Looking Glass host should not use NSIS for the installer

This removes the portability of the host application on Windows, correct? Is there a way to make it portable again with all these features intact?

The looking glass host exe itself has not changed, it has just been wrapped in a NSIS installer.

So can install it, and copy the exe from the install directory, and it should be portable, at least in user mode. In service mode, it is not portable, although you could uninstall and install the service to move the location.

Although, what purpose does making the exe portable have? It is not like you can use it on a random computer, it only is useful in specific VMs.

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Just feel like there’s gotta be a less intrusive way to do this with just the exe rather than using Nullsoft installers. If it’s indeed impossible, it should be made clear upon first run that it’s in user mode if it wasn’t installed in service mode.

Sure there is. Either build the host application yourself, or use 7z to unpack the NSIS installer and grab the looking-glass-host.exe. You now have the application at hand and the choice whether to install/use as service or user.

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Then I feel like a ZIP should be offered along with a .bat script. (hopefully .bat works in PowerShell. Not familar enough with PowerShell but I do know enough it needs extra trust to execute stuff)

I have still not seen what your use case is that makes NSIS such a bad choice.

What does this offer that the NSIS installer does not?

If what you want is to be able to install from the command line, the current installer works fine for that, run it with /? to see the available switches.

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So no batch scripts needed as the installation of necessary system hooks is in the EXE itself? Is the installer only setting permissions or what? I just like more flexibility and less stuff in “Add and Remove Programs.” That’s the primary reason I like portable apps.

Yes, for the service. The installer actually creates the service by running the host exe.

If you had read the patch notes for B2 RC3, you can install and uninstall the service from the bare exe, no nsis installer needed.

Right, so a batch file could do something similar without an installer. It just has to be run in a privledged PowerShell. I still think a ZIP is another option that could be better suited if it includes a Readme and a .bat for those not comfortable with adding programs to “Add and Remove Programs”.

FWIW, I have never seen a installer do a fully clean uninstall on Windows. They always leave behind stuff in the registry.

Right, glad we got the first part about the service sorted. Moral of the story is to read all the patch notes, not just the most recent one.

And why is adding it to the list of installed programs a bad thing? IMO, it is a good thing, given the type of program it is.

I am sure that all the keys created in the install script are deleted upon uninstall.

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I’ve just had less then stellar experiences with installers, .msi or .exe as it adds to OS bloat. RealNetworks RealPlayer being the worst out of all of them. (Seriously, China, STOP USING RMVB. It’s a stupid codec)

Look at the NSIS script, you’ll see exactly what it’s doing. From what I can see, there’s not a single line of bloat in the installer.

realplayer

Dude, stop using old shit. VLC should handle RMVB just fine.

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The only player I ever use (Got that EU funding on Security patches)

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Whenever I see it’s going to add registry entries, it doesn’t inspire confidence. That’s likely the default Nullsoft installation requisites, but if the actual host EXE doesn’t need it, there should be a ZIP with .bat and a readme also offered. Don’t make the installer the only option. I’m not saying abandon the installer, I’m saying a ZIP file IN ADDITION would be nice.

Gnif is accepting PRs.

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This is another rabbit hole I do not wish to go down. For my own mental health.

Okay, that’s fine. But you cannot expect someone to tailor an exact solution for you, for free.

Gnif has done plenty for the community as it is and quite frankly, he doesn’t owe you anything. That’s not to say you’re not welcome here, or to use it, but the whole idea of the NSIS installer was to make things easier. I’m not sure what the CI flow for Looking Glass is, but what I do know is that “be the change you want to see in the world” seems to fit here quite well. If you’d like a change in the CI/CD process, to provide something that would help you, just edit the CI config file.

Wait till you see packages adding files in /etc on Linux. :grimacing:

It’s my parent’s bloated systems, and other Chinese people’s spyware ridden systems that I sometimes have to do tech support for that I weep for.

I use MPV.

Yeah, I’m just not educated enough to contribute. My poor mental state doesn’t help inspire motivation. Just learned I have cotton wool spots too so I have a risk of going blind…

Edit: Hide this thread please, I don’t deserve to be further humiliated.

This has gone rather off topic.

Feel free to create a new thread if you find any actual problems with the installer rather then problems you assume it has.