To all concerned, Would you and Peter Stein (and anyone else involved) be so kind as to move this particular discussion to private emails or another forum if it is to continue? It would be very much appreciated.
Graciously (I hope), Daniel Madill -----Original Message----- From: Castro, Edwin G. (Hillsboro) [mailto:edwin.cas...@fiserv.com] Sent: Friday, July 29, 2011 3:39 PM To: General discussion for Windows Installer XML toolset. Subject: Re: [WiX-users] RemoveExistingProducts doesn't work in 3.5 > >It's a cliché but... I can imagine Rob saying/thinking "Do you know who > >I am!?" Of course, Rob would never actually say or think anything like > >that. ;-) > > Well I could say the same about myself and I think most first time visitors to > WiX could as well. For the most part we're fairly experienced IT people. Being > new to WiX doesn't make us idiots. And those offering help would be well > advised to keep that in mind. Also, being new to WiX doesn't mean our > critiques are necessarily without merit. If it was such a perfect product > would > there be this much email in the WiX-users group? When you have valid critiques of WiX then we can talk. For Windows Installer critiques I would direct you to the Windows Installer team at Microsoft. We answer many Windows Installer questions here because it is necessary to understand Windows Installer since WiX produced Windows Installer packages. Critique the WiX extensions (these represent functionality that is not part of Windows Installer) all you want but if we tell you something is a Windows Installer issue, then go complain to Microsoft if you don't like it. We are living with the same constraints as you and are making it work. > Your putting words in my mouth. Regarding item 4 I clearly stated that my > understanding was based on the explanation given in Nick's book and the > contents of msi log files. If anyone wants to refute these facts then please > do, these are verifiable facts not my opinions. Please stick to the facts and > don't create some bogus argument that misrepresents and distorts my > position. FWIW what Rob said exactly is " Also, I don't think #4 is correct.". > That is not a strong assertion of fact like "#4 is not correct". Maybe you and > Rob can remember every nuance of every software project you've ever > worked on, and good for you if you can, but most of us mere mortals can't. > So when someone starts a purported correction/refutation with " Also, I > don't think" it signals that they are reporting something with less than 100% > certainty. To which a response describing my findings is entirely appropriate. > Furthermore I qualified my response to make it clear I'm referring to my > scenario. I'm commenting about your continued attempt to tell us how Windows Installer works. My point is that your evaluation of Windows Installer is incorrect. Many of us manage to use Component and Feature conditions successfully but you were not. Your expectations are flawed or incomplete. Can you be certain that your experiments were valid to begin with? They would not be if you were not doing things properly according to Windows Installer. I'm convinced that the "simple" Windows Installer solution didn't work for you because you implemented it incorrectly. Instead of trying to get help on that you decided to try to bypass Windows Installer and force it to do something bad. Then you continued to get lots of errors. When we tell you that you should do try the "simple" Windows Installer solution you responded with "WiX doesn't work like that" style comments and flat out refused to listen to us. I'm not putting words in your mouth. I'm simply commenting on your behavior (I had to go look at the archives to see all of your messages). I repeatedly tried to educate you on WiX and its relationship to Windows Installer and you essentially said "well, that's stupid, I still want to blame WiX for my woes, don't tell me who I should blame". This type of behavior makes most people on this mailing list silent very quickly. As I said before, it is very clear, based on your messages, that your experience with Windows Installer and with WiX is very low. Instead of telling us we are wrong you should stand back and try to figure out if perhaps you are doing something wrong that resulted in the behavior you are seeing. As I said earlier, Windows Installer requires a "my way or the highway" style of development. You need to do things the Windows Installer way. I would be perfectly willing to help you learn what the Windows Installer way is but don't tell me that Windows Installer doesn't work the way it should and don't tell me that it's WiX's fault when it isn't. Edwin G. Castro Software Developer - Staff Digital Channels Fiserv Office: 503-746-0643 Fax: 503-617-0291 www.fiserv.com Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Got Input? Slashdot Needs You. Take our quick survey online. 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