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Message-ID: <000b01c27c55$95b02a90$78d96f83@pomello>
From: "Max Bowsher" <maxb AT ukf DOT net>
To: "Michael D. Berger & Rosalie A. Clavez" <mdberger AT radix DOT net>,
   <cygwin AT cygwin DOT com>
References: <3DB83240 DOT A172FCA5 AT radix DOT net> <01b401c27b86$f6388ad0$78d96f83 AT pomello> <3DB86D5C DOT E4D2E0FD AT radix DOT net> <004601c27c3d$dec44850$78d96f83 AT pomello> <3DB96DB1 DOT 62388B66 AT radix DOT net> <00cc01c27c44$f5b5ade0$78d96f83 AT pomello> <3DB97B8E DOT AC7CC1AD AT radix DOT net>
Subject: Re: setup.exe: keep
Date: Fri, 25 Oct 2002 19:37:19 +0100
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Michael D. Berger & Rosalie A. Clavez <mdberger AT radix DOT net> wrote:

>>> Max Bowsher wrote:
>>>> Please keep replies on list.

> Max Bowsher wrote:
>> PLEASE KEEP REPLIES ON LIST.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! PLEASE KEEP REPLIES ON THE CYGWIN MAILING LIST
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! DO NOT SEND TO ME PERSONALLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OTHERS ON THE LIST MIGHT BE ABLE TO HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


>> Michael D. Berger & Rosalie A. Clavez <mdberger AT radix DOT net> wrote:
> By "complete" I mean all files of any kind that would be required for
> an installation.  I would like to do this without the software
> observing what I already have.  One would think that this would not
> be hard to do.

Ah. Yes, this is one of the less helpful features of setup.exe.

I'm manually downloading setup.bz2 (bzip2ed setup.ini) and using Michael
Chase's clean_setup.pl, and using the -missing and -missingprefix options to
generate an urllist which I then wget.
http://home.ix.netcom.com/~mchase/zip/
It works pretty well, so long as you don't switch mirror often.

>> Point 3 & 4: There really is no need to wipe and reinstall Cygwin.
>> Just let setup.exe update your install.
>
> I assure you that I am fully aware of this, but again, it is not
> relevant to my question. The issue is that I don't seem to have a
> choice regarding whether or not I use this feature.

Well, I suppose you could always just delete the cygwin install root, and
also its registry key. ({HKLM,HKCU}/Software/Cygnus Solutions)

> I gather that some of what I am saying is cryptic to you.  The matter
> is quite simple if you consider it from the point of view of
> Configuration Management.  In this context, it is often required to
> have the ability to reproduce not only the source code for a version,
> but the environment in which the version was developed. The four
> steps I mention would achieve this end easily.  However, the
> procedure you suggest would require that to achieve this, I would
> have to sequentially install numerous versions.  This could be quite
> tedious, and would call into question the usability of the Cygwin
> software for certain kinds of contracts.

It depends on how much you trust setup.exe to do its job right. I suppose if
you have to work to extremely strict guidelines, then the only solutions
_is_ to wipe and reinstall Cygwin all the time.

> This is the general reason, but as I have suggested above, the reason
> is not really at issue.

No, but it helps me understand the issue.

> The question is technically, can I achieve
> what I want.

Yes, but:
1) setup.exe's behaviour in Download from Internet mode - i.e. looking at
installed packages rather than cached packages - is annoying. clean_setup.pl
may offer an alternate way.
2) There is no automated uninstall for Cygwin. However, manual removal is
possible, and relatively simple, as above.
3) Repeatedly reinstalling Cygwin is a pain, because you have to keep
choosing packages by clicking - i.e. no easy automation. Possible solutions
include: 1) Wait for someone to finish off setup command line support. 2)
Contribute a patch to setup. 3) create a my-override-dir/setup.ini file,
which changes the category for all the packages you want to 'Base'.

Max.


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