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Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

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Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#71

Post by ttoinou »

bigbuppo wrote: post #38
ttoinou wrote: post #2

More options, more mess. The user will always do something funky, then don't remember about it and then complain to the software publisher that it's not working correctly

You do realize that most laptops ship with almost zero storage available on the C: drive, right? You have actually looked at the specs of real hardware in use in the real world, right?

We don't know what kind of software the OP is talking about though.

For me for my software there's specific folders to use, it's not Program Files windows classic subfolder

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#72

Post by ttoinou »

breezk0 wrote: post #44
ttoinou wrote: post #2

More options, more mess. The user will always do something funky, then don't remember about it and then complain to the software publisher that it's not working correctly

Sorry, but I cannot agree. >> don't remember about it If you take your time to manually set any kind of new installation location, I assume you know what you are doing and will obviously remember. >> complain to the software publisher Changing the installation location should not break the program and if it does, its obviously a bug, or what are you trying to tell me?

You might not remember, and it might be in multiple years, and it might be someone else handling this

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#73

Post by gethly »

IAmBroom wrote: post #64
gethly wrote: post #35

Always chose custom settings when installing anything. Not only you always get to pick target location but often you can avoid installing some additional garbage. I see no problem here though. Maybe i am too used to these things and some people just never learn and click on every button that is presented to them?

Maybe OP is complaining about times when there isn't such a button? In fact, explicitly OP is discussing those instances.

That is a big red flag.

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#75

Post by bee_rider »

IAmBroom wrote: post #65
bee_rider wrote: post #29

It really depends on the system. In Linux for example it is pretty conventional to ask. But, the asking is often done by querying some environment variables. If a program prompts the user for a directory instead of querying the appropriate environment variable, that is a violation of the stated user preference.

Huh? How is "the appropriate environment variable" the "stated user preference"?

Setting environment variables is how we state our preferences.

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#76

Post by StableAlkyne »

IAmBroom wrote: post #67
StableAlkyne wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, that's the default behavior in Windows. If you install to, say, app data it's fine. If you install to program files, you need admin because it is a protected folder. > The company does NOT want you installing random crap on their machines. Why do you immediately jump to the conclusion that the post is about installing "random crap?"

If it's not approved by IT in advance, by definition it is random, and quite possibly crap.

Where did I write that it was not approved in advance...?

The post is about requiring admin to install to Program Files. Even if it is an approved piece of software, you're still going to need admin to install it.

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#77

Post by StableAlkyne »

IAmBroom wrote: post #66
StableAlkyne wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Your IT department should be vetting it, deploying it, and keeping it up-to date for you. There are not enough IT staff at my organization to do this. They have an approved list of software that may be installed. Some common installations are automated, others are niche-enough that it's DIY. We don't live in a perfect world where the IT staffing ratio is 1:20 (or whatever arbitrary number you would consider "good")…

"We" are the large-enough companies to have full IT departments. (I hate this practice, but it is necessary.) "Your" IT department should consider giving you your own admin account. But it's their call.

> Your" IT department should consider giving you your own admin account. But it's their call.

Seems like a bit of an extreme solution for one-off installations that are rare enough to not be worth bothering to automate.

Good example of this is scientific software like Gaussian (a "common" quantum mechanics package): needs admin, expensive and strict license that gets audited. It's approved, but we have a single digit number of people using it. It's just not worth the time to automate a script around an install that only happens once every year or so on average, when they can just temporarily elevate the user.

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#78

Post by IAmBroom »

gethly wrote: post #73
IAmBroom wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Maybe OP is complaining about times when there isn't such a button? In fact, explicitly OP is discussing those instances.

That is a big red flag.

Thus the complaint.

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#79

Post by IAmBroom »

bee_rider wrote: post #75
IAmBroom wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Huh? How is "the appropriate environment variable" the "stated user preference"?

Setting environment variables is how we state our preferences.

So, a user explicitly choosing a path for software P to be different from software suites A-O is somehow not choosing a preference?

And this "we" you speak of... 1% of users? 0.1%?

Re: Can we talk about the rude installers not asking for installation locations?

#80

Post by vunderba »

crazygringo wrote: post #9

Can you be more specific about which platform you're talking about? On a Mac, I've never wanted an application to go anywhere but the default /Applications. I don't ever recall being asked if I want another location, nor would I want to be. Is it different on Windows or Linux? And why would you want a different install location?

Literally anytime you have a computer with more than one hard drive, or if you want to be able to install it to an external.
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