Why is setup.exe so difficult? Am I missing something?

[Rob Hatcherson]

Christopher Faylor wrote:

>I'll reiterate that the mirrors list is checked twice a day for accuracy
>so the only way that a mirror could be out-of-date is if you don't specify
>it from the list of mirrors but, instead, use one that isn't in the list.
>
>Maybe setup.exe could check to see if the mirror that users specify is
>in the list of mirrors and issue an error if it isn't.  That might cut
>down on people reporting "bad mirrors".
>  
>

It would seem useful to figure out what is causing people to believe a 
mirror is out of whack.  I know I've never attempted to install cygwin 
from anywhere but the mirrors offered by the setup app, and I commonly 
encounter both of the following messages before downloads even start:

- This setup.ini is older than the one you used last time you installed 
cygwin.  Proceed anyway?
This suggests that the mirror is out of date.

- Unable to get setup.ini from <pick your mirror URL>
This suggests the mirror is incomplete (i.e. who knows what else is 
missing).

I suspect other setup-related problems I've encountered were a 
side-effect of the now-abandonded "install it all at once" approach, so 
I'd have to work at coming up with concrete examples of things that 
ended up missing or nonfunctional via the advocated two-stage install.  
Anyone?

Rob


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