Installer or not? what do you prefer?

[Juanjo]

Yep no installer, and Universal Extractor is your friend I've actually stopped using certain plugins because of installers with hardcoded options.

Apart from the ones mentioned, there are more installer inconveniences:

- You need to have it around should you need to install again, that's one more file to take care of
- You have to repeat the install process for each software update
- You have to second-guess the developer ("is the installer putting the files in the folder I specified, or in a subfolder of that folder?")
- Sometimes you have to put up with odd/inconvenient hardwired choices
- It's one more potential point of failure: I vaguely recall people talking about one uninstaller that inadvertedly removed the whole VST folder (human error, but error nonetheless)
- It's a pita if you want/need to sync your VSTplugins folder in 2 machines (or more): you have to install everywhere, you have to update everywhere, you can't backup/mirror easily if some files (presets, skins...) or non-machine-specific settings (skin selected, processing quality, whatever) are in "Program Files" or "Documents and Settings" or the registry or whatever.

If the plugin needs external files such as skins, proprietary presets, etc to operate, then ideally:
a) All those files should be within a folder/subfolder structure zipped along with the dll so you just have to unzip wherever you want it all to be, or move it all around as you please (i.e. single folder with the same name as dll at the same hierarchy level, dll should use relative path to reach it)
b) The location for the "supporting" folder shouldn't be hardcoded by the dev but open-ended (i.e. provide a config option within the plugin to specify the folder location, or even better just ask the user for the new location when the plugin doesn't find the folder at the last specified location)

And if a plugin needs to put any information on the registry, then let the actual dll put it, edit it and retrieve it, don't rely on an installer for that.

And please oh please, use .ini files (placed along with the dlls or within their "supporting" folders) instead of the registry whenever possible!

And... and... did I say that I hate installers?

[lateralus778]

I ABSOLUTELY HATE INSTALLERS WITH A PASSION!!!

[shanecgriffo]

Definitely DLL's for me.

[Aleksey Vaneev]

Interesting results

I'll probably follow the results of this vote for the next versions of Voxengo plug-ins, at least for the first few releases.

ZIP package=
.DLL or .vst/.component on Mac (plug-in)
.PDF (manual)
.RTF (what's new)
.RTF (licensing agreement)

That should be fine I guess.

[tonAP]

Interesting results

I'll probably follow the results of this vote for the next versions of Voxengo plug-ins, at least for the first few releases.

Thanx Aleksey You're The Wise Coder

.RTF (what's new)
.RTF (licensing agreement)

That should be fine I guess.

Fine yes. Just would like better .TXT... but guess I'm going to be finicky with this

[asseca]

I am using a 3rd option offering BOTH "installer" and "archive", 7-zip's SFX archive format, you then have an EXE file, which can be run as an installer AND you can extract the files/folders manually using 7-zip or WinRar. The custom installer code is only 50kB. When running the installer the 1st page shows the following:

Please take into account that some users DO have difficulty using WinZip, WinRar, 7-zip ...

BTW you can manually extract the files from Rubberfilter.exe by using 7-zip ...

[Lagrange]

Should be an undecided option here. I mean If the plugin has many complex dir levels and perhaps files that have to placed in the sys folder etc then I'd rather an installer. Plus it's probably easier for a noob. For the more experienced or DIY user maybe an archive would be ok. So it's kinda hard to say.

L

[ermi]

I vaguely recall people talking about one uninstaller that inadvertedly removed the whole VST folder (human error, but error nonetheless)

Yep, I had one of those as well.
Well, at least I learned from that to backup.

For me: archive>>>installer. At least for freeware. If I have to register the plugin I can live with an installer. I know you can also register without an installer, but it can be useful to have the uninstall process to clean the registry if you remove the plugin.

[NAD]

Interesting results

I'll probably follow the results of this vote for the next versions of Voxengo plug-ins, at least for the first few releases.

ZIP package=
.DLL or .vst/.component on Mac (plug-in)
.PDF (manual)
.RTF (what's new)
.RTF (licensing agreement)

That should be fine I guess.

I think that's a wise decision, Aleksey. Way to go!

[Paulie Phonick]

That's truly a no brainer. Say no to installers!

When a plugin is distributed as an archive it means that it will be able to create the environment it needs without the help of any external software (=an installer). This becomes important when eg. moving/reorganizing VST plugin folders - the plugs without installers normally survive this way easier than those with installers.

Aleksey -

[swampmonster50]

no insatllers please, keep our computers tidy

[stk]

BTW you can manually extract the files from Rubberfilter.exe by using 7-zip ...

Same with arcdev. I've copped shit for using exes (actually just self-extracting rars so no pollution) for arcdev stuff, but I figure... well, it's my toys ;p

sk

[matthewjumps]

hehe woa those are some pretty conclusive results so far...i agree - no installers for me...

[Zombie Queen]

Yep, I avoid installers by all means, when I want a plug badly I'll make an exception, but then I'm sick for a couple of days.

[kritikon]

Likewise. No stupid installers. Hate them with a passion.

Several installers seem to see fit to making a whole new VST plugin folder. Wusikstation did that to me...by the time I'd realised what a pain in the arse it was, I'd already edited files and saved, moved patches, banks etc. And now I can't just move the actual .dll because it has to be at a certain level. Basically I have to uninstall the whole thing and then re-install to get it where I want. I hope Wusikstation has changed since then (I think I remember one of the updates did that...?) but I'm still on v1.something - I'm not hopping on the upgrade bandwagon for synths - it's bad enough to have to do it with hosts. So I'm stuck with v1 in a separate folder unless I spend the time uninstalling and moving and reorganising. And I simply shouldn't have to.

And to top it off - the stupid Wusikstation file is one level up, so most installers see that as the default folder to install any plugin into...and it isn't my main plugin folder.

Many other installers do that. Cubase has 3 levels for the default plugin folder...IIRC it's Cubase->SX(version)->VST plugins. Installers seem to have minds of their own and make a new folder: Cubase->VST plugins. FFS!?@ There are some older plugins that won't even work in that folder - I seem to remember things like !Ninja! has to have the dll or the patches at exactly the same level as the host main application. Why can't I decide what folder to put it in myself? It's not rocket science.

And yeah...I also remember here on KvR at least 2 people installed a genuine plugin (can't remember off the top of my head which one it was). It worked fine, but when they uninstalled it, it wiped their whole VST folder. If any coder did that to me just because he wanted to be flash and use some funny installer, I'd want to find his address and go throw a brick through his window.

Installers can do damage as well as being simply inconvenient. First time I ever used a registry cleaner I was amazed by how much crap was in there from old defunct installs. If I'm going to fill up my registry, I'd rather have the choice and do it myself, and not have it foisted on me.