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by Paul Brown.
Original Post: I hate installers.
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Feed Description: Software. Business. Java. XML. Web Services.
To pick up a couple of libraries, I downloaded SUN's Java Web Services Developer Pack, whose construction and redistribution terms should be fuel for Hani if he ever runs low on material, but I have to ask why "installers" exist for non-user-facing applications and even then on non-Windows platforms.The JWSDP uses an InstallShield installer to unpack the distribution when a simple tar archive would do. Is it purely to ensure that click-wrap agreements are agreed-to by the person installing the software? As it turns out, the installer for the JWSDP succeeds about 30% of the time when I try to run it, where I have yet to see tar fail on a valid archive.I've heard people refer to installers as a mark of professionalism in commercial software. It is ridiculous that a splash screen and GUI is somehow the measure of professionalism in software engineering, and in today's world of viruses, spyware, and malware (intentional or unintentional), I'm reluctant to install anything that I'm not intimately familiar with. Professionalism is the assembly of a simple, clean archive with a minimal number of external dependencies (e.g., JDK version) and expectations (JDK location, tools.jar, etc.).
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