[comp.sys.mac.misc] hacking installer scripts

kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) (06/08/91)

jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes:

>   Is this part of system 7.0? Does it mean the bucket (?) is getting full?

>Sounds like someone's found Easy Access... ;-)

A chance to get this off my mind:

Why the hell does Apple think every user needs this junk (the
6.0.7 installer put brightness  in a) a customized ][si install and 
b) a minimal install [if memory serves, but i _always_ have to
clean unwanted/needed junk out of the system folder. It was DAL in
7.0]

Does anyone know how to hack the installer scripts so the battery cdev
is not installed on an si? &c. &c.

And all those fonts--does _anyone_ ever use courier? (except hypercard)
How about a -really- customizable install?

--
	...kiran
		__________kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu________(812) 331-1710

From the corrections column in a July Fresno, CA _Bee_:
"An item in Thursday's [issue] about the Massachusetts budget crisis
made reference to new taxes that will help put Massachusetts 'back in
the African-American.' The item should have said 'back in the black.'"

gasser@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Nathan Gasser) (06/09/91)

...kiran says:
>
>A chance to get this off my mind:
>
>Why the hell does Apple think every user needs this junk (the
>6.0.7 installer put brightness  in a) a customized ][si install and 
>b) a minimal install [if memory serves, but i _always_ have to
>clean unwanted/needed junk out of the system folder. It was DAL in
>7.0]
>
>Does anyone know how to hack the installer scripts so the battery cdev
>is not installed on an si? &c. &c.
>
>And all those fonts--does _anyone_ ever use courier? (except hypercard)
>How about a -really- customizable install?
>
>--
>	...kiran
>		__________kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu________(812) 331-1710



Oh boy.  OK.  What would it take to make you happy?  Can't you accept the
fact that you just purchased a totally excellent computer, slipped in
the floppys, pressed "Install" and then needed to trash a few files?

Ever set up and IBM? NeXT?  How about that machine's 3-hour drive format
time?  eh?

Is there really much difference between clicking "Hold the courier" and
dragging courier to the trash about 4.2 minutes later?  


Actually, I've been freelancing to Apple to develop an installer that
is keyed to your horoscope and can determine if you're the type of person
to want to use Sticky Keys.

Anyone ever used EasyAccess and CloseView?  These two *free* utilities
can really be useful at times, and I wouldn't have made use of that
extra little bit of Apple engineering if the Installer hadn't placed them
there.


To sum up, don't have a com, man.  The Mac is awesome, and the installer
is great.  If it doesn't fit you to perfection, deal with it.

		With steam,
				Nate.
--
Nathan Gasser
gasser@eniac.seas.upenn.edu 

francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) (06/09/91)

In article <kiran.676352458@copper> kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) writes:

>A chance to get this off my mind:

>Why the hell does Apple think every user needs this junk (the
>6.0.7 installer put brightness  in a) a customized ][si install and 
>b) a minimal install [if memory serves, but i _always_ have to
>clean unwanted/needed junk out of the system folder. It was DAL in
>7.0]

Easy Access is not in a minimal install, at least not in the one I
built (needed a floppy).  All it gave me was what I needed.

As for why it would go in a full install--that's probably to prevent
somebody who needs it installing their system & then finding that they
have to struggle to install Easy Access.  It's much easier for you to
trash it than for somebody who needs it to install it.

--
/============================================================================\
| Francis Stracke	       | My opinions are my own.  I don't steal them.|
| Department of Mathematics    |=============================================|
| University of Chicago	       | Earth: Love it or leave it.	     	     |
| francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu  |  					     |
\============================================================================/

news@massey.ac.nz (USENET News System) (06/10/91)

In article <kiran.676352458@copper> kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle)
writes:
>jas@ISI.EDU (Jeff Sullivan) writes:
>>   Is this part of system 7.0? Does it mean the bucket (?) is getting full?
>>Sounds like someone's found Easy Access... ;-)
>A chance to get this off my mind:
>Why the hell does Apple think every user needs this junk (the
>6.0.7 installer put brightness  in a) a customized ][si install and 
>b) a minimal install [if memory serves, but i _always_ have to
>clean unwanted/needed junk out of the system folder. It was DAL in
>7.0]
>
>Does anyone know how to hack the installer scripts so the battery cdev
>is not installed on an si? &c. &c.

As I understand it, when you do an installation for a specific machine, the
installer also puts in the minimum software to drive all Macintosh models.
That's why you get the brightness cdev and other little goodies which only used
in specific models. A possible reason for doing this is that if you installed
on an external HD of one machine type and than took your HD to another machine
type and you didn't have the minimum OS requirements for that machine, you
wouldn't have a bootable HD.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Allan Burton           Phone +64 6 3569099 x8564, Fax +64 6 3505607
Macintosh Consultant,  TimeZone GMT +12,  Internet A.K.Burton@massey.ac.nz
Computer Centre, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand
--------------------------------------------------------------------------

francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) (06/10/91)

In article <1991Jun9.233220.474@massey.ac.nz> news@massey.ac.nz (USENET News System) writes:

>As I understand it, when you do an installation for a specific machine, the
>installer also puts in the minimum software to drive all Macintosh models.
>That's why you get the brightness cdev and other little goodies which
	only used 
>in specific models. A possible reason for doing this is that if you installed
>on an external HD of one machine type and than took your HD to another machine
>type and you didn't have the minimum OS requirements for that machine, you
>wouldn't have a bootable HD.

But can't the system tell when a disk is internal?

And why does Apple ship machines with systems like these? I set up a
friend's SE last fall, and it had things like the Portable cdev on its
preinstalled hard drive!

--
/============================================================================\
| Francis Stracke	       | My opinions are my own.  I don't steal them.|
| Department of Mathematics    |=============================================|
| University of Chicago	       | Should five percent appear too small,	     |
| francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu  | Be thankful I don't take it all.  "Taxman"  |
\============================================================================/

norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Norton Chia) (06/10/91)

francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes:

>But can't the system tell when a disk is internal?

And how do you think the System can tell? Also, when is an internal external,
or an external internal? :)

>And why does Apple ship machines with systems like these? I set up a
>friend's SE last fall, and it had things like the Portable cdev on its
>preinstalled hard drive!

While I go through throwing out a lot junk on my "internal" HD after every
new installation -> Colo(u)r on an SE used to be a pet hate :)
I do believe it is far easier to throw away stuff than to re-install
them from disks.

Cheers,
-- 
//  Norton Chia || I can be reached via e-mail  -->  norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU /
/ Micro Support || Yes, this is Australia calling. //////  AppleLink: AUST0240 /
/ Uni of Sydney || No, I haven't got anything to say but "Thanks", if I forgot ////  When I'm talking half way around the world, my employers can't hear me  ///

kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) (06/10/91)

>francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes:
>>And why does Apple ship machines with systems like these? I set up a
>>friend's SE last fall, and it had things like the Portable cdev on its
>>preinstalled hard drive!

norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Norton Chia) writes:
>While I go through throwing out a lot junk on my "internal" HD after every
>new installation -> Colo(u)r on an SE used to be a pet hate :)
>I do believe it is far easier to throw away stuff than to re-install
>them from disks.

My point was/is:
A customized install for, say, an se **should be a customized install
for an se**
not, as someone suggested, an install of a system which will run any Mac
What exactly does customized mean? It means specific to the machine in
question. Why do they bother to have a custon install if it is not
really customized to the machine it claims to be customized for.

Why not simply allow the user to select an 'expert custom' which would
allow specific files, fonts, &c. to be excluded?

It is easier to throw things away if (a) you know that they are there and
(b) you know what they are.

This thread started when someone found an extension by accident.
Shouldn't a customized install work to prevent things like this?
--
	...kiran
		__________kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu________(812) 331-1710

From the corrections column in a July Fresno, CA _Bee_:
"An item in Thursday's [issue] about the Massachusetts budget crisis
made reference to new taxes that will help put Massachusetts 'back in
the African-American.' The item should have said 'back in the black.'"

Juha.Hyvonen@hut.fi (Juha Hyv|nen) (06/10/91)

In article <FRANCIS.91Jun10001547@math.uchicago.edu>
francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes:
+------------------------
! And why does Apple ship machines with systems like these? I set up a
! friend's SE last fall, and it had things like the Portable cdev on its
! preinstalled hard drive!
!........................

Although using the installer is recommended by Apple, people do copy
system (folders) from each other (and different machines).

	   / (.__o
	  /_/ __/		..
	! /  !		Juha.Hyvonen@hut.fi	(juh@cs.hut.fi)
	!/ ) !
	 ------

norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Norton Chia) (06/10/91)

kiran@copper.ucs.indiana.edu (Kiran Wagle) writes:

>What exactly does customized mean? It means specific to the machine in
>question. Why do they bother to have a custon install if it is not
>really customized to the machine it claims to be customized for.

>Why not simply allow the user to select an 'expert custom' which would
>allow specific files, fonts, &c. to be excluded?

And how long do you think that list will be? Now, I would like just the
point 10 and 12 of all fonts that has TrueType equivalents, but keep also
the point 24 of those that don't... Well, I'll make an exception to 
Geneva 9 point Italic.

>It is easier to throw things away if (a) you know that they are there and
>(b) you know what they are.

I absolutely agree!! I originally thought the Startup Folder was where
the INITs were meant to be!! On the other hand, I must say of the people
I've come across via campus wide support, it would be a lot easier for
overkill than undercooked. As far as support problems go, it's much easier
over the phone to ask someone to re-install their drive and the extra stuff
won't hurt them too much. Some of these extra bits don't take up too much
memory, and if people don't even know they have over a hundred copies
of Word temp files, I can't see their complaints for a few extra bits of
useless junk! :)

I was trying to install a copy of Z-7.0 the other day where the installer
originated with 800K disks. The first disk, Install 1, had three files:
Installer, System and Installer Script, make it an alias of the Installer
Script! They were pushing it a bit trying to include the script on the same 
800K disk. The actual file was located on Install 3...

While I certainly appreciate the ability for Installers for
"expert" install, I certainly can live with the compromise of the current
setup -> if you don't know enough to care, it's there anyway. If you're
smart enough to know, trash the things you don't want yourself. I just 
think by the time I've specified all the stuff I don't want installed,
I might as well just throw them out later on when I have a look around
into different folders. Once you've done this, the next time round will
be a breeze. You haven't tried installing PageMaker BTW, have you? You can
certainly choose what not to install, but going back to your argument (b),
how would you know what you don't need in the first place??

>This thread started when someone found an extension by accident.
>Shouldn't a customized install work to prevent things like this?

I think I've been agreeing with a compromise situation that Apple's 
Installers have taken. But I also believe in keeping things simple: should
you decide to have what you didn't think you would've when you first
installed, eg the Monitors cdev on an SE, it would take more time to locate
where it is than if it were on the "internal" drive in the first place.

Despite all I've said, I still agree with what is being said. Remember the
good old days when Macs were meant to be simple? In this day and age of
Personal File Share and Excel that's about 1.3 megabytes, the Mac 
is becoming more and more complicated. Why not leave the Installer simple,
and let the inquisitive throw out what's not needed as far as they're 
concerned? We're all Mac users, aren't we? Have a bit of spirit and
experiment and explore!!

Now, where was I? I've got to throw away Portable, Battery, Brightness,
DAL, EtherTalk Phase 2....

-- 
//  Norton Chia || I can be reached via e-mail  -->  norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU /
/ Micro Support || Yes, this is Australia calling. //////  AppleLink: AUST0240 /
/ Uni of Sydney || No, I haven't got anything to say but "Thanks", if I forgot ////  When I'm talking half way around the world, my employers can't hear me  ///

weverka@spot.Colorado.EDU (Robert T. Weverka) (06/10/91)

In article <norton.676536676@extro> norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU (Norton Chia) writes:
>
>While I go through throwing out a lot junk on my "internal" HD after every
>new installation -> Colo(u)r on an SE used to be a pet hate :)
>I do believe it is far easier to throw away stuff than to re-install
>them from disks.
>
>Cheers,
>-- 
>/  Norton Chia || I can be reached via e-mail  -->  norton@extro.ucc.su.OZ.AU /


After installing I toss out the extra system folder stuff, but yesterday
I noticed something else I wasn't sure if it was safe to toss.
  There is a host of stuff within the system itself.  Using resedit, color
desk stuff international calanders and more were found in the system.  Is
there reason to get rid of these?  Will it save disk space, memory, speed?

Perhaps there is enought junk in system 7 that I could toss enough to fit
it on an 800 k floppy.

pejacoby@mmm.serc.3m.com (Paul E. Jacoby) (06/11/91)

In article <FRANCIS.91Jun10001547@math.uchicago.edu> francis@zaphod.uchicago.edu (Francis Stracke) writes:
>
>But can't the system tell when a disk is internal?

Ummm, how would it do that?  A new Gestalt trap?  IfNotInAbox()? :-)

Really, I think the logic on a general install for all Macs (put it all
in there, regardless of whether it is useful or not) makes fine sense.
If I ever take my External HD to a IIfx, I want to be sure it will boot.
I don't want to see "The software on this disk will not boot this
machine"....  And, as was stated before, it takes but a moment to trash
Easy Access, Battery, etc.
-- 
| Paul E. Jacoby, 3M Company, 3M Center, 235-3F-27                   |
| Maplewood, MN   55144-1000     .-----------------------------------|
| => pejacoby@3m.com             |     I am _not_ the editor of      |
|                 (612) 737-3211 |         the Radio Times.          |