I wanted to thank the windows installer team and offer a fresh
perspective. I don't think that Windows Installer sucks, and I just
can't get myself to hate the technology.
I think building a solid installer should be as hard as writing good
code and force you to think. Every time I put an average developer on
something seemingly easy that they can't screw up, I end up with crap
that needs to be thrown away. If it's easy, it's done fast and it works,
until it doesn't or until you read the code. For important pieces of any
application, I need experienced senior people. So a huge problem is the
misconception that an average developer can do an installer well - truth
is that an average developer can't do anything well, MSI is no
exception.
In my company the few very senior people jumpstart everything, including
installers. Once the hard stuff is done, architecture is designed and
essential pieces are implemented, tasks are distributed amongst less
experienced yet smart people. They are monitored through standard code
reviews, heavy unit testing, etc.
I've used wix since 1.0 and my Microsoft days. It's imperfect, but it
helps me put installer code at the same level as C++ or C# code, and
that's the most important thing for me. We write custom actions when we
can't build a feature into the product itself. Some things do frustrate
me in MSI, but not as much as the weather that forces me to use the
indoor pool :)
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Chris
Mumford
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2008 12:13 AM
To: wix-users@lists.sourceforge.net
Subject: [WiX-users] yep - back to being 100% frustrated
Man:
I can't believe how much making Windows Installer based installs suck -
I mean really sucks! Did we just invent this technology to make us hate
our lives?
And WiX doesn't make it any easier.
I'm calling it a night.
Peace out man...
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