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Lousy setup program defeats users with disabilites.


I'm writing to plead with the developer of the setup program for Cygwin.

Imagine for a minute that you are somewhat disabled, and can't move a mouse all to well. Typing is a chore, but managable, and one tends to stick with console utilities. (like, cygwin.)

Now, Imagine that someone has put an installer in the way to these tools. The installer not only *requires* the use of a mouse, but also *requires* about a thousand clicks in order to install all of the tools. There is no option to use the keyboard, nor is there an *install all* option (something that devleopers of real windows applications figured out about a decade ago)

I just recently downloaded the most recent version of this discriminating peice of software, and noticed that now, the text doesn't even fit in the window, again *requiring* more use of a mouse, and you can't even resize the window.

Some of the column headers are unreadable, and require the user to resize them in order to read what they say.

I find the use of this setup program deplorable. Not only does it cleary disciminate against users with disabilities, it tends to speak volumes about the state of Open source software.

I keep checking to see if these deficiencies are ever addressed, but every time I check, the damn installer gets harder and harder to use.

Even the FAQ acknowledges this :


How do I just get everything?
<http://cygwin.com/faq/faq_toc.html#TOC14>

In the past, the default was to install everything, much to the irritation of many users. Now the default is to install only a basic core of packages. At the moment, there is no easy way to get everything. In the current version of Cygwin Setup, if you want everything, you must do the following:

1. When the Cygwin Setup says "Select packages to install", click on
the "View" button until it says "Full".
2. Wherever it says "Skip", click twice until it gives the version
number of the package. That means it will be downloaded and
installed.

Gee, I like to click twice for every single package. Makes me *soooooo* happy.

Now, granted if you read enough dribble on the Cygwin.com homepage , you'll find the sentance:

For instance, clicking on the "All" category will provide you with the opportunity to install every Cygwin package.

Which when I tried clicking on "all", simply opened and closed the tree. Turns out that you need to click on the goofy icon (which is a VERY small target) or the word beside it. In this case "Default". Hardly clicking on "All". Now, the large pause between clicking on it when it is set to "Default" makes me think that I missed the click, therefore I need to click again. It then SKIPS over "Install", settling on "Reinstall". Clicking once more quickly sets it all to "Uninstall", and once more sets it quickly to "Default". Funny, without trying for many minutes, I never found the "Install" option.

So, I finally got it to install, by clicking on the word, and waiting to see whether the gods dictated that I actually did click, and it updates the display. A quick scan thru the list shows some options STILL set to "SKIP". I expected that "All" set to install, actually meant Install all! Silly me. (although it does appear there is only a couple of packages that seem to be affected).

All in all, this installer, while beatifully allowing users to individually select packages to conserve download space (a VERY laudable goal, as space and speed are limited for many) it fails to deliver that feature for those who have limited physical functionality.

Now, I realize that this has been quite a rant. I work with people who have limited abilities with their hands, but can often be quite brilliant otherwise. I encourage them to work problems out for themselves, and I hate to see these types of things causing them to give up on Open source tools due to the hurdles involved.

On a tangental note, software that fails to meet the needs of disabled people can be disallowed from working in some government institutions, by law. Again, the last thing the Open source community needs, is to be ripped from some of the very people it needs to help the most.

Garrett




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