Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!husc6!mailrus!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!bigtex!james From: james@bigtex.uucp (James Van Artsdalen) Newsgroups: comp.sys.ibm.pc Subject: Re: Setup Programs Summary: Mostly Brief-specific Keywords: brief Message-ID: <2514@bigtex.uucp> Date: 6 Jun 88 04:06:38 GMT References: <33336@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> <5854@pyr.gatech.EDU> <2245@bigtex.uucp> <33955@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com> Reply-To: james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen) Distribution: na Organization: F.B.N. Software, Austin TX Lines: 64 IN article <33955@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com>, tat00@amdahl.uts.amdahl.com (Tom Thackrey) wrote: > In article <2245@bigtex.uucp> james@bigtex.UUCP (James Van Artsdalen) writes: > >[ extolling the virtues of the Brief setup program ] > Sounds great, maybe the writers of Brief have anticipated all possible > configurations. My experience is that setup programs assume too much. They appear to have anticipated all common configurations. :-) It's almost like the legal question "Are there any reasonable and prudent people?", and the answer is of course, No. > Like -only 1 hard disk, It will work with more than one hard disk. > -only 1 copy of the software (I almost always have a test and production > version), By default it will replace the existing version. You would have to change several defaults to get it to install somewhere other than the current Brief. A quick glance shows four environment variables that are sensitive to where Brief is installed (where macros are located, where the help files are, where the stored "state" is, and where backups are made). > -only 1 autoexec.bat or config.sys etc, Well, since you've only *GOT* one autoexec.bat & config.sys (unless you boot from floppy?), I don't see this as a harmful assumption... But again, you get to see the changes it wants to make, and either refuse them, or write to a different file. > -specific directory names for some things, By default, it uses the directory names you used for the last install. All of those can be changed before actual installation. > -only 1 monitor, I'm not sure if Brief can internally switch between monitors on demand. I think it just uses what's currently selected. It does use an alternate screen page where possible. > -only 1 printer, Well, you can always issue a write-file to lpt2... > and so on. IF the program tells me what it's going to do and gives me > the choice to abort and complete the installation manually, Ok. Yep, it does. The only gotcha is that you have to remember to recompile your macros. I have a makefile that does this. > My preference would be software that installed by simply copying the > distributions disks into a directory. If I have to use a setup program, > I want to know exactly what it's going to do and have the option to > abort before I get trash all over my disks. You do have that option. What my original message should have stated is that Brief's setup program derives its *default* values from the environment & autoexec & config files. You get to see and change all of those values, and just abandon the project altogether if desired. -- James R. Van Artsdalen ...!ut-sally!utastro!bigtex!james "Live Free or Die" Home: 512-346-2444 Work: 328-0282; 110 Wild Basin Rd. Ste #230, Austin TX 78746