"Uwe Stöhr" <uwesto...@web.de> wrote in message
news:4dc7ddbe.2020...@web.de...
the last days I tested your new installer. You have done a good job!: the
installer code is much more understandable and contains more comments to
be able to understand the code.
Thanks.
As we once agreed, we should only provide ONE installer for LyX on
Windows. I'm a bit sad that you never contacted me to work with you on the
new installer. The end of 2010 I had time to work on this.
However, to finish the merging, the following things must/should be fixed:
Yea I didn't have time in 2010, and after that you went to South America.
But let's now work together to put in the additional features. Since we're
having one official installer, we should probably keep the discussion on the
devel list to make sure other people agree as well.
1. the installer doesn't recognize if Ghostscript is already installed
2. the installer doesn't recognize if Python is already installed
3. the installer doesn't recognize if Imagemagick is already installed
For computers where these are installed, we unnecessarily take 42 MB of
disk space.
In my opinion it's better to bundle a tested combination of these tools with
LyX. There's no way to test all possible combinations of
Python/ImageMagick/Ghostscript versions and to ensure they work well
together and with LyX.
Also note that I don't just install the standard binaries. They are
customized portable version which don't need administrator privileges.
4. the installer doesn't recognize if Inkscape is already installed
Because of this, SVG images look broken within LyX.
Good suggestion.
5. The latest version of the metafile2eps printer gives an error message
when it is first used: When I compile a LyX file containing a wmf-image,
I get the error message that the printer could not be successfully be
initialized. For all further uses of the printer, I don't get this error.
However, the WMF-image is still rotated by 90° in the output, so that
WMF-images can still not be used for real-life documents. I can send you a
LyX test file showing the problematic.
I tried to resolve the known issues in the new 2.0 version of the Metafile 2
EPS converter. Apparently there's still a compatibility issue with some
Windows versions. Because of the use of the Postscript printer drivers,
compatibility is always a difficult thing with this tool. What Windows
version are you using?
6. When LyX is uninstalled, the registry key HKCU\Software\LyX\lyx20 is
not deleted. This causes problems when LyX is reinstalled, because there
the toolbar settings etc. are stored.
That's a bug. Should be an easy fix.
7. It is not possible to select the LyX GUI-language in the installer. My
installer provides this feature, because it was once often requested.
This setting is also in the LyX preferences. We can duplicate it in the
installer if you want. My main concern was having to maintain an additional
list of supported languages.
8. The installer doesn't ask the user to update MiKTeX. This is an
important feature, because many of the problems discussed at lyx-users
mailing list are the consequence of a bug in LaTeX-packages or MiKTeX. By
asking to update MiKTeX, we assure that MiKTeX is updated from time t
tome. Since I implemented this in my installer, the number of bug
reports/questions at the mailing lists could be reduced.
Sure, should be easy to do. Perhaps a checkbox on the finish page?
9. The installer doesn't allow to decide if the new LyX version should be
associated with the *.lyx file extension. This is a useful feature if
conservative users still want to open *.lyx-files with LyX 1.6.10 and not
2.0. (for example if they are working on important LyX documents that they
begun with LyX 1.6.x.
Perhaps this could be added to LyX itself? So people can change it
afterwards without having to reinstall?
10. The last installer page should have an option to start LyX after
installing it, as in my installer. This behaviour is more or less a
standard and many people expect that the program is opened after
installing.
This is because LyX will likely be run with the wrong user account, and
therefore the preferences etc. will be lost afterwards. It could be fixed
with two installer processes with and without UAC. Other things just had
priority.
11. When installing LyX the first time, and therefore also MiKTeX is
installed the first time, the configure.py file should be run in a console
window. This is very important because the first installation will install
more than 50 LaTeX-packages and take approximately half an hour. In the
console window the user can see that there is some progress. Without this
information, many users will kill the install process because they think
it hung up.
What exactly do you mean? The installers already prints a message saying
this should take a long time. And there's a "Show details" button.
12. We should not ship all hunspell dictionaries. Currently we install 200
MB of only these dictionaries. Nobody needs them all. We should there fore
only install by default the dictionaries of the system language and
English. The installer should have a page where the users can select
additional dictionaries. My installer contains such a method for Aspell.
As you know, I have been in south america and noticed that Internet a good
connection speed is a rareness. Saving 180 MB of disk space and about 40
MB of the installer size would be a big advantage for many users.
I think having to keep the installer around to be able to add languages is
not a good thing. Ideally perhaps we would install a little app to download
dictionaries? I don't have time to work on this now but it's something we
could look into in the future.
13. It was often requested that the complete installer, installs
everything that is necessary to have a complete LaTeX-setup. I therefore
also provide JabRef. If the user use my complete installer, they uncheck
JabRef, if they like, This way they are informed about this program and
what it is for. This has been proven useful, especially for new users. I
therefore want to have this feature in the new installer.
I don't have a strong opinion on this. Let's see what people think about it.
What do you think? Can/should I go forward to implement this? Can I count
on your support in doing this?
Feel free to add features to the installer after discussing it here! I can
also help you with this.
I have a technical questions:
How do you install hunspell. I cannot find it in the installer code. I'm
interested because when LyX 2.0 is installed, I only get hunspell as spell
engine. When I install LyX 2.0 with my installer I still only get Aspell.
I'm asking because I think it is a good idea to be able to use both,
Aspell and hunspell. At many systems Aspell is already installed because
of LyX 1.6.x and prior. For example, I wrote my PhD-thesis with LyX 1.6.x
and therefore have trained Aspell a lot to understand the special words of
physics. I therefore don't want to be forced to train hunspell again when
a well-trained Aspell is already available on my system.
LyX is linked to the Hunspell DLL.
Previously I had to maintain our own Windows port because Aspell itself
doesn't provide it. Also the dictionary updates etc. required a lot of
maintenance. I don't plan to continue supporting Aspell now we have Hunspell
which works much better.
Joost
