This is inspired, in part, by my memories of the days of B20 and
earlier. :-) (Actually the days before setup, but that includes
B20.) Specifically, one used to install cygwin by choosing one of
two zip files (for users or developers), downloading, and unzipping.
For a while I've been following various setup issues both here and
in the main list. I have been wondering whether it might be simpler
and/or more reliable to separate out the initial installation of
cygwin from updates.
The "update" function would be the setup that we know and love.
The "install" would download an archive of a minimal install of
just cygwin base; this is an installation, not packages for an
installation. "Install" would unpack it in c:\cygwin or wherever the
user chooses (e.g., as specific by "setup --root").
Then maybe "install" would download a second archive that contains
the individual packages in base and unpack them in wherever "setup
-l"/"setup --local-package-dir", just to get the local package cache
started. When finished, "install" might run some specialized
post-install scripts and perhaps run the "update" function with a
message box suggesting that now select other packages.
Conceivably "install" might be implemented most simply as a regular
package. It could be populated with "prev" versions, which could
then updated by setup, thereby populating the package cache. The
version of "install" should never change, so the user has control of
future updates. Setup might decide on whether to use the install
package based on whether the "setup --root" directory already
exists.
By now, my speculations no longer exceed my knowledge of the
subject; they FAR exceeded it. :-)
Of course, I've no idea whether this would be a useful approach.
Certainly, I understand the desire to get setup to do everything
one wants without bifurcating the process. I only mention it in
case the people who know setup and understand the issues might be
so focused on getting it behaving as desired that they miss an
alternative that might be easier to implement.
Please forgive any annoyance that my ignorance may have caused.
- Barry
- Disclaimer: Statements made herein are
not made on behalf of NIAID.
