not posted for a while...
i'm still alive.
been spending a bunch of time on msi - super stuff - but a bunch of inherant issues. custom actions end up being a compatibility problem but is all anyone ever wants to do.
setup is always a weird place on every project i've worked on. it's either the unifying force & a great experience for everyone (pretty unusual) or, more commonly, the place that ends up being critical path. i think msi & toolkits like installshield end up solving many of the issues, but it's always a problem. Lou Perazzoli - who was dave cutlers #2 on nt is a guy i like to have lunch with everyonce in a while - great guy, tremendous stories & history told me about the stucker & stuckee problem he would always have with setup. what happens is the team who are doning the current project are all taken up, another set of people come along, to 'fix' the next version & end up plonking another pile of crap on the guys who have just got off dying on the previous version. oh well.
i met frank arrigo the first week i started at microsoft. back then he was thin (ish), had hair & no children. he's heading to midnight madness for halo 2. here is one of franks blogs - how he keep having a bunch is something i don't get. i haven't heard from him for a while, but it's always good
a record that you should check out - the rentals - return of the rentals - http://beta.music.msn.com/album/?album=10184472 - it's kinda old now but gary numan with real rocking drums & great backing vocals is a cool sound.
going to vegas this weekend.
