Harold Fuchs wrote:
On 13/04/2008 03:47, jonathon wrote:
On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 5:07 PM, phil wrote:
Why doesn't the install remove these files if the install is
successful.
Because OOo needs them when uninstalling itself.
xan
jonathon
Sorry but I think this is just plain wrong. The installation is a
3-step process:
1. Download a file from the OOo web site; let's call this file the
Installer.
2. Run the Installer. This creates a folder with several files and
folders within it; let's call this the Installation Set.
3. From within the Installation Set' "root" folder, run setup.exe (or
equivalent). This step is normally automatic; it does the actual
installation of OOo components, configuration files etc. and, on
Windows, updates the Registry appropriately.
The files and folders created in #1 and #2 above are *not* required to
uninstall OOo. These files and folders could therefore be deleted
automatically once #3 has completed successfully. Well, all but one of
them could - the program that does the deleting can't easily delete
itself - unless it can somehow mark itself for deletion at the next
re-boot (or the first time an OOo component is executed).
Note that we are talking Windows here. I don't suppose the idea is
much different on Mac/*nix but I'm not sure. Certainly Mac/*nix users
don't seem to have this problem. Perhaps someone would explain why.
The explanation might lead to a simple solution for Windows. On the
other hand, new Mac users don't seem to be able to find anything
except Writer. That seems to be because the installer doesn't put
icons for Calc etc. anywhere sensible .....
Of course a simple partial solution would be to include comments in
the Installation Instructions for Windows
(http://download.openoffice.org/common/instructions.html#win) to the
effect that the Installer and the Installation Set can (should !) be
deleted once OOo is properly installed. I was very surprised when I
read them just now that such comments are not included. Perhaps
comments could also be included in the Installation instructions for
Mac about how to find Calc etc. :-)
What you just described above needs to be in every Linux installation
procedure. The user needs to be able to underastand what is going on.
Some don't need it, some do. It would save many questions. There
should be a bash script (read DOS batch file), well commented,
explaining each step. It might need to be modified for each version,
but questions like "Do I need to remove the previous version?" won't be
asked. By the way, how does OOo deal with the issue of "I installed the
new version, now I have a problem with some of my data files? Is the
previous version lurking there somewhere? Was it deleted? Why are the
installation files not deleted? These would all be answered in a well
commented script. Oh, and we would learn something at the same time.
John
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