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Old 02-26-2007, 10:41 PM   #1
sean_ericsson
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Setup wizard to install software?


I'm looking for a flexible setup wizard to install an application on Linux. I saw Autopackage, Klik, ZeroInstall and GXInstall, but I found them weak and not very flexible. Do you know something better, in the lines of Nullsoft or InstallShield on Windows?
If some one is interested in starting an open-source project to create a full-featured setup wizard that addresses these issues, please get in touch with me.
Thanks,

Sean.
 
Old 02-27-2007, 03:34 AM   #2
gnashley
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Gotcha! I'm interested in this. I'm looking/working on a couple of deivery systems. One thing you should look at is freewrap/freeDelivery and PDV (payload delivery vehicle).
Freewrap includes a statically compiled version of tcl/wish which gives a script-driven GUI frontend for installing. PDV is similar but doen't include the GUI elements. I've been considering getting pdv compiled with static Xdialog and mini-GTK-1.2 libs.
easy-gtk has some pre-made routines for creating wizards. Also, the program xnotes comes ith a pretty nice GUI installer which might have some usefule code.
 
Old 02-27-2007, 07:43 AM   #3
sean_ericsson
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So are you interested in developing a new tool?
 
Old 02-27-2007, 04:15 PM   #4
gnashley
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My C skills are nearly null. I can patch and hack very simple stuff and do a few config and compiling tricks. I do lots of stuff in shell using Xdialog and other such tools.

Some time ago I did a one-line hack to PDV to make it use gzip instead of compress. It can also be made to use bzip2(at least). What it does is let you create a self extracting archive which can show a license, a message and/or run a script or program on completion. This also what freewrap does, except that it contains a statically-linked binary of tcl/wish. When you create the package you write the tcl script which makes the GUI installer.

I see now how to do the same sort of thing using pdv with an included binary of Xdialog, greq, gtk-shell or other such GTK program. You could also use newt/whiptail.

The hard part is how to make a system which makes it easy for the user to create various types of installation handling routines. Some programs will need sevearl routines for config files and paths, etc. Others could simply be installed to the system.

What kind of software are you talking about? Binary or source packages, single-file scripts. Universal packages which figure out what system they are unpacked on a install using the tools appropriate to the distro? Are you wanting to do a C or C++ program, or what?

See here for some of the tools I use(also one dir up):
http://distro.ibiblio.org/pub/linux/...nts/MsgDialog/
 
  


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