[Eric] Request: easier install process, please

[Tim Rue]

Arlo Belshee wrote:
> My expectation is that from seeing marketing copy on the site to being
> inside an installed app should take one click on a link, one confirm to the
> browser ("yes, I really do want that installer"), and about 30 seconds.
> Nothing, and I mean nothing, else. Certainly nothing that requires me to
> take some action different from the way everything else is installed on my
> platform.
>
> Arlo
>
>   
I use AutoCAD, Inventor, Router-CIM, AlphaCAM, etc.. at work and on a 
Windows XP pro system.

I wish they were that easy to install and get up running productively 
with one click, but they are not and I can understand some of the 
reasons as you have to enter registration information, and do things in 
a defined sequences of install (I.E. AutoCAD has to be installed before 
Router-CIM obviously as Router-CIM runs inside of AutoCAD.) and there 
are all the custom settings for our particular CNC routers I have to set 
up each and every time I install these products. AlphaCAM always has 
some new dongle issue to deal with, even with .5 updates, which is 
maddening but that is what happened when you are doing all sorts of 
things to protect your software from being pirated.

I've heard of companies using pirated software though they have fully 
paid and updated licenses because of the removal of  problematic issues 
caused by such copy protection.

I used to be able to run several instances of AutoCAD/Router-CIM which 
was handy when people are coming to me to CIM something right now, when 
I'm already doing a CIM for something else. Now I have to completely 
shut down and exit from Autocad and restart.... due copy 
protection/dongles. I have also had issues with software DLLs and 
security software conflicts...in essence dependencies.

So I really don't see how your expectation of a one click, problem free, 
install on Windows is applied so well on Windows, though I am aware 
there are many applications that are that easy to install. Auto 
updates... sometimes considered nagware on Windows, ie. Adobe Acrobat is 
used to rotate pdf's generated by Autocad, but Adobe Reader, which is 
needed to read newer pdfs, always nags me about updates and when I 
update I have to reinstall Acrobate as Reader overides my Acrobat 
settings...

I am not without having had frustration in installing development 
environments.  Generally I find Linux takes more effort than on windows. 
But I have also found that its a trade off. Open source software is 
simply more accessible, including open source development environments. 
But if anyone wants to hear my beef, I can go into why the whole 
approach to software development is today wrong, as though we are still 
using limited Roman numerals to do math.  Google "Abstraction Physics"....

I'm not saying Eric can't or shouldn't be made package wise, easier to 
install/uninstall on Windows, however on Ubuntu, once the dependencies 
are set up , install and uninstall of Eric and updates is as simple as 
running from root the python install and uninstall scripts. I've gone 
forward and backward in versions and often without losing my setting. 
And there are the plugins to consider too.

Now, there is another python editor for windows that you may not know 
about. PyScripter. Google for it.

You want point and click installs? Great... I want point and click 
development... Fortunately for you, you can actually make your wants 
happen. unfortunately for me, changing an industry mindset is a lot 
harder. Even the Decimal system took 300 years to overcome the Roman 
Numeral system. And that was just counting....but more people can do it 
today and to much greater extent, then had roman numerals still been in use.

have a good day.

Tim