Re: Is the Cygwin installation process likely to change significantly anytime soon?

[Jonathan Turkanis <technews at kangaroologic dot com>]

Christopher Faylor wrote:
> Jonathan Turkanis wrote:

> > ---------------------------
> > I'm explaining the Cygwin installation process in detail because it's a bit 
> > confusing. The process may have changed by the time you read this, but if 
> > it has, it will probably have been made easier.
> > ---------------------------

> I would prefer that you would not use the word "confusing" since it is a
> charged word which really only indicates the state of the person doing
> the writing.  

True -- if it's confusing only to me, that's of little interest to the reader. 
Saying "it can be a bit confusing" would be more relevant (and also true, I'm 
afraid).

> Predisposing first-time users into thinking that
> installation is "confusing" is not, IMO, a really good idea. 

I'm sympathetic, and open to suggestions.

> I'd prefer
> something like "can be a little complicated depending on what you're trying
> to install".

I think I can live with this as long as the sentence ends after the word 
"complicated." To me, the package selection process is counter-intuitive 
regardless of how much or how little I'm trying to install.

I'm certainly not trying to denigrate Cygwin; I'm trying to solve a practical 
problem: how to get readers to install Cygwin, without giving up in the middle, 
so they can get to the next step (which happens to be running g++ and make). I 
also have to say something about why I'm going into such detail, rather than 
just saying "run the installation utility."

As long as I have some plausible way to introduce the detailed installation 
instructions, without bending the truth too much, I'm happy.

> cgf

Best Regards,
Jonathan


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