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Open Source Business Conference and green light means go.

I just got back from a successful trip to San Francisco and I'm very glad to be home again.  However, I really wish I could attend the Open Source Business Conference 2004 in downtown San Francisco.  It'd be really interesting to listen to speakers address the issue I've highlighted from their introduction:

Open Source Software (OSS) is rapidly coming to dominate certain areas of IT. Despite this advance, few beyond hardware vendors have developed solid models for leveraging OSS to boost margins or revenues. This inability to monetize OSS is perhaps its greatest inhibitor to thriving beyond the commodity server.

I'd also love to see what Stephen Walli talks about at the conference.  He and I have been doing a fair bit of work together lately on "the toolset" (see below for an update).  He's turned out to be the coolest bizdev guy I've ever met (not that I've met many).  I guess I'll just have to get him to fill me in when he gets back.  It'd also be good to finally meet Jason Matusow since Stephen keeps saying I should.  Besides, it'd be interesting to see if a couple Microsoft guys at an Open Source conference get heckled.

Finally, speaking of "Microsoft guys", the opportunity to hear David Stutz speak again would be awesome.  I had an hour long conversation with David a couple years ago when he was still working on Rotor.  He is crazy smart and very entertaining to listen to.  I was extremely bummed when I heard he left Microsoft.  Probably the thing I remember best about him (besides the distinctive "Unix-guru beard") was that his Microsoft business card showed his title as "Free BSD Sympathizer".

Anyway, it would be a cool conference to hang out at but I wasn't even close to invited.  Instead, I'm back in Redmond fixing bugs in the System Definition Model core and back to getting "the toolset" ready for public exposure.  That's right; today I got the final green light.  I am 95% sure that by the end of this month "the toolset" will be available for you (assuming I don't have to save Jenny from an addiction to Burnout 2).

There will be more information very soon.  Until then, keep coding, you know I am.

Published Tuesday, March 16, 2004 12:20 AM by robmen
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Comments

# re: Setup is...

Wednesday, March 31, 2004 10:25 AM by Leslie Easter
I recently stumbled upon your blog. Very interesting ready. I hope that you keep at it. I apologize for reaching back into the past, but I had a few comments re: Setup is...

First, you may be interested in some further reading. A few years back I ran into a ton of research that was done in a gradute-level program. It was on deployment models. Very extreme but cool stuff. A second article that was also done a few years ago was specifically on setup/deployments. That one was done by someone at Microsoft. I can dig into more of these if you're interested, but you're on the right track.

Second, I would like to respectfully disagree with your two Axioms of Setup. I understand that you intention was to keep the model simple and light, however, I do believe there are basic rules of engagement when designing an install. Let me provide you with a couple primary rules.

1. The setup must validate that key software/hardware application requirements are met before modifying the system.

Comments: This is currently what the Windows Installer model provides for. Through the immediate mode the install developer has the opportunity to verify system requirements are met (eg, LaunchConditions, etc).

2. In the event that the install detects an invalid install condition, a full rollback should be performed.

Comments: Also, provided for nicely by Windows Installer. Historically, up to WIndows Installer a full and complete rollback was not attainable.

3. The install should make every possible effort to insure its own success.

Comments: Ideally, at the end of the install a process should be launched that queries back through the application to verify connectivity and basic launching functionality has been achieved.

4. A uninstall should cleanly uninstall the application resources and application data. System ref counted resources are exempted.

Comments: With the exception of user data which the user should have the option to remove.

I'm sure I could round these out a bit more. I only have a few minutes and wanted to add this to the discussion.

Your comments are appreciated.

# Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset has released as Open Source on SourceForge.net

Monday, May 17, 2004 12:13 PM by DotWind Blog

# More on Open Source at Microsoft via Josh Ledgard's blog.

Monday, September 27, 2004 1:55 AM by when setup isn't just xcopy
Imagine a blog entry where I discuss Open Source at Microsoft via posts on Josh Ledgard's blog.

# Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset has released as Open Source on SourceForge.net

Wednesday, June 29, 2005 9:22 PM by when setup isn't just xcopy
The oft promised Windows Installer XML (WiX) toolset has released under a true Open Source Software license (Common Public License) on SourceForge.net (a first for Microsoft). The WiX toolset is a command-line compiler and linker for creating Windows Installer packages (MSI and MSM files) from XML source code. This blog entry kicks off a new category “Windows Installer Xml (WiX)” where I will talk about building MSI files with the toolset.
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