Re: GSoC project about binary packaging

[Anirudha Bose]

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 8:39 PM, Michael Goffioul <address@hidden> wrote:

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 11:05 AM, Anirudha Bose <address@hidden> wrote:

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 8:03 PM, Patrick Noffke <address@hidden> wrote:

On Mon, Jul 8, 2013 at 9:23 AM, Michael Goffioul
<address@hidden> wrote:
> I know nothing about WiX, but what are the advantages over NSIS?
>

I talked about this in an earlier post, but the main one that I think
is relevant to Octave is deployment in a locked-down/Active Directory
infrastructure, where Windows Installer files are supposedly
preferred.  I'm not yet sure why this is true, or what the technical
basis is.

>>
>> - Adding environment variables:  Here's an example of updating the
>> PATH environment variable:
>>
>> http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1931586/can-anyone-give-me-a-example-of-modifying-windows-environment-system-variables-i
>> Note the follow-up answer that says it needs to be part of a directory
>> element.
>
>
> I'm really not found of programs that modify my PATH environment (actually,
> I hate them). Why do we need to add octave bin directory to the PATH?

I was just trying to give an example of adding (or editing) an
environment variable, since Anirudha asked for it.  I don't know what
variable he wanted to add.

Pat

To get Octave work on Windows 8 properly (load the GUI), someone had suggested adding the path octave\bin to the PATH environment variable. I have really forgotten who had given me that suggestion. Moreover, we could launch Octave from the command line if we add an environment variable (not sure if that is useful). :)

Do you really think people using Win8 are starting programs from the command-line... ? ;)

Adding octave bin pollutes the PATH variable and can create conflicts, because it brings in a whole bunch of DLLs, which may conflict and interfere with other programs. For instance MiKTeX installs itself in the PATH, but it also provides its own version of Qt DLL. That interference and name clash issue is the main reason I've used library prefix in my binaries.

Michael.

You are right. Probably this will be an unnecessary feature. BTW, I am liking WiX. So far I have read about it, I have come to know that uninstalls  are more reliable in MSI installers.