Hi, let me start by saying “Great Concept!”
I’m going to warn you now however, I will finish this communique with a constructive criticism. Please feel free to move this topic to a more poignant “discussion group.” My reasoning behind what may seem to be madness (I’m not getting paid to educate or train!) is literal frustration behind the execution of this software production. Now for the matter at hand.
I downloaded the “installer.sh” (this is the software bundle ref. for the duration of this post.) It was bundled with a, ahem please excuse the expression “butt load” of unwanted, unwarranted, and all out unnecessary software. It was my plan to download and install, SDE-EC CE for Linux (running Ubuntu 10.10, & EC Galileo) needless to say the end result was fail.
Firstly, I opened a terminal session and commanded:
chmod +x "installer.sh"
followed by:
sudo ./“installer.sh”
After an overwhelmingly dismaying discovery of what I just downloaded… I shrugged it off and proceeded with the installation. The first issue I noticed was that the installer “blatantly” displayed no regard to the system it was prepared to run on. This was indicated by the fact that, instead of querying the system for a “program files installation directory” (or at least picking one from a database of known host systems) I was presented with a folder browser dialog pointed at /opt. This was very unsatisfactory behavior in my professional opinion.
The next issue I was presented with was a yet another file chooser dialog pointed at /opt/eclipse. The installer was gracious enough to present me with an indication that this path was incorrect. Frustrated I turned to consult the oracle by issuing the command:
whereis eclipse
Response:
eclipse: /usr/bin/eclipse /etc/eclipse.ini /usr/lib/eclipse /usr/share/eclipse /usr/share/man/man1/eclipse.1.gz
I chose to rely on intuition and decided that /usr/share/eclipse was the path in question so I directed the installer upon that path. I received (quite thankfully!) an expedient response to my registration key request during the installation, and I was able to acquire the license. from said e-mail before installation completed. All appeared to run smoothly and no errors were reported about the installation. I was presented with a final option to launch SDE-EC CE (referred to as SDE from here on…) so I further directed the installer to do so. An error occurred, upon launch (no gui was presented for SDE) and I was instructed to consult a log file which I was unable to locate.
After a few wasted minutes of searching for “Carmen Sandiego,” I got tired of playing “Where’s Waldo?” and “Clue” as I came to the conclusion that this installation was apparently in “Jeopardy” presenting me with questions for answers. I moved directly to UNINSTALL. I tried to re-install as a regular user but, completed the task with zero success. Once bitten twice shy I find myself here wondering why I am wasting my time writing a book when I could be writing code.
In an effort to save face and time for EVERYONE involved i submit my suggestions for possible corrections to the issues.
-
Break the installer down into separate parts. It is obvious the complexity of all the software involved has led to lazy (and
cumbersome execution of distribution. A 160z. steak cannot be eaten in one bite. It is much better to chew, enjoy and swallow
when you cut it into pieces. -
Present an installation manual (PDF/web-link) to your potential customers before offering the download. It seems to me there is an
error in your profit margin. Software should be designed so as that technical support resources aren’t wasted on issues that should
have been addressed before the product made distribution status. -
Use Virtual Machines to test your product on the various target host systems PRE-RELEASE. You get paid to test and debug,
WE the end users have to pay for it in one form or another. -
Hire someone who speaks English well enough to graduate with a bachelor’s degree on the subject, and put them to work as an
editor and educator. No offense but professional appearance is key to customer relations especially in regard to professional
industry.
I am very interested in this software. I am a new student to the Java programming language and this would serve as an invaluable tool in my endeavors henceforth. It is my hope that your team will side with my suggestions and begin work immediately. It is a fact that if you wrote the software and you cant install it, then I wont either.
-----> This is my log file. <-----
Ubuntu 10.10 + Eclipse Galileo + SDE-EC CE
Final Verdict: Solid Software Concept, Poor Production Execution
System.out.printLn(I != (Emotion) Happy_Camper);
[TRUE]