Mailing-List: contact cygwin-help@cygwin.com; run by ezmlm List-Subscribe: List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: , Sender: cygwin-owner@cygwin.com Mail-Followup-To: cygwin@cygwin.com Delivered-To: mailing list cygwin@cygwin.com Date: Fri, 28 Jan 2005 13:09:26 -0800 (PST) From: "Peter A. Castro" To: Cygwin List Subject: Re: Problem uninstalling/deleting cygwin In-Reply-To: Message-ID: References: <6.2.0.14.0.20050125123925.04fbea60@pop.prospeed.net> <6.2.0.14.0.20050125231005.05a33c40@pop.prospeed.net> <6.2.0.14.0.20050126160850.057de990@pop.prospeed.net> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII X-IsSubscribed: yes On Thu, 27 Jan 2005, Joshua Daniel Franklin wrote: > Larry Hall wrote: > > At 02:10 PM 1/26/2005, you wrote: > > >I will be adding > > >doc to the webpage talking about the perils of downgrading, but in truth > > >this subject should be noted in the normal FAQ concerning reverting to > > >the previous version as well. > > > > The Cygwin FAQ doesn't seem to be the right place for the Cygwin > > version of this information though. Maybe the UG is? Joshua, what's your > > thoughts on this? > > I agree with Peter that the this is a common problem on any OS, but I > try not to put any generic good ideas in the FAQ, only ones specific to > Cygwin. Sort-of the same thing with the User's Guide, the reader is > expected to have a certain level of computer knowledge and common > sense. Hmm... As someone who writes doc for a product I produce (and have had to revise many times as customers often make assumptions which are usually quite wrong), I'm torn on this issue. Yes, we would expect a certain level of competency and common sense, but for first or second time users that may not be the case. Even for seasoned veterans, diddling with a previously unknown/unused package can lead to surprise. Consider that most package management systems do not give the option to install a previous version of a product. I think this is somewhat unique to Cygwin's Setup. Additionally, we'd like to assume that removing a package would clean everything related to it and new installations would properly update anything it needs to. In practice, this is often not true and is really quite specific on a product/package basis. Witness Windows' own program manager which, even when a product has been removed. often leaves bits of itself in directories (and espectially in the Registry). Subsequent installations/upgrades can either take advantage of these droppings or (more often) cause problems because the environment isn't clean. I guess, part of the professionalism of a product, is to provide as much meaningful information as possible, but also to account for the "cock-pit errors" that commonly occur and give warnings concerning them. It's often a helpful reminder for the newbie as well as the seasoned user that "shift happens". -- Peter A. Castro or "Cats are just autistic Dogs" -- Dr. Tony Attwood -- Unsubscribe info: http://cygwin.com/ml/#unsubscribe-simple Problem reports: http://cygwin.com/problems.html Documentation: http://cygwin.com/docs.html FAQ: http://cygwin.com/faq/