Description: Simple Installer started really simple, then got more features. To some it looks imposing, but it is still easy to use. It's both more and less geeky all at once.Note that the archive now includes both the old version and a new one that requires Kommander 1.0 RC1. If you have the latest Kommander installed the new version is a very slick install, but that's still a work in progress too. See changelog for what's new.
Look for a new release very shortly that enables internationalization!
This is a Kommander application. Kommander ships with Quanta Plus. This should work with versions 3.1 or greater and all features should be enabled with 3.2 or greater. If there are problems let me know. As a Kommander dialog you can also edit this file for your purposes. Kommander uses kmdr-executor to run and kmdr-editor to visually edit files.
This dialog was designed to make installing from source point and click easy.As I've noted, you may want to alter it for your purposes.Last changelog:
Version 0.7 This version has some nice enhancements. There is a statusbar now. Also the settings on start up and configuration are much faster with new Kommander features. There is also a new source tree display. Double click a file to view it. Version 0.6 Only inserts unique items into history now, adds comment line in history for the program and information in settings about mode when changed. Thee was also a complete layout clean up so things have more space and the dialog resizes correctly now. There is also a new install wizard for installing Simple Installer and it is packaged in a self extracting archive. Note: this install changes to a more consistent default naming which will mean settings are lost. Edit $KDEHOME/share/config/kommanderrc and look for /share/apps/kmdr/si_installer/main.kmdr] change it to /share/apps/kmdr-si_installer/main.kmdr] Version 0.5 All new stuff! New project set up with installer and with multiple dialogs. New Logging install that doesn't make you watch the console, saves everything in case you need it and pops up a dialog when it's done. New error dialog for failures. New configuration dialog and settings. New settings reporting buttons. Directly save directory. (I should have skipped a few version numbers) ;-) Version 0.4 Fixed an embarassing bug, configure options were not being added to the command. Now it also saves your configure string and retrieves it when you go to that directory. This will help you build consistently. Note that the enable debug check box does not yet remember it's setting. There are also new message boxes for errors and some code clean up. I have also gone to separate windows for configure and make because some systems were ending after the configure. Version 0.3a Added a button to save the current path to history without making the program. Also I fixed a bug in the history function so it works correctly now. Finally, Raúl Moratalla sent me a Spanish translation so I applied the fixes to it and included it in the tarball. It's still quite small. Version 0.3 When a source directory is chosen a listbox now shows the README and INSTALL files if they are present. A button allows you to view them. There is also a new tab where you can gather system information. This is useful in case you encounter a problem and need to report this back to a developer. Version 0.2 installer2.kmdr now has a history tab that stores all the directories you run a make in. Selecting it sets that directory and takes you to the build tab. This requires Kommander 1.0 Alpha 2. If you are running an old Kommander use installer.kmdr instead.
Error in widget FileSelector1:
Not enough arguments for 'readSetting' (1 instead of 2).
Correct syntax is: readSetting(QString key, QString default)[Continue][Continue & Ignore Next Errors][Stop]
For some reason the new screenshots have not been updated. The interface has had a clean up, but this is also a dialog based application and as such it has different constraints. On the positive a number of developer's wives are using this to install software, including mine, so I don't think it's that confusing. Did you try using it? Did you read the help?
I need to read the usability guidelines? It's interesting that I lead several projects that rank in the top 10 ratings wise here and this project has a higher user satisfaction rating than Kword and Kspread. I've worked with the usability people too. I hope you aren't suggesting I read up on menus on dialogs? ;-)
In case you missed it this is a user editable application. You just need the Kommander editor and you can visually change it to your liking. Why don't you redesign it and send it to me and if it's better I'll use it.
This is a "simple" installer? Take a look at the screenshot again. While this does illustrate a point that many people forget, namely that installation is not a simple process, the dialog itself is horribly complex.
Well it started out simple. ;-) It has grown.
However I would point out a few things. Using automake means that it is really much less complex than it could be, but the very concept is intimidating for people. When a friend contacted me to thank me because his wife could now install programs I felt the same way now that my wife can install. I would say that actually running it you need very little of it but more is there and you come to appreciate what it can do for you. It is difficult to understand operation from a picture. From the moment you open it you get tooltips and interaction that guides you, without being condescending. The settings give you control and so far the dialog is highly rated... but pondering what you said, as well as feature improvements in Kommander, has given me some ideas to make it even more user friendly for version 0.7.
Note that at least this program is incredibly easy to install as it does not need to be compiled and has a self extracting install program.
You should offer 2 modes. The expert mode (the existing one) and a simple mode. The simple mode could be like kconfigure. If qwizard is fully supported by kommander, this would be easy to make.
BTW nice installer :-D
This is really getting to be a fun question. I should just say "NO!!!" because I've already answered it here and in emails... (sigh) but I'll answer it for the umpteenth time.
I don't use RPMs. I run Gentoo because I personally think RPMs are a blight on Linux. Kommander offers no compile applications to also make them not need RPMs.
Kommander applications are not pre compiled so you can edit them rather easily using the visual Kommander Editor. There are probably still under 100 lines of bash scripting and Kommander specials in Simple installer so anyone with the slightest motivation and the ability to point, click and read could assemble a Kommander dialog for checkinstall in a matter of minutes.
I encourage people to build their own Kommander apps and even to fork this one. It's GPL. Have at it! In fact I would prefer someone forked this then to be asked again if I will incorporate something I don't use and can't test that they could do in an evening if even if they never touched the editor before.
Join our mailing list and I will even help you. We will release docs hopefully with Alpha 5.
I am sorry for asking you that silly question about checkinstall, but I did let the browser search the comments and the description of this app and there were nothing about checkinstall. And for I don't know kommander it seemed like a good idea to ask. Please forgive me that I use a distribution that uses rpm (and really do like it).
With humble regards
Janet
BTW: Now I at least know that it seems to be easy to make this app use checkinstall. Thanks for the answer.
there is a very good program called kconfigure that does something similar.
http://kconfigure.sourceforge.net/
I installed the rpm on my FC2 machine and works fine.
As they say, so what? I used to use KConfigure, but as the link you pointed out highlights, back with KDE 2x. It was a very nice piece of software. However you still have to compile and build it.
Conversely this is XML files with embedded scripts. You don't need an RPM, or all the hideous binary compatibility issues that go with it. If you wanted to tweak Kconfigure you needed to grab the sources, load it up in Kdevelop and write C++. With this Kommander file, it is the sources and you can directly load it in the editor, point and click or toss in some bash or PHP.
As I've said many times, this was just something I put together for my wife to compile with. I never expected it would be one of the 60 highest rated apps here, but since it is I'll keep improving it. What's cool too is with KDE 4 this will automatically update. This is really more a showcase for Kommander for me. I hope a lot more apps like this start showing up.
hi
I tried to install the simple installer under Mandrake 10.0 Official
The problem I got is that I need the Kommander wich is stored on CD 4 of this distrubution.
I don't have this CD
and I don't want to pay for it.
So I think it's neccessary to download it elsewhere
can anybody give me the link to it, please?
If you have Quanta you will have Kommander... unless your RPM is badly hacked up. However not having the Kommander executor means some things won't work in Quanta, like the quick start dialog. So just get Quanta.
Simply Brilliant!!! I wish someone would have thought of this when I was a noob. Then again, I guess it's better that I was made to learn the hard way so that I can really appreciate somthing like this.
Thank you. That's very kind of you. I'm working on version 0.5 that is even more improved. I came up with the idea of this because my wife can never find her notes on installing. I'm actually a little surprised by how well this has been received.
I'm currently working on a Portage installer and an ebuild creator as I run Gentoo. There are three things to consider here...
I don't have an itch there
The name "Simple Installer" says the mission of the tool... simple install from source
This is a Kommander application so you can extend it
I keep explaining Kommander but it seems like the convenience of being able to create an application like I did here with a few lines of shell scripting is inconvenient because then you have to do something. ;-)
Open this application up in the Kommander editor and look inside. Feel free to fork it for your purposes. It's GPL'd and it's incredibly easy to modify. Kommander is being designed to put application design into the hands of end users. No doubt some well see this as an "unfair lowering of the bar" for the age old "where's your patch?" question. Instead of saying "I don't know how to program" soon it will have be "I don't know how to point and click". ;-)
Have some fun! You won't believe how easy it is to make an application like this with Kommander. Version 0.4 has a sum total of 80 lines of code, many of which are "else", "then", "fi" and "@widgetText". Version 0.1 had less than 40 lines of code. Kommander requires less code than any tool ever. Really simple dialogs can be built with no code at all.
I haven't tried yet, but I think i prefer
using the konsole. But it is a great app,
great for newbies and lazy (well, I'm a
newbie and VERY lazy, but... whatever!) ;)
kepp up with good work!
It does use the console. ;-) It launches consoles pre-configured with environment variables and with the correct strings. It also launches kdesu to get you root console.
I use the console, though I did like an app that managed this some time back. I made this because my wife can never remember how to compile.
> nice app... but if your still on it, maybe extend it to let it easilly create rpm's and deb's ;-)
I've seen apps that are supposed to make creating RPMs easy. The thing is... I have Debian on my server but I don't administer it. I use Gentoo and Michal and I will be creating apps for ebuilds. As you might guess that means I think RPMs are eevil. ;-)
The good news though is that you can subscribe to the Kommander user list at http://mail.kdewebdev.org/mailman/listinfo/kommander and get help developing the dialog. If you look at this one there is a little bit of bash in it but it's mostly point and click. Kommander is not quite to end user simplicity to use but we're working on it.
In the mean time grab what you like out of Kommander dialogs. I should tip my hat to the Emerge Tool here that gave me the idea to use his approach to calling the konsole. This dialog demonstrates a few little tricks we came up with to pass multiple args to konsole.Kommander always seems to be about making software do what was never really intended. ;-)
this would be even more useful if it could keep track off the files installed by it, so it becomes as easy to uninstall compiled software as installing, if the autor didnt make a make uninstall target ..
I just thought of this and was going to do it. The problem is that a lot of the better features of Kommander are new and I don't remember what version or Quanta some shipped with. We're addressing this for a Kommander release we plan to do next month. In the mean time I'm sure everything I'm using will work if you have Quanta 3.2.2 or 3.3 BE2 installed. I think the new features will work with Quanta 3.2. I'll post the update shortly and I'll know with the feedback. ;-)
The Kommander release coming up will really begin to make for more and better Kommander programs.
Ratings & Comments
26 Comments
Error in widget FileSelector1: Not enough arguments for 'readSetting' (1 instead of 2). Correct syntax is: readSetting(QString key, QString default) [Continue][Continue & Ignore Next Errors][Stop]
You seriously need to clean up the interface. It is very confusing. Try reading up on the KDE useability guidelines.
For some reason the new screenshots have not been updated. The interface has had a clean up, but this is also a dialog based application and as such it has different constraints. On the positive a number of developer's wives are using this to install software, including mine, so I don't think it's that confusing. Did you try using it? Did you read the help? I need to read the usability guidelines? It's interesting that I lead several projects that rank in the top 10 ratings wise here and this project has a higher user satisfaction rating than Kword and Kspread. I've worked with the usability people too. I hope you aren't suggesting I read up on menus on dialogs? ;-) In case you missed it this is a user editable application. You just need the Kommander editor and you can visually change it to your liking. Why don't you redesign it and send it to me and if it's better I'll use it.
This is a "simple" installer? Take a look at the screenshot again. While this does illustrate a point that many people forget, namely that installation is not a simple process, the dialog itself is horribly complex.
Well it started out simple. ;-) It has grown. However I would point out a few things. Using automake means that it is really much less complex than it could be, but the very concept is intimidating for people. When a friend contacted me to thank me because his wife could now install programs I felt the same way now that my wife can install. I would say that actually running it you need very little of it but more is there and you come to appreciate what it can do for you. It is difficult to understand operation from a picture. From the moment you open it you get tooltips and interaction that guides you, without being condescending. The settings give you control and so far the dialog is highly rated... but pondering what you said, as well as feature improvements in Kommander, has given me some ideas to make it even more user friendly for version 0.7. Note that at least this program is incredibly easy to install as it does not need to be compiled and has a self extracting install program.
You should offer 2 modes. The expert mode (the existing one) and a simple mode. The simple mode could be like kconfigure. If qwizard is fully supported by kommander, this would be easy to make. BTW nice installer :-D
Can it use checkinstall to build rpms?
This is really getting to be a fun question. I should just say "NO!!!" because I've already answered it here and in emails... (sigh) but I'll answer it for the umpteenth time.
- I don't use RPMs. I run Gentoo because I personally think RPMs are a blight on Linux. Kommander offers no compile applications to also make them not need RPMs.
- Kommander applications are not pre compiled so you can edit them rather easily using the visual Kommander Editor. There are probably still under 100 lines of bash scripting and Kommander specials in Simple installer so anyone with the slightest motivation and the ability to point, click and read could assemble a Kommander dialog for checkinstall in a matter of minutes.
I encourage people to build their own Kommander apps and even to fork this one. It's GPL. Have at it! In fact I would prefer someone forked this then to be asked again if I will incorporate something I don't use and can't test that they could do in an evening if even if they never touched the editor before. Join our mailing list and I will even help you. We will release docs hopefully with Alpha 5.I am sorry for asking you that silly question about checkinstall, but I did let the browser search the comments and the description of this app and there were nothing about checkinstall. And for I don't know kommander it seemed like a good idea to ask. Please forgive me that I use a distribution that uses rpm (and really do like it). With humble regards Janet BTW: Now I at least know that it seems to be easy to make this app use checkinstall. Thanks for the answer.
I like the fact it is an kommander prog. and it just works nice, too.
there is a very good program called kconfigure that does something similar. http://kconfigure.sourceforge.net/ I installed the rpm on my FC2 machine and works fine.
As they say, so what? I used to use KConfigure, but as the link you pointed out highlights, back with KDE 2x. It was a very nice piece of software. However you still have to compile and build it. Conversely this is XML files with embedded scripts. You don't need an RPM, or all the hideous binary compatibility issues that go with it. If you wanted to tweak Kconfigure you needed to grab the sources, load it up in Kdevelop and write C++. With this Kommander file, it is the sources and you can directly load it in the editor, point and click or toss in some bash or PHP. As I've said many times, this was just something I put together for my wife to compile with. I never expected it would be one of the 60 highest rated apps here, but since it is I'll keep improving it. What's cool too is with KDE 4 this will automatically update. This is really more a showcase for Kommander for me. I hope a lot more apps like this start showing up.
Well I compile Kconfigure using this program... xD This is a good example of a program make with Kommander, a nice tool. Keep the good work :)
hi I tried to install the simple installer under Mandrake 10.0 Official The problem I got is that I need the Kommander wich is stored on CD 4 of this distrubution. I don't have this CD and I don't want to pay for it. So I think it's neccessary to download it elsewhere can anybody give me the link to it, please?
If you have Quanta you will have Kommander... unless your RPM is badly hacked up. However not having the Kommander executor means some things won't work in Quanta, like the quick start dialog. So just get Quanta.
Simply Brilliant!!! I wish someone would have thought of this when I was a noob. Then again, I guess it's better that I was made to learn the hard way so that I can really appreciate somthing like this.
Thank you. That's very kind of you. I'm working on version 0.5 that is even more improved. I came up with the idea of this because my wife can never find her notes on installing. I'm actually a little surprised by how well this has been received.
Maybe you could incorporate checkinstall to create tgz, rpm, and deb packages. http://proyectos.glo.org.mx/checkinstall
I'm currently working on a Portage installer and an ebuild creator as I run Gentoo. There are three things to consider here...
- I don't have an itch there
- The name "Simple Installer" says the mission of the tool... simple install from source
- This is a Kommander application so you can extend it
I keep explaining Kommander but it seems like the convenience of being able to create an application like I did here with a few lines of shell scripting is inconvenient because then you have to do something. ;-) Open this application up in the Kommander editor and look inside. Feel free to fork it for your purposes. It's GPL'd and it's incredibly easy to modify. Kommander is being designed to put application design into the hands of end users. No doubt some well see this as an "unfair lowering of the bar" for the age old "where's your patch?" question. Instead of saying "I don't know how to program" soon it will have be "I don't know how to point and click". ;-) Have some fun! You won't believe how easy it is to make an application like this with Kommander. Version 0.4 has a sum total of 80 lines of code, many of which are "else", "then", "fi" and "@widgetText". Version 0.1 had less than 40 lines of code. Kommander requires less code than any tool ever. Really simple dialogs can be built with no code at all.I haven't tried yet, but I think i prefer using the konsole. But it is a great app, great for newbies and lazy (well, I'm a newbie and VERY lazy, but... whatever!) ;) kepp up with good work!
It does use the console. ;-) It launches consoles pre-configured with environment variables and with the correct strings. It also launches kdesu to get you root console. I use the console, though I did like an app that managed this some time back. I made this because my wife can never remember how to compile.
nice app... but if your still on it, maybe extend it to let it easilly create rpm's and deb's ;-) I'm waitin' for such an app for years...
> nice app... but if your still on it, maybe extend it to let it easilly create rpm's and deb's ;-) I've seen apps that are supposed to make creating RPMs easy. The thing is... I have Debian on my server but I don't administer it. I use Gentoo and Michal and I will be creating apps for ebuilds. As you might guess that means I think RPMs are eevil. ;-) The good news though is that you can subscribe to the Kommander user list at http://mail.kdewebdev.org/mailman/listinfo/kommander and get help developing the dialog. If you look at this one there is a little bit of bash in it but it's mostly point and click. Kommander is not quite to end user simplicity to use but we're working on it. In the mean time grab what you like out of Kommander dialogs. I should tip my hat to the Emerge Tool here that gave me the idea to use his approach to calling the konsole. This dialog demonstrates a few little tricks we came up with to pass multiple args to konsole.Kommander always seems to be about making software do what was never really intended. ;-)
this would be even more useful if it could keep track off the files installed by it, so it becomes as easy to uninstall compiled software as installing, if the autor didnt make a make uninstall target ..
I just thought of this and was going to do it. The problem is that a lot of the better features of Kommander are new and I don't remember what version or Quanta some shipped with. We're addressing this for a Kommander release we plan to do next month. In the mean time I'm sure everything I'm using will work if you have Quanta 3.2.2 or 3.3 BE2 installed. I think the new features will work with Quanta 3.2. I'll post the update shortly and I'll know with the feedback. ;-) The Kommander release coming up will really begin to make for more and better Kommander programs.