Boring but important - selling a download product for Windows

[Graham Samuel]

Well Roger, I agree with you - that’s why I went all the way with code signing and creating an installer. But the Norton Catch-22 ("not many people have used this software so we’re going to delete it until more people have used it…”) a small developer is in an impossible position, it seems to me. And even Google Chrome is hostile to .exe files even if they’re code signed. That’s why I was looking for any other solution. Is there a better way?

Graham

BTW none of these problems seem to exist on the Mac. Code signing is enough to make an installer acceptable to OSX.



> On 22 Jan 2017, at 16:06, Roger Eller via use-livecode <use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
> I tend to disagree with the consensus to use zip files on Windows.  Nothing
> screams UNPROFESSIONAL more than not having an installer that is standard
> for the platform you are installing to.
> 
> ~Roger
> 
> On Jan 22, 2017 8:06 AM, "Richmond Mathewson via use-livecode" <
> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
> 
>> How about downloading a zip file from a DropBox account?
>> 
>> Richmond.
>> 
>> On 1/22/17 2:59 pm, Graham Samuel via use-livecode wrote:
>> 
>>> Just to report on how this method worked for me: I chose to have a web
>>> page from which the zipped file is downloaded. This worked fine, but not
>>> without warnings. The browser of choice, Chrome, offered to discard the
>>> file, but this was easy to ignore; then either when the zipped file was an
>>> installer or when it was just the original standalone, Norton intervened to
>>> prevent it running, but at least gave an option to “Run this program
>>> anyway”. So I do need to put a number of warnings on my web site, but at
>>> least it is less painful than before.
>>> 
>>> In another mail in this thread, answering Richmond, I speculate that the
>>> zip file could be delivered via an email attachment. I tried this, and
>>> although it seemed to get rid of Chrome’s objection (I was using webmail
>>> via Chrome), Norton made the same intervention. So that path is probably
>>> not worth going down.
>>> 
>>> Anyway this method certainly improves things, so that’s the one I’m going
>>> to use. Pity that code signing doesn’t just sweep this all away, but I
>>> suppose to really help naive users there should also be a kind of
>>> “harmlessness certificate”, which AFAIK doesn’t exist.
>>> 
>>> Graham
>>> 
>>> On 21 Jan 2017, at 23:37, Graham Samuel via use-livecode <
>>>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Wow, Jacque, that is such a great idea. Too late where I am to try it
>>>> out tonight, but I will certainly try it tomorrow.
>>>> 
>>>> Thanks so much
>>>> 
>>>> Graham
>>>> 
>>>> On 21 Jan 2017, at 20:59, J. Landman Gay via use-livecode <
>>>>> use-livecode at lists.runrev.com> wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>> On 1/21/17 1:43 PM, Graham Samuel via use-livecode wrote:
>>>>> 
>>>>>> My question is, what do other people do about this? If you generate a
>>>>>> new desktop program for Windows and try to sell it as a download, how
>>>>>> can you strip away all this nonsense for the average purchaser?
>>>>>> 
>>>>> One of my clients said she'd had it with Windows installers and now
>>>>> ships the product as a zip file. The user is instructed to move the app
>>>>> folder out of the zip folder. This is just about the only hitch in the
>>>>> process, because Windows presents the zip folder as a regular folder and
>>>>> users think they can just double-click the app inside the zip archive.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Other than instructing naive Windows users to drag the app folder out
>>>>> of the zip archive, there have been virtually no other issues. The signed
>>>>> app itself works fine without interference from the OS.
>>>>> 
>>>>> Windows users have become used to installers and expect them, but if
>>>>> your app is self-contained and doesn't require changing registry keys or
>>>>> other OS-level stuff, it works pretty well. I know that's not what you
>>>>> asked, but that's how we solved it.
>>>>> 
>>>>> --
>>>>> Jacqueline Landman Gay         |     jacque at hyperactivesw.com
>>>>> HyperActive Software           |     http://www.hyperactivesw.com
>>>>> 
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