Packaging for distribution - replacement for InstallShield functionality?

[Marshall Schor <ms...@schor.com>]

I know that Apache projects like to release source code distributions 
but some projects also like to include binary (pre-built) distributions 
as well.  In pre-Apache versions of UIMA, for instance, we used 
Installshield to create one-click (well, maybe 3-click) installers for 
Windows and Linux systems.

Is there an Apache favorite, open-source equivalent to Installshield - 
something that runs on many platforms, asks the user to accept a license 
and specify an install directory, and then unzips and perhaps runs some 
kind of post-install script to configure things? 

-Marshall

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org

Re: Packaging for distribution - replacement for InstallShield functionality?

["William A. Rowe, Jr." <wr...@rowe-clan.net>]

Andrew McIntyre wrote:
> There is a large body of usage outside the ASF that is documented on
> the NSIS website as well. As for other Windows-only options, httpd
> distributes an MSI installer for Windows, but I have no knowledge of
> how that is actually generated.

InstallShield.  Actually, IS did something fun - the modern versions pull
everything from xml - so it's not to hard to bump versions, etc (but adding
components or files to the package requires the full version).  To just
roll a package, IS has a build-only flavor of the product, which can
probably be correctly licensed to liberally let the various committers to
roll the project.

But just about every .msi packaging solution is just a bit short of one-
answer-for-all.  Even httpd's doesn't use IS's script, vbscript etc, but
we actually rolled in the whopping 135kb windows AWK interpreter to rewrite
the post-install files we wanted.


---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org

Re: Re: Packaging for distribution - replacement for InstallShield functionality?

[Andrew McIntyre <mc...@gmail.com>]

On 11/21/06, Andrew McIntyre <mc...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Note, however, that InstallBuilder itself is not a free or open source product.

To prevent possible hair-splitting, this more correctly would have
read 'InstallBuilder itself is not distributed under a free or open
source license.'

andrew

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org

Re: Packaging for distribution - replacement for InstallShield functionality?

[Andrew McIntyre <mc...@gmail.com>]

On 11/21/06, Marshall Schor <ms...@schor.com> wrote:
> I know that Apache projects like to release source code distributions
> but some projects also like to include binary (pre-built) distributions
> as well.  In pre-Apache versions of UIMA, for instance, we used
> Installshield to create one-click (well, maybe 3-click) installers for
> Windows and Linux systems.
>
> Is there an Apache favorite, open-source equivalent to Installshield -
> something that runs on many platforms, asks the user to accept a license
> and specify an install directory, and then unzips and perhaps runs some
> kind of post-install script to configure things?

The only software I know of for generating a single installer for use
on multiple platforms that is available free for open source projects
is BitRock InstallBuilder. Here's their free-for-open-source
statement:

http://www.bitrock.com/products_installbuilder_opensource.html

Note, however, that InstallBuilder itself is not a free or open source product.

If you're ok with an installer for Windows only, there are several
projects (Lenya and Tomcat, off the top of my head) that use NSIS, the
Nullsoft Scriptable Installer System to build executable installers
for Windows.  The homepage can be found here:

http://nsis.sourceforge.net/Main_Page

There is a large body of usage outside the ASF that is documented on
the NSIS website as well. As for other Windows-only options, httpd
distributes an MSI installer for Windows, but I have no knowledge of
how that is actually generated.

It looks like most of the projects that have gone with NSIS installers
have mostly left configuration and installation a more manual process
on Unix platforms, although I've noticed a few projects (httpd, apr,
directory) distributing RPMs.

andrew

---------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe, e-mail: general-unsubscribe@incubator.apache.org
For additional commands, e-mail: general-help@incubator.apache.org