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Groups > comp.programming > #6787
| 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 17:36 +0100 |
| Organization | Origin Sonata |
| Message-ID | <nn2qqj$8er$1@dont-email.me> (permalink) |
| References | (2 earlier) <dvk3gqF2o61U1@mid.individual.net> <nn2m7t$o38$2@dont-email.me> <MPG.31feaa066d4b1a4c98a3b2@news.eternal-september.org> <nn2nt0$u39$1@dont-email.me> <MPG.31feb28b4acda68298a3b3@news.eternal-september.org> |
On 24/07/16 17:10, J. Clarke wrote: > In article <nn2nt0$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. Oddly, as a /programmer/ I like Windows rather a lot. It's just as a user that I think it sucks. And file associations are a problem for users (or, at least, for /some/ users), not for programmers. As for a half-assed job, well, I write to the spec. If the spec says I have to set up file associations, then so be it. But if it doesn't, so be not it. If the spec is full-assed, then I do a full-assed job. -- 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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