| From: | David Trollope |
| Date: | 6 Sep 2000 at 04:08:26 |
| Subject: | Re: AMIOPEN: Compressed archive formats and Installers |
Hi Jesse,
>> I would like to take this topic one step further, and suggest that an
> installer is
>> provided also. The installer can read the chosen archive format and
> install
>> the files in the right place on the system, checking version numbers etc.
> Of
>> course this would require a standard versioning technique also. These are
>> all things the classic had and should be carried over. (Except the
>> installer reading the archive itself...)
>
> Way ahead of ya, buddy. (:
I was wondering why no-one replied until I looked in outgoing...... :(
> Personal opinion though; archive format details shouldn't be hard coded
> into *any* installer. It should be able to make use of whatever archiver
> achieves the best compression for that patch set. Especially if that
> installer is also integrated with an auto-update-like feature, among other
> things....
I agree, the two components of the tool should be abstracted, one shouldn't
be hardcoding that stuff. Should be able to plugin any archive type, but it
may be harder to map different archive contents to Ami structure. The zip
symbolic link issue is one example. A new format should be abstracted so
that any sufficient archiver can be used. An archive plugin/datatype etc.
But the twist should be that the install is driven from the archive
contents. Not just a case of load an archive, install it. The tool can work
with the archiver to determine which files need to be extracted. Why extract
all languages etc when the user only wants english??? Why extract .16 files
when only .00 are needed?
In this way the tool can tie together the archiver and installer, but as you
say it shouldn't be hardcoded to one archive format. Its harder to get this
level of integration efficiently in separate tools. It may just be easier to
start with a new format and expand to other archives fixing the
idiosyncracies with plugin code for that archive format later.
Sounds like a perfect VP toolset.
> *whistles innocently*
>
>> One should also be careful of compression copyright infringements.... It
>> gets ugly...
>
> Which is why it should be independent of all compression.
Dodgy ground - don't want to bore people following this track...
> On a (barely-)related note, everyone knows that the RSA patent
> expires on Sept 20th, don't they? (:
>
Nope - interesting...
Dave
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