PLEASE TEST 0.8 BUILDS!

SimmonsJ2K · Post by **SimmonsJ2K** » February 5th, 2004, 10:47 am

If it was available for windows in ZIP I would. I dislike using the installer.

sasquatch · Post by **sasquatch** » February 5th, 2004, 1:45 pm

Further correspondence on this bug:

" Re: Re: Re: The app-suite installer

by Ben_Goodger

Wednesday February 4th, 2004 8:51 PM

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This dataloss "bug" (I maintain it's not a bug, it's a feature) is being blown way out of proportion. This same problem has been in Seamonkey since day one. SINCE DAY ONE.

If you don't install Firebird alongside other executables, and by that I mean:

C:\Stuff\someapp.exe C:\Stuff\someapp.dll C:\Stuff\ImportantData.doc C:\Stuff\MozillaFirebird.exe <-- Firebird files C:\Stuff\nspr4.dll <-- Firebird files

etc

you will never have a problem. Installing the program files alongside other apps is just wrong. If you installed a newer version of say Tbird next to an older version of Firebird and core files that had since changed overwrote the results could be unpredictable or catastrophic anyway.

The new installer does the best it can to prevent against this.
#21 Re: Re: Re: Re: The app-suite installer

by JohnBooty <spam@bootyproject.org>

Wednesday February 4th, 2004 10:25 PM

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"Installing the program files alongside other apps is just wrong. If you installed a newer version of say Tbird next to an older version of Firebird and core files that had since changed overwrote the results could be unpredictable or catastrophic anyway."

You're correct, but that's not the point. Nobody thinks this is a good idea, and nobody's trying to do that. The problem is that people choose "c:\program files\" with the expectation that the installer will create a "c:\programe files\Mozillafirebird" directory underneath. This expectation is fostered by the behavior of the zipped releases, which had everything in a subdirectory so you just had to point them to "c:\program files\" and unzip to there.

I know what's going to happen. 0.8 will be great, great stuff. But a few reviewers are gonna delete their entire "Program Files" directory (or god forbid, and entire drive's worth of files) and Firebird will get some horrible press, instead of the purely rosy reviews that it has (deservedly) gotten so far.

I honestly believe that Firebird's momentum and progress up to this point, and the hard work that's gone with it, are seriously jeopardized by releasing 0.8 with this feature intact. I'm not worried about MY files (I know how to avoid the problem now, obviously) I'm worried about Firebird's standing in the world of software...
#22 Re: The app-suite installer

by mpercy

Thursday February 5th, 2004 1:59 AM

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Although the reasoning for the cleanup is definitely sound, I agree with the parent post that its implementation is dangerous. If you're up to some constructive criticism, I do have a couple suggestions:

One way to mitigate mistakes could be to automatically append "/MozillaFirebird" to the directory path the user selects from the tree in the Custom dialog. It would however require that the Folder: textbox display the full path instead of just the name of the selected folder. That should make it more clear the intention of the installer, but would still allow the user to manually set the full path by editing the textbox directly. I've seen this done in the EZ CD Creator installer.

One other mostly "inexpensive" safety feature would be a check on the directory path once the user presses the Next > button on the Install Folder dialog. If the path does not yet already exist or is empty, then proceed to create it/install as normal. If the path contains files or subdirectories, create a pop-up warning with a message saying "Warning: All files and directories under <install dir> will be deleted before Mozilla Firebird is installed. Other user preferences and bookmarks will not be affected."

Now that I have been using the recent nightlies I cannot see how anyone could recommend another browser over Mozilla Firebird. I see these possible extra measures as a type of "insurance" that the 0.8 release will not be tainted by the fear of data loss, especially in the media.

Best regards"

I agree that if it just added MozillaFirebird at the end of the path, this would fix it, would it not?

Pike · Post by **Pike** » February 5th, 2004, 2:40 pm

There was a checkin today labelled "disable the installer's upgrade panel for now", I don't know if that is referring to the "safe/clean install" situation?

EldestNorski · Post by **EldestNorski** » February 5th, 2004, 4:01 pm

Maybe it is just me -- I hope so! -- but as far as I can tell, the FB help offered at texturizer (beta v1.0.1) is broken with these branch builds. That could be another big headache come next Mondag . . .

Perhaps the extension site should be wound back to offer FB help v1.0? That one still seems to work with branch builds.

sasquatch · Post by **sasquatch** » March 16th, 2004, 11:11 am

I agree that if it just added MozillaFirebird at the end of the path, this would fix it, would it not?

Well?

(This STILL applies!)

johnleemk · Post by **johnleemk** » March 17th, 2004, 12:02 am

Uh... *cough* It won't by 0.9. An installer log will be added by then. And in the first place, tacking that folder on and not giving the user a chance to edit it is not exactly the best idea, nor compliant with what most users would expect.

sasquatch · Post by **sasquatch** » March 17th, 2004, 5:57 am

I disagree. That IS what most users I have observed in these forums and on the newsgroups DO expect. It is how most other programs work. They don't just spill their guts into the path at the top, well they do, but the path at the top has its own directory. :-)

ankh · Post by **ankh** » March 17th, 2004, 11:53 pm

Admiral Grace Hopper's advice: "It is better to ask forgiveness than to ask permission."

When installilng software, it is better to ask permission than to ask forgiveness.

Lohvarn · Post by **Lohvarn** » March 18th, 2004, 7:58 am