Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!rutgers!usc!cs.utexas.edu!uunet!iconsys!caeco!i-core!geo-works!bryan
From: bryan@geo-works.UUCP (Bryan Ford)
Newsgroups: comp.sys.amiga
Subject: Re: Pet Peves or Why,  oh why do they do this? (long)
Message-ID: <0965.AA0965@geo-works>
Date: 18 Jun 89 20:56:01 GMT
References: <2465@van-bc.UUCP> <574@bnr-fos.UUCP>
Followup-To: comp.sys.amiga
Lines: 29

In article <574@bnr-fos.UUCP>, protcoop@bnr-public.uucp (Joel Avery) writes:
>What I really hate is programs that come on a WorkBench disk and
>expect you to boot them...

I agree.  However, remember the people that don't want to 'get their feet
wet', even with the Workbench (Yes, there are some!), and want to just be
able to stick the disk in and press a key and things start happening.

Of course, most of us, if not all, don't want bootable disks like this, and
it can be a real pain to copy a program to a hard disk or install it on a
new (non-bootable) disk for regular use.

The ideal thing to do (and this is what I've done with Chroma Paint) is to
supply a program and an icon, like you said, that can be just dragged to
your hard disk or to another floppy, and it'll run from wherever it's
located.  If it absolutely *must* have more than this, it should come with
an easy install/uninstall program, and the install program should tell
exactly what it's copying, and where it's copying it to.  However, the disk
is still bootable, so first-time users can easily get started.  In other
words, the disk should be bootable, but the program should not be
constrained to this environment.

				Bryan
--

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