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Re: Welcoming Brian Dessent as setup maintainer


Brian Dessent wrote:

That reminds me... another idea that cgf mentioned earlier was having
setup.exe offer to show the README files of packages it just installed.

I'd only go for that if there were a short version of the README, containing just the barest things you need to be aware of when installing the package. For instance, the ssh README would be something like:


"OpenSSH will only work as a client by default. To set it up as a server, see /usr/share/doc/Cygwin/openssh.README."

I say this because the openssh README is 233 lines long. I just don't see someone taking the time during install to read too many such files. Rather than try to shorten these READMEs (inappropriate, IMHO), there needs to be a separate facility to tell users what the major limitations of a port are, where to look next for info on getting around those limits, and how to configure the package if it requires that.

Some mechanism ideas: it could be a single dialog, wizard-like, with a big text area to show the setup hint text, with a big bold title above that with the human name of the package. ("OpenSSH" vs. "openssh") Perhaps that dialog could have a button that would directly open the full README, for when the reader's interest is immediately piqued on a topic. Open the file in Notepad, so it stays open after setup.exe goes away.

It wouldn't actually have to be a separate file within the package. It could be part of the package's .hint file.

To be effective, the option would have to be enabled by default, with the ability to turn it off. And that brings us back to setup.exe being able to remember your choices from one run to the next.


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