Yes, that page is a bit confusing. Chris - is this patch acceptable for the web site?
Index: download.html =================================================================== RCS file: /cvs/cygwin/htdocs/download.html,v retrieving revision 1.51 diff -u -p -r1.51 download.html --- download.html 18 Apr 2002 15:24:29 -0000 1.51 +++ download.html 5 May 2002 06:34:49 -0000 @@ -14,33 +14,37 @@ setup.exe program to your computer. Whe asked a series of questions for installing Cygwin on your computer. Using setup.exe is the only supported method for installing Cygwin.</p> -<p>The setup.exe program also allows you to download the Cygwin files to -a directory on your computer without installing them. By copying this -download directory to other systems or putting it on a file server, you -can, at a later time, use setup.exe to install directly from your hard -disk.</p> +<p>The setup.exe program always caches the package files that it downloads to +save you time if you need to reinstall, or to install multiple machines. If for +some reason you do not want to install what you download on your local machine, +the setup.exe program allows you to download the Cygwin files to a directory on +your computer without installing them. By copying this download directory to +other systems or putting it on a file server, you can, at a later time, use +setup.exe to install directly from your hard disk.</p> <p>Due to volume limitations, the Cygwin distribution is only available from <a href="mirrors.html">mirror sites</a>. You'll be prompted to choose one of these during the setup.exe installation.</p> -<p>If you are adventurous (i.e., masochistic) you can also download the +<p>If you are adventurous (i.e. masochistic) you can also download the Cygwin distribution via ftp or http using some other program than -setup.exe. If you do this, note that the distribution is currently -located in two directories: "latest" and "contrib". That is subject to -change at any time, though.</p> +setup.exe. If you do this, note that the distribution is currently +located in one directory: "release". That is subject to change at any time, + though.</p> <p>The Cygwin distribution consists of standard UNIX .tar.gz or .tar.bz2 files. Cygwin's tar + gzip + bzip2 programs can unpack these files, just like their UNIX counterparts however you will probably find yourself in a chicken/egg situation if you attempt this without Cygwin -installed on your system (see below). Installing Cygwin using this -method is <em>not</em> recommended.</p> +installed on your system (see below). Installing Cygwin using this +method is <em>not</em> recommended. Further documentation on the packaging +format and setup.ini database is available from <a href="setup.html">here</a> +and <a href="http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin-apps/setup.html";>here</a>.</p> <p>Note that you may be tempted to unpack the .tar.gz files with some -Windows program like WinZip. This will not work reliably. Cygwin's tar -files are not fully understood by WinZip. Attempting to use WinZip to -unpack a distribution will result in a damaged Cygwin installation.</p> +Windows program like WinZip. This will not work. Tar files are not fully +understood by WinZip. Attempting to use WinZip to unpack a distribution +<em>will</em> result in a damaged Cygwin installation.</p> <!--#include virtual="cygwin-footer.html"--> </body> > -----Original Message----- > From: Perry Hutchison [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]] > Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2002 2:13 PM > To: Robert Collins > Cc: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: RE: setup fails: "Can't open (null) for reading: No > such file" > > > > > When I read the instructions a month ago, I got the=20 impression > > > that 'install from internet' would not save the=20 downloaded > > > packages after installing them. Perhaps the=20 documentation > > > (and/or the behavior of > > > setup) has changed since then. > > > > It hasn't changed in years. Can you point me to the area of > > documentation that suggested the incorrect behaviour to you? > > It's www.cygwin.com/download.html > > Even now, I see nothing there to suggest that an "install > from internet" would also retain the uninstalled packages. I > visualize it downloading a package, installing it, and then > deleting the downloaded file before downloading the next > package, so as to minimize disk requirements. > > -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Bug reporting: http://cygwin.com/bugs.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/
