
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