[Mono-dev] Installers

[Lluis Sanchez Gual]

Thinking a bit more about this, another solution could be the following:

      * Include Mono.Posix to the current GTK# installer.
      * Create an installer with other Mono libraries such as
        Mono.Addins and SharpZipLib.
      * When creating the installer for MD (or any other app), include
        the required mono libraries and install them in a private
        directory, not in the gac.

In this way, the Mono libs installer would only be a build time
dependency, something like a Mono SDK for .NET. It would not be required
when installing the final app since the necessary mono libs would be
included as private assemblies.

Lluis.

El dl 18 de 05 de 2009 a les 16:30 -0500, en/na Mike Kestner va
escriure:
> I am currently working to provide some additional installation
> capabilities to support the porting of MD to windows.  This includes
> shipping libraries like Mono.Posix, Mono.GetOptions, SharpZipLib, and
> Mono.Addins.
> 
> We've previously received requests to include Mono.Posix in the Gtk#
> for .net installer, as projects designed with the stetic designer in MD
> generally contain a Catalog dependency for string translation.  The Gtk#
> installer already ships Mono.Cairo.
> 
> The above examples indicate that many gtk-sharp applications will likely
> contain dependencies drilling down into the mono stack.  Tomboy uses
> mono-addins.  MD uses several mono libs.
> 
> My inclination is to just merge these additional libraries needed by MD
> into the current installer, as opposed to maintaining a separate
> installer which applications will need to add to their deployment
> instructions.  The current Gtk# for .Net installer weighs in at around
> 8MB.  These additional libraries currently take up just under 1MB in a
> standalone installer, so the addition of them to the current installer
> is roughly a 12% increase in download size.
> 
> I think the user convenience of being able to download all the mono
> stack goodness in one installer outweighs any advantage to be obtained
> by carving out subsets of the stack into independent installers.  It's
> conceivable we could add additional libraries from the stack in the
> future if the demand is high.
> 
> Thus, my proposal is that we move to a single "Mono Libraries for .Net"
> installer which contains these mono stack libraries, including Gtk#.  I
> believe I would probably name the installer mono-libraries.msi and
> version it with the major/minor version number of the mono release, and
> an installer version to support updating gtk-sharp and mono-addins and
> other libraries we might add which don't conform to the mono release
> schedule.
> 
> We can probably head off any potential issues related to the
> "disappearance" of the Gtk# for .net installer by providing some more
> detailed information about the contents of the installer on the
> Downloads page, but there may be some inertia out there around the
> existing installer name on some application download sites, ie "Download
> the latest version of the Gtk# for .Net installer from the mono project
> downloads page."
> 
> Feedback appreciated.  In particular I'd like to hear from those of you
> using the current Gtk# for .net installer or those considering win32
> ports in the future.  Which would you prefer, one installer or two?  If
> one, should it remain the Gtk# for .net installer for historical
> purposes, even containing the infusion of mono tastiness, or do we
> rename it to Mono Libraries for .Net?
>