Date: Sun, 6 Feb 2000 15:28:08 +0200 (IST)
From: Eli Zaretskii <eliz AT is DOT elta DOT co DOT il>
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To: "J.W. Mays" <celco AT texoma DOT net>
cc: djgpp AT delorie DOT com
Subject: Re: DJGPP Setup Utility in the making.
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On Sun, 6 Feb 2000, J.W. Mays wrote:

>     I've started on a package called DSU (DJGPP Setup Utility) which does
> the first time install of DJGPP packages onto a users system VIA the web(ftp
> sites).  It's a GUI for Windows95+, which means it contains DLL's and OCX
> files.

IMHO, the dependence on Windows is quite a limitation: there are DJGPP 
users who don't want Windows on their machines.  What exactly did force
you to depend on Windows?

> I wanted to get some input on what kind of features anyone would
> like to see in the installer.

I suggest to look at install.exe that is on SimTel, in the v2
directory.  Also, in the past, there were several discussions
about related issues and problems, in this forum and on djgpp-workers
mailing list.  You can find all these discussions by searching the
DJGPP mail archives at http://www.delorie.com/djgpp/mail-archives/.

> I want to have a "zip-picker" style form with all the different
> sections like functionality, IDE's, Extras and such with all the packages
> listed in their section, Or should I just list out all the packages in one
> listbox and have the user "check" which package they want?

Many users won't know what they want, so it's a good idea to advise
them.

> Cause after the required files
> are downloaded and extracted the AUTOEXEC needs to be changed and the need
> for reboot.

Changing AUTOEXEC and rebooting are among the most problematic aspects
of the setup, because there are so many different ways to configure
(and break ;-) your system.  Watch out for cases which won't boot after
you modify CONFIG.SYS and/or AUTOEXEC.BAT...