Re: [PLUG] One app, one directory, no install/uninstall...

[Steve Litt via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org>]

On Mon, 18 May 2020 19:13:10 -0400
Fred Stluka via plug <plug@lists.phillylinux.org> wrote:

> Starting a new thread to avoid hijacking the Gobo Linux thread...
> 
> Let's talk about "one app, one directory" and why do we need to
> "install" programs at all.

90% of my software is written in Python, Lua, or Tcl/Tk. In each case,
I try very, very hard to use only the facilities in the language's
standard library. Therefore, the only dependency is the language with
its standard library, which we can usually assume to be installed.

So my software never needs to reference .so files and the like. When I
originated VimOutliner, I made it a tree install. Later VimOutliner
developers made it a Vim extension, and although I didn't really
approve, they made VimOutliner a whole lot better.

My UMENU software, http://www.troubleshooters.com/projects/umenu2/ ,
can be installed as a tree. It runs by CDing to the directory
containing umenu.py, and then executing umenu.py plus an argument
indicating the menu to portray. A file called ~/.umenurc points to the
config directory, and the config directory points to all other
directories and config options. ~/umenu.py has a -c option that
overrides ~/.umenurc, thereby making a single tree install absolutely
possible.

I can understand install programs if you need to make and compile
stuff, or need to incorporate libraries, but otherwise, I'll take a
tree copy every time.

SteveT

Steve Litt 
May 2020 featured book: Troubleshooting Techniques
     of the Successful Technologist
http://www.troubleshooters.com/techniques
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