What is the minimal install process?

[Graham Samuel]

Last July (I'm amazed it was so long ago) I was asking the list about 
installers for RR standalones, particularly on Windows. At the time, 
I was interested in the association between documents and the 
corresponding applications. Ken Ray gave me a very clear explanation. 
He ended his message with the words:

>If an app has *no* documents, you don't need to make any file 
>associations, and can simply copy the app to the user's hard disk.

My publisher has told me that the particular app I'm developing 
doesn't need any file associations (it has documents, but these are 
exclusively opened from within the application); so on the face of it 
I can follow Ken's advice. However there are a couple of other 
considerations:

1. As I understand it, there are certain conventional places programs 
are supposed to go (various flavours of 'Applications' folders in 
MacOS 9 and 10, presumably the 'Programs' folder in all versions of 
Windows). I can't guarantee that my user is going to follow my 
written advice and copy the standalone to one of these special 
destinations - so do I therefore need an installer to make sure the 
program turns up in the 'right' place? I don't understand the 
consequences of putting stuff in the 'wrong' place on any platform.

2. I think (not sure) that in recent versions of Windows and in MacOS 
10.x, programs go into folders which in normal situations are 
write-protected. The 'abnormal' situation is brought about by logging 
on as an administrator. Again, do I need an installer to help with 
this process, or will my user get a sufficiently clear indication as 
to what they've done wrong if they try to copy the app into a 
protected area?

I'm also somewhat concerned about the placing of preference and/or 
license files, but I think I now know how to get over that one.

A search through the list archives reveals that installers have been 
discussed a few times (there is a good deal of useful info in fact), 
but AFAIK there has not yet been a definitive description of the best 
way to go about creating an installer, particularly a multi-platform 
installer.

Is anyone on the list publishing programs with any kind of installer 
who would care to share their techniques with the rest of us?

TIA

Graham
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          Graham Samuel / The Living Fossil Co. / UK & France