9:51 a.m.
The new InnoSetup installer for XEmacs-21.4.18 has a number of problems.
1. Installs in C:\XEmacs
This is just plain wrong. The Windows way is to install into something like
(the properly localized version of) C:\Program Files\XEmacs
2. The way to update packages is just too clunky for Windows. In addition,
it does not work.
When I do update-and-install and select xemacs-base for update I get
"Autoload error" the next time I start XEmacs. M-x list-load-path-shadows
shows a lot of shadowing betwen things like "...\Packages\lisp\xemacs-base\"
and "...\Packages\xemacs-packages\lisp\xemacs-base\".
3. The old installer based on Cygwin netinstall was much nicer when it came
to package handling, when it updated the packages it "just worked" and it
also automatically selected all outdated packages for update. Unfortunately
the XEmacs binaries for the netinstall has not been updated for a long time
and last I tried, it failed to download a few packages (gnus 1.87 and
xemacs-base 2.00).
In summary, the InnoSetup installer is worse than the netinstall installer
it replaced. Apart from being worse, the installed XEmacs is broken when it
comes to package updating.
(To end on a brighter note: XEmacs installation on Windows still has a long
way to go until it sucks as much as that for FSF emacs, last I looked the
GNU Emacs win32 binaries were distributed as tar files, which is hilarious.)
Regards,
10:42 a.m.
"Per Mildner SICS Usenet" <PerMildnerSICSUsenet(a)hotmail.com> writes:
The new InnoSetup installer for XEmacs-21.4.18 has a number of
problems.
[...]
(To end on a brighter note: XEmacs installation on Windows still has
a long way to go until it sucks as much as that for FSF emacs, last
I looked the GNU Emacs win32 binaries were distributed as tar files,
which is hilarious.)
That's a brighter note? To each his own, I guess. Personally, I as
an Emacs user (yes, the thing is properly called "Emacs") and
proponent don't consider it a brighter note that XEmacs sucks at
supporting its users and developers in a number of respects. And I
don't consider it a brighter note that we finally had to place the
advice "don't use XEmacs if you can avoid it" in some more circumspect
wording into AUCTeX, and will have to follow up with the advice "don't
use the packages distributed and ostensibly maintained by the XEmacs
team if you can avoid it" next.
Anyway, I'd say better suck at installation than afterwards (and for
the next release, a Windows installer is in the making).
--
David Kastrup, Kriemhildstr. 15, 44793 Bochum
1:26 p.m.
On 1/19/06, Per Mildner SICS Usenet <PerMildnerSICSUsenet(a)hotmail.com> wrote:
The new InnoSetup installer for XEmacs-21.4.18 has a number of
problems.
1. Installs in C:\XEmacs
This is just plain wrong. The Windows way is to install into something like
(the properly localized version of) C:\Program Files\XEmacs
Where the user chooses to install the program is, of course,
user-specifiable. The default has already been changed to C:\Program
Files\XEmacs for the next release.
2. The way to update packages is just too clunky for Windows. In addition,
it does not work.
When I do update-and-install and select xemacs-base for update I get
"Autoload error" the next time I start XEmacs. M-x list-load-path-shadows
shows a lot of shadowing betwen things like "...\Packages\lisp\xemacs-base\"
and "...\Packages\xemacs-packages\lisp\xemacs-base\".
What does your load-path look like? C-h v load-path will tell you.
Please send that information along.
3. The old installer based on Cygwin netinstall was much nicer when it came
to package handling, when it updated the packages it "just worked" and it
also automatically selected all outdated packages for update. Unfortunately
the XEmacs binaries for the netinstall has not been updated for a long time
and last I tried, it failed to download a few packages (gnus 1.87 and
xemacs-base 2.00).
In summary, the InnoSetup installer is worse than the netinstall installer
it replaced. Apart from being worse, the installed XEmacs is broken when it
comes to package updating.
Admittedly, the netinstaller interface is nicer when it comes to
package handling. Unfortunately, that code has bit-rotted somewhat
due to changes to Cygwin's setup kit. If you want to have a go at
fixing the damage, your help would be appreciated.
The package problems you're having are odd, though. Please uninstall
the 21.4.18 kit (make sure you use the uninstaller) and install this
kit:
ftp://ftp.xemacs.org/pub/xemacs/windows/testing/XEmacs%20Setup%2021.4.19-...
This is a test setup kit for 21.4.19. Please ignore the fact that the
version is reported as 21.4.18. For your convenience, I've included
the README file below:
December 27, 2005
This directory holds a Windows-native XEmacs setup kit for the stable
branch of XEmacs, the 21.4 series. The current release is a pre-release
version of 21.4.19. Please download and run 'XEmacs Setup 21.4.19-pre1.exe'
to install the pre-release of XEmacs 21.4.19 on your Windows computer.
(Most places in the kit and the installation will refer to 21.4.18,
but this really is a 21.4.19-pre1 kit.) Report your findings, including
bugs and feature requests, to xemacs-beta(a)xemacs.org.
This setup kit includes a small set of packages:
c-support, cc-mode, debug, dired, ecb, edebug, ediff, edit-utils, efs,
eieio, fsf-compat, mail-lib, net-utils, os-utils, pc, perl-modes,
prog-modes, semantic, sh-script, sounds-wav, speedbar, texinfo,
text-modes, time, xemacs-base and xemacs-devel.
Refer to the Quickstart Package Guide -
http://www.xemacs.org/Documentation/packageGuide.htmll#Installing_automat...
- for information on installing further XEmacs packages to extend the editor's
functionality.
The md5sums of the files in this directory can be found in the file MD5SUMS.
This kit was built with Inno Setup, see http://www.jrsoftware.org/isinfo.php
for details on Inno Setup.
Changes December 26, 2006:
- The default installation directory has been modified to
C:\Program Files\XEmacs.
- The packages are now found automatically under the installed package
tree. The EMACSPACKAGEPATH registry entry is no longer necessary.
- If you previously installed one of the XEmacs 21.4.18 setup kits,
please uninstall that kit before installing the new kit.
HTH,
Vin Shelton
--
Whoever you are, no matter how lonely,
the world offers itself to your imagination,
calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting--
over and over announcing your place
in the family of things. Mary Oliver
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2 comments
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participants (3)
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David Kastrup -
Per Mildner SICS Usenet -
Vin Shelton