up2date

[Jonathan Arnold]

Troy Bull wrote:
> Hi all.  Is there anything like up2date that will keep my cygwin packages
> updated to the most current?

The Cygwin Setup does this for you.  Here is Brian Dessent's invaluable
posting to this very mailing list that explains the ins and outs of this
somewhat mysterious program and its UI:

> 
> "Keep" means that the package is currently installed and no action will
> be taken to it.  If there is a newer version of the package available it
> will not be listed in the "up to date" view, it will be listed in the
> "Partial" view with a new version in the "New" column.  Essentially the
> Up-to-date/Partial views just filter the display between "stuff that is
> already installed to the desired/latest version and will not be touched"
> and "stuff that will be changed in some way" when you press the "Next >"
> button.
> 
> The best way to think of the setup package list is in terms of the
> "Current" and "New" columns.  (Don't confuse the "Current" column here,
> which means 'state of currently installed on your local system' with
> "Curr" version which means 'whatever the package maintainer has
> designated as the current version'.  If a package gets updated then the
> "Curr" version will be newer than what's listed in your "Current" column
> becuase you haven't updated yet.  Kinda confusing terminology there. 
> Perhaps setup might be changed to always use "stable" where it uses
> "curr", and keep "Current" as the name of the current-local-state
> column.)
> 
> These two columns tell you what setup is going to do with any given
> package.  If "Current" has a version number and "New" contains Keep,
> then the package will not be modified.  If "Current" is blank and "New"
> contains a version, then it is a package that does not currently exist
> on your system and is about to be installed, and so on.
> 
> "Reinstall" can be applied to any package to re-unpack the currently
> installed version and re-run any postinstall scripts.
> 
> The "Install" option only applies in the Category view, and in that
> sense it's a bit confusing because what it really means is "Set all
> packages in this category to 'Curr', or whatever the radio selection is
> at."  If all the packages in the category are aleady installed and at
> the "curr" version then they will all remain at Keep in the New column. 
> If some were not installed they will have a version in the "New" column,
> and the others that were already up to date will continue to be "Keep".
> 
> I think the thing that is confusing you is that in setup you don't mark
> individual packages as "always update this" or "never update this". 
> When you run setup you use to radio buttons to apply your preferences to
> all pacakges: "Keep" means keep everything the same as it is now, do
> nothing.  "Prev" means downgrade every package to its previous version. 
> "Curr" means keep every package upgraded to its latest non-test release,
> and "Exp" means get the latest bleeding edge of everything.  These
> choices are applied to all packages every time you use the radio button. 
> 
> When you run setup by default it comes up in the "Curr" selection which
> means it will always try to set every package to the curr/stable
> version.  There is no way to persistently tell setup that you want exp
> for some packages and curr for the rest, for example.  If you put two
> packages at exp (by cycling their "New" column to a version that is
> newer) and the rest at curr, and then later run setup again it will
> attempt to downgrade those two back to the "curr" version.  This is kind
> of inconvenient, but for the vast majority of users the best choice is
> running "curr" versions of every package, so the people that have a need
> to combine exp and curr selections will usually know how to use setup to
> accomplish it.
> 
> 
> 
>>> And if I keep clicking on the 'keep' icon, I see a
>>> couple of version numbers pop up. Is the latest of
>>> them the version I already have, or the version that
>>> will be installed if I select 'install'? And how _do_
>>> I select 'install' if I have to keep clicking on the
>>> same icon to get 'install' to come back?
> 
> 
> It depends on the package.  Most all packages have one older previous
> version available, and some packages have a newer but experimental
> version additionally available.  When you cycle an already-installed and
> up-to-date package and see version numbers, then you are seeing the prev
> and exp versions.  You can compare the version in the "New" column to
> the version in the "Current" column to see which is which.  When you
> cycle a not-yet-installed package the first version you get is "curr".
> 
> 
>>> Under "Choosing Packages", the above-mentioned website
>>> only says rather unhelpful things like, "To Uninstall,
>>> Reinstall or get the Source, click on Keep to toggle
>>> it". There is no mention of version numbers popping
>>> up!
> 
> 
> Perhaps it should say "click on 'Keep' and continue clicking to cycle
> the selection until the desired state is set."
> 


-- 
Jonathan Arnold     (mailto:jdarnold@buddydog.org)
Amazing Developments       http://www.buddydog.org

I feel like a fugitive from the law of averages. -
  William H. Mauldin


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