[From the minutes]
toad_ and nextgens bring up problems with the current windows installer,
and give a brief of its history.
nextgens notes that the hardest part is to continuously maintain it, to
ensure that it keeps working.
toad_ points out that he needs to purchase copies of Windows for testing
purposes.
Various people discuss ways of implementing a windows installer,
including MSI/NSIS and even using a VM.
infinity0 notes that this doesn't solve the problem of needing a regular
maintainer.
p0s argues that the windows installer is an important component and
therefore by default falls to toad_ if no other suitable person can be
found.
toad_ accepts this solution in the case where our current maintainer
Zero3 doesn't show up in time for the next release.
sanity offers to provide windows licenses.
[My comments]
I feel like I ought to comment on the above, being the one that made
(and kind-of maintains) the thing :).
I'm not sure if it was mentioned at the meeting, but I'd like to point
out that the main issues throughout the years have been directly related
to
A) The custom user we used (was removed some time ago)
B) The custom service we used (was removed in the latest alpha)
(both of which I argued on getting rid of back when I originally built
our new windows installer, several years ago, but was overruled :()
As we now know, neither of the above is easy to do properly across the
vast lanscape of Windows installations. A) isn't exactly good practice
on Windows anyway, but B) ought to be doable. B) will work on pretty
much any Windows machine out-of-the-box, but has showed to be impossibly
hard to make work reliably on certain existing setups.
I agree with nextgens that one of the main issues is maintenance. The
first year or so after my initial version was easy enough for me to do
alone, given my situation back then, but since I've started on my CS
studies it has been increasingly difficult for me to find time for
maintaining it. Another person or two would help a lot.
Regarding choice of installer (custom AHK vs. NSIS vs. MSI vs...), I
still believe that a custom installer is a huge bonus to usability. The
downside, however, is that it requires more maintenance compared to a
standardized wizard installer.
- Zero3
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