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X-Authentication-Warning: slinky.cs.nyu.edu: pechtcha owned process doing -bs
Date: Mon, 12 May 2003 13:03:01 -0400 (EDT)
From: Igor Pechtchanski <pechtcha AT cs DOT nyu DOT edu>
Reply-To: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
To: Jean Delvare <khali AT linux-fr DOT org>
cc: cygwin AT cygwin DOT com
Subject: Re: redistributing cygwin1.dll
In-Reply-To: <20030512184540.2812bf86.khali@linux-fr.org>
Message-ID: <Pine.GSO.4.44.0305121253100.393-100000@slinky.cs.nyu.edu>
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Jean,

I have set the Reply-To: field to point to the list -- please make sure
your mailer honors that.  Thanks.  More replies below.

On Mon, 12 May 2003, Jean Delvare wrote:

> > > So, I really believe you should set a place up where people can get
> > > the latest version of cygwin1.dll, in binary and source forms. A
> > > simple or http directory would do it, if you don't want to make it
> > > very public and advertise for it. Authors like me would then just
> > > have to link to the directory, sparing disk space and protecting the
> > > GPL.
> > >
> > > Comments welcome.
> >
> > Jean,
> >
> > This has been rehashed on the list many times.  There is such a place
> > -- in fact, many places, collectively called "the Cygwin mirrors".
> > Simply instruct your users to download "setup.exe" from Cygwin's main
> > site (i.e.,<http://cygwin.com/>), and use it to install the "cygwin"
> > package.  This will get them a minimum setup required to run your
> > code.  That way all you have to worry about is your program running on
> > all versions of cygwin1.dll, and you're all set.
>
> It isn't an acceptable solution IMHO. Don't you think it's much more
> complicated than just downloading a single dll (or, say, a zipped dll)?
> I think it is. The "cygwin" package contains much more than the dll (and
> I believe that only the dll is needed for simple users). Well, if people
> are really wanting to use the program, I guess they'll download the
> Cygwin setup program and install the package, but I'd bet most people
> that just would have tested the program will give up pretty fast with
> your method. This isn't the way I imagine free software. We are wanting
> to make the software available, and we don't want it to be a burden for
> users, right? What's more, less testers, less users, less feedback leads
> to lower quality software.
>
> So, I'm still in favor of a dll available for download as a single file.

IMO, if you say that your application requires Cygwin, people will install
it if they really want to use your application.  In fact, the Cygwin setup
mechanism makes it very easy to set up your own mirror containing just
your program, and have users install it using setup.exe.  You can also
list the dependences for your package (see <http://cygwin.com/setup.html>
for details).  That way, your instructions would look something like "Add
<my URL> to the list of mirrors in setup.exe and run setup as usual.
Select only <my package>."  This also eliminates the need for you to write
your own installer.  Now, what could be easier? ;-)

If you do intend to distribute your own copy of cygwin1.dll, it's your
responsibility to make sure that (a) you are able to provide the
corresponding sources *for the version of cygwin1.dll that you are
distributing*, and (b) you instruct people how to deal with multiple
versions of cygwin1.dll on their systems that result from others following
the same practice.  FWICS, that seems to be more headache than it's worth,
and it's much easier to just let people download and install Cygwin from
the official sources.
	Igor
-- 
				http://cs.nyu.edu/~pechtcha/
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     |,4-  ) )-,_. ,\ (  `'-'		Igor Pechtchanski
    '---''(_/--'  `-'\_) fL	a.k.a JaguaR-R-R-r-r-r-.-.-.  Meow!

Knowledge is an unending adventure at the edge of uncertainty.
  -- Leto II


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