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From: Jan K. <ja...@jk...> - 2010-07-19 22:20:06
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Hi! As there is not yet an installer for MinGW I wrote a small installer myself. It is basically a short C++ program which copies the files to the right places and also sets the paths for MSys. It does not provide a GUI or a lot of comfort. I use this to get a standardized MinGW system, but maybe this is also of interest for some of you. The installer also contains some additional libraries which are not part of MinGW, but that I find useful for my work. You can download the installer package from my homepage: - Readme: http://jkrieger.de/download/mingw_installer1_readme.txt - Package: http://jkrieger.de/download/mingw_installer1.7z Best, JAN |
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From: Earnie <ea...@us...> - 2010-07-20 11:48:43
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Jan Krieger wrote: > Hi! > > As there is not yet an installer for MinGW I wrote a small installer > myself. It is basically a short C++ program which copies the files to > the right places and also sets the paths for MSys. It does not provide a > GUI or a lot of comfort. I use this to get a standardized MinGW system, > but maybe this is also of interest for some of you. The installer also > contains some additional libraries which are not part of MinGW, but that > I find useful for my work. > WTH did you not just help with the installer that is being developed officially instead of yet another one off? If you have time to code your own you surely have time to help with mingw-get. -- Earnie -- http://www.for-my-kids.com |
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From: Charles W. <cwi...@us...> - 2010-07-20 15:10:28
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On 7/20/2010 7:48 AM, Earnie wrote:
>
> WTH did you not just help with the installer that is being developed
> officially instead of yet another one off? If you have time to code
> your own you surely have time to help with mingw-get.
>
That not fair, Earnie. The reason the OP -- or anybody else -- hasn't
helped with mingw-get, is because NO ONE can help with mingw-get.
Unless something has changed, Keith still is not ready to accept outside
patches (he actually said that, on this list, at some point in the past
and AFAIK that still stands).
Hell, I pay pretty close attention, and it still took me three
read-thrus and four attempts to use mingw-get correctly.
Plus, mingw-get can't be used to install msys yet.
However, if somebody wanted to install just MinGW, then mingw-get CAN be
used for that purpose. What's missing is:
1) An installer-for-the-installer. Yes, people could
a) d/l
http://sourceforge.net/downloads/mingw/Automated%20MinGW%20Installer/mingw-get/mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-2-bin.zip
b) unzip it
c) read the release notes and realize they must copy
INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/defaults.xml
to INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml
and, perhaps, open it in a text editor and modify the contents
in order to choose where they want to actually install MinGW
itself
d) run INSTALLER_DIR/bin/mingw-get with the appropriate arguments
But that's really asking a lot. Folks want a download-and-run,
point-n-click installer -- at least, at first, to get them up and running.
So, we *could* generate a very simple InnoSetup or NSIS installer that
does the four steps above, and modifies the
INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml as appropriate based on
a wizard page in the installer.
This is probably a Saturday afternoon project.
2) Documentation, documentation, documentation. The steps above should
be validated/verified and docu'ed somewhere PROMINENTLY on the wiki.
And we should put the click-once installer from step #1 as the main d/l
on the mingw sf page.
But all of THAT presupposes that mingw-get moves to at least beta stage.
People are scared of alphas.
--
Chuck
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From: Fredric J. <fre...@gm...> - 2010-07-20 16:36:05
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On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Charles Wilson <cwi...@us...> wrote: > On 7/20/2010 7:48 AM, Earnie wrote: >> >> WTH did you not just help with the installer that is being developed >> officially instead of yet another one off? If you have time to code >> your own you surely have time to help with mingw-get. >> > That not fair, Earnie. The reason the OP -- or anybody else -- hasn't > helped with mingw-get, is because NO ONE can help with mingw-get. > Unless something has changed, Keith still is not ready to accept outside > patches (he actually said that, on this list, at some point in the past > and AFAIK that still stands). > > Hell, I pay pretty close attention, and it still took me three > read-thrus and four attempts to use mingw-get correctly. I can only agree with this. It didn't have any help option when I tried it and looking online for how to use it is a no go for an installer > > > Plus, mingw-get can't be used to install msys yet. > > However, if somebody wanted to install just MinGW, then mingw-get CAN be > used for that purpose. What's missing is: > > 1) An installer-for-the-installer. Yes, people could > a) d/l > http://sourceforge.net/downloads/mingw/Automated%20MinGW%20Installer/mingw-get/mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-2-bin.zip > > b) unzip it > > c) read the release notes and realize they must copy > INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/defaults.xml > to INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml > and, perhaps, open it in a text editor and modify the contents > in order to choose where they want to actually install MinGW > itself > > d) run INSTALLER_DIR/bin/mingw-get with the appropriate arguments > > But that's really asking a lot. Folks want a download-and-run, > point-n-click installer -- at least, at first, to get them up and running. I agree here too. But even if a user tries mingw-get and get it to work it still only delivers gcc 3.4.5 instead of 4.x unless I have missed something. I looked at the NSIS installer long ago so I don't remember how hard it would have been to modify the installer to install 4.x as only option or as an either 4.x or 3.4.5 installer. A few hours work to keep the users content until mingw-get is done. > So, we *could* generate a very simple InnoSetup or NSIS installer that > does the four steps above, and modifies the > INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml as appropriate based on > a wizard page in the installer. > > This is probably a Saturday afternoon project. > > 2) Documentation, documentation, documentation. The steps above should > be validated/verified and docu'ed somewhere PROMINENTLY on the wiki. > And we should put the click-once installer from step #1 as the main d/l > on the mingw sf page. > > But all of THAT presupposes that mingw-get moves to at least beta stage. > People are scared of alphas. > > -- > Chuck Fredric J |
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From: Keith M. <kei...@us...> - 2010-07-22 21:19:16
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On Tuesday 20 July 2010 17:35:57 Fredric Johansson wrote: > On Tue, Jul 20, 2010 at 5:11 PM, Charles Wilson > > <cwi...@us...> wrote: > > On 7/20/2010 7:48 AM, Earnie wrote: > >> WTH did you not just help with the installer that is being > >> developed officially instead of yet another one off? If you have > >> time to code your own you surely have time to help with mingw-get. > > > > That not fair, Earnie. No, it is not fair. However... > > The reason the OP -- or anybody else -- > > hasn't helped with mingw-get, is because NO ONE can help with > > mingw-get. Unless something has changed, Keith still is not ready > > to accept outside patches (he actually said that, on this list, at > > some point in the past and AFAIK that still stands). I said that at the time when John E. had volunteered to develop mingw-get; he had stated that he felt that he needed to do some more work on the CVS sources, to get them to a fit state for others to be able to interpret, before they could likely contribute effectively. Since I have taken the lead on the development, this is no longer the case, but I guess I neglected to revoke the prior statement; if anyone does feel they would like to help, I will gratefully accept patches. > > Hell, I pay pretty close attention, and it still took me three > > read-thrus and four attempts to use mingw-get correctly. Which tells me that the release notes I've provided don't really provide sufficient explanation. That's an area where I really could use some help; what may seem crystal clear to me, as developer, may not be so meaningful to users, who are less familiar with the code. > I can only agree with this. It didn't have any help option when I > tried it and looking online for how to use it is a no go for an > installer Adding a help option is on my TO DO list; it isn't my primary focus at the moment, but I think it must be considered a prerequisite for moving from alpha to beta release status. > > Plus, mingw-get can't be used to install msys yet. As of Monday this week, it can install "msys-tiny" -- a working bash shell environment, with a carefully selected subset of GNU coreutils -- but that still falls some way short of what most users will expect of "msys-base". Getting from "msys-tiny" to "msys-base" is a relatively simple matter of validating, testing and uploading (to FRS) additional XML distribution manifests, which Chuck has already provided, but even that takes some time and effort; it doesn't happen overnight. > > However, if somebody wanted to install just MinGW, then mingw-get > > CAN be used for that purpose. What's missing is: > > > > 1) An installer-for-the-installer. Yes, people could > > a) d/l > > http://sourceforge.net/downloads/mingw/Automated%20MinGW%20Installe > >r/mingw-get/mingw-get-0.1-mingw32-alpha-2-bin.zip > > > > b) unzip it > > > > c) read the release notes and realize they must copy > > INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/defaults.xml > > to INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml > > and, perhaps, open it in a text editor and modify the > > contents in order to choose where they want to actually install > > MinGW itself > > > > d) run INSTALLER_DIR/bin/mingw-get with the appropriate > > arguments > > > > But that's really asking a lot. Folks want a download-and-run, > > point-n-click installer -- at least, at first, to get them up and > > running. > > I agree here too. > But even if a user tries mingw-get and get it to work it still only > delivers gcc 3.4.5 instead of 4.x unless I have missed something. You haven't missed anything. I've started preparing XML manifests to move towards GCC-4.5 delivery, but once again, these require finite time to complete; they aren't yet ready, even to a point where they could be considered viable as a replacement for the GCC-3.4.5 versions which are currently provided. > I looked at the NSIS installer long ago so I don't remember how hard > it would have been to modify the installer to install 4.x as only > option or as an either 4.x or 3.4.5 installer. A few hours work to > keep the users content until mingw-get is done. Well, I looked into the viability of this when we split mingwrt into separate -dll and -dev components. That ostensibly trivial change took us from MinGW-5.1.4 through MinGW-5.1.5, (which turned out to be VERY unreliable), to MinGW-5.1.6. The effort required to achieve even that minor change was sufficient to convince me that NSIS has no future as a delivery agent for MinGW; if I never have to look into NSIS scripting again, it will be too soon. > > So, we *could* generate a very simple InnoSetup or NSIS installer > > that does the four steps above, and modifies the > > INSTALLER_DIR/var/lib/mingw-get/data/profile.xml as appropriate > > based on a wizard page in the installer. We could, but... > > This is probably a Saturday afternoon project. ...for someone other than me. (And someone who is willing to commit to maintaining it, for the foreseeable future -- simply contributing and walking away, as the contributor of MinGW-5.1.x did, isn't going to win any kudos). > > 2) Documentation, documentation, documentation. The steps above > > should be validated/verified and docu'ed somewhere PROMINENTLY on > > the wiki. Yes, this is necessary. It is something that the users really can help with; if it is left to me alone, it will likely take some time, and may end up being too terse to be genuinely useful. > > And we should put the click-once installer from step #1 > > as the main d/l on the mingw sf page. Yes, we should -- when someone cares to contribute it. > > But all of THAT presupposes that mingw-get moves to at least beta > > stage. People are scared of alphas. I could call it beta-1 tomorrow; the functionality already delivered is probably robust enough to merit that, but it would be incomplete. I think that change of designation should be deferred until: * a "help" option is provided. * a mechanism for listing available packages, (those available to install, and those already installed), has been implemented. and perhaps, but maybe not necessarily: * the ability to remove installed packages has been added. -- Regards, Keith. |
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From: Mauricio G. <mgp...@gm...> - 2010-07-20 15:45:37
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Thanks for sharing Jan. 2010/7/19 Jan Krieger <ja...@jk...>: > > You can download the installer package from my homepage: > - Readme: http://jkrieger.de/download/mingw_installer1_readme.txt > - Package: http://jkrieger.de/download/mingw_installer1.7z > > Best, > JAN > -- Mau |
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From: Joel C. S. <joe...@gm...> - 2010-07-22 23:31:54
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On 07/22/2010 10:53 AM, Keith Marshall wrote: > I could call it beta-1 tomorrow; the functionality already delivered is > probably robust enough to merit that, but it would be incomplete. I > think that change of designation should be deferred until: > > * a "help" option is provided. > > * a mechanism for listing available packages, (those available to > install, and those already installed), has been implemented. > > and perhaps, but maybe not necessarily: > > * the ability to remove installed packages has been added. I'm curious: How can an 'update' action work reliably if a 'remove' action is not present? Unless every updated package has a complete superset of the older version's files. --Joel Salomon |
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From: Keith M. <kei...@us...> - 2010-07-23 16:34:47
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On Friday 23 July 2010 00:31:28 Joel C. Salomon wrote:
> On 07/22/2010 10:53 AM, Keith Marshall wrote:
> > I could call it beta-1 tomorrow; the functionality already
> > delivered is probably robust enough to merit that, but it would be
> > incomplete. I think that change of designation should be deferred
> > until:
> >
> > ...
> >
> > and perhaps, but maybe not necessarily:
> >
> > * the ability to remove installed packages has been added.
>
> I'm curious: How can an 'update' action work reliably if a 'remove'
> action is not present?
It can't...
> Unless every updated package has a complete superset of the older
> version's files.
...except when this is the case. Otherwise, an "upgrade"[*] *will*
leave behind some no-longer-referenced clutter, in the form of files
which were not simply overwritten by the newer version. This is why I
think it is desirable that this function be implemented, before we
progress to beta testing, but, IIRC Chuck expressed the view, (on
MinGW-dvlpr), that it *might* be acceptable to make the progression
ahead of that implementation.
[*] It may seem like nit-picking, but just FTR, let's formalise some
nomenclature, (adopted from apt-get but not necessarily with identical
semantics):
mingw-get update
is used to bring the locally cached copy of the XML distribution
manifest files up to date WRT their counterparts in FRS; to bring an
already-installed package, (and its prerequisites), up to latest
versions, you use:
mingw-get upgrade package-name
--
Regards,
Keith.
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