Subject: RE: setup fails: "Can't open (null) for reading: No such file"
From: "Robert Collins" <[email-masked]>
To: "Perry Hutchison" <[email-masked]>
Cc: <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 5 May 2002 16:35:05 +1000

Yes, that page is a bit confusing. 

Chris - is this patch acceptable for the web site?

Index: download.html
===================================================================
RCS file: /cvs/cygwin/htdocs/download.html,v
retrieving revision 1.51
diff -u -p -r1.51 download.html
--- download.html	18 Apr 2002 15:24:29 -0000	1.51
+++ download.html	5 May 2002 06:34:49 -0000
@@ -14,33 +14,37 @@ setup.exe program to your computer.  Whe
 asked a series of questions for installing Cygwin on your computer.
 Using setup.exe is the only supported method for installing Cygwin.</p>
 
-<p>The setup.exe program also allows you to download the Cygwin files
to
-a directory on your computer without installing them.  By copying this
-download directory to other systems or putting it on a file server, you
-can, at a later time, use setup.exe to install directly from your hard
-disk.</p>
+<p>The setup.exe program always caches the package files that it
downloads to 
+save you time if you need to reinstall, or to install multiple
machines. If for 
+some reason you do not want to install what you download on your local
machine, 
+the setup.exe program allows you to download the Cygwin files to a
directory on 
+your computer without installing them. By copying this download
directory to 
+other systems or putting it on a file server, you can, at a later time,
use 
+setup.exe to install directly from your hard disk.</p>
 
 <p>Due to volume limitations, the Cygwin distribution is only available
from
 <a href="mirrors.html">mirror sites</a>.  You'll be prompted to choose
one
 of these during the setup.exe installation.</p>
 
-<p>If you are adventurous (i.e., masochistic) you can also download the
+<p>If you are adventurous (i.e. masochistic) you can also download the
 Cygwin distribution via ftp or http using some other program than
-setup.exe.  If you do this, note that the distribution is currently
-located in two directories: "latest" and "contrib".  That is subject to
-change at any time, though.</p>
+setup.exe. If you do this, note that the distribution is currently
+located in one directory: "release".  That is subject to change at any
time, 
+  though.</p>
 
 <p>The Cygwin distribution consists of standard UNIX .tar.gz or
.tar.bz2
 files.  Cygwin's tar + gzip + bzip2 programs can unpack these files,
 just like their UNIX counterparts however you will probably find
 yourself in a chicken/egg situation if you attempt this without Cygwin
-installed on your system (see below).  Installing Cygwin using this
-method is <em>not</em> recommended.</p>
+installed on your system (see below). Installing Cygwin using this
+method is <em>not</em> recommended. Further documentation on the
packaging
+format and setup.ini database is available from <a
href="setup.html">here</a> 
+and <a
href="http://sources.redhat.com/cygwin-apps/setup.html">here</a>.</p>
 
 <p>Note that you may be tempted to unpack the .tar.gz files with some
-Windows program like WinZip.  This will not work reliably.  Cygwin's
tar
-files are not fully understood by WinZip.  Attempting to use WinZip to
-unpack a distribution will result in a damaged Cygwin installation.</p>
+Windows program like WinZip.  This will not work. Tar files are not
fully 
+understood by WinZip. Attempting to use WinZip to unpack a distribution

+<em>will</em> result in a damaged Cygwin installation.</p>
 
 <!--#include virtual="cygwin-footer.html"-->
 </body>

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Perry Hutchison [mailto:[email-masked]] 
> Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2002 2:13 PM
> To: Robert Collins
> Cc: [email-masked]
> Subject: RE: setup fails: "Can't open (null) for reading: No 
> such file"
> 
> 
> > > When I read the instructions a month ago, I got the=20 impression 
> > > that 'install from internet' would not save the=20 downloaded 
> > > packages after installing them.  Perhaps the=20 documentation 
> > > (and/or the behavior of
> > > setup) has changed since then.
> > 
> > It hasn't changed in years. Can you point me to the area of 
> > documentation that suggested the incorrect behaviour to you?
> 
> It's www.cygwin.com/download.html
> 
> Even now, I see nothing there to suggest that an "install 
> from internet" would also retain the uninstalled packages.  I 
> visualize it downloading a package, installing it, and then 
> deleting the downloaded file before downloading the next 
> package, so as to minimize disk requirements.
> 
> 

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