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Groups > comp.programming > #6784
| From | Richard Heathfield <rjh@cpax.org.uk> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | comp.programming |
| Subject | Re: To all who write uninstallation programs for software you distribute |
| Date | 2016-07-24 17:08 +0100 |
| Organization | Origin Sonata |
| Message-ID | <nn2p5s$2j1$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | (2 earlier) <dvk3gqF2o61U1@mid.individual.net> <nn2m7t$o38$2@dont-email.me> <MPG.31feaa066d4b1a4c98a3b2@news.eternal-september.org> <nn2nt0$u39$1@dont-email.me> <dvk6nsF3h1qU1@mid.individual.net> |
On 24/07/16 16:55, Osmium wrote: > "Richard Heathfield" wrote: > >> On 24/07/16 16:34, J. Clarke wrote: >>> In article <nn2m7t$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. > > I probably agree with all that. But it's a bit like complaining about > the way words are spelled in the English language. For the most part, > it works, and people expect other people to honor the conventions. If it's in the program spec, fair enough, but there'd better be a way to remove it, also in the program spec. If it's not in the program spec, then it's just extra work for no benefit. And that's true for pretty much any "it", not just file associations. -- Richard Heathfield Email: rjh at cpax dot org dot uk "Usenet is a strange place" - dmr 29 July 1999 Sig line 4 vacant - apply within
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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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