There are two problems with updating cygwin.
1. If you run setup.exe from bash, bash cannot be updated
because the file is in use. If the libraries have
been updated
and bash expects old libraries, for example, you
can't do
anything in cygwin. In the update instructions, you
should
advise people not to use bash or have setup avoid the
problem.
(Other non-shell programs may also have problems, but
bash
is the primary problem. To be precise I probably
should say that
if one where using a different shell and that shell
got updated,
the same type of problem would exist.)
This problem may not exist with I.E. because it may
allow you
to execute rather than just save setup.exe. (I don't
use I.E.)
I wish I could send you detailed instructions, but I
have learned
not to run setup.exe from bash and I don't want to
create a
disaster to send you a better bug report.
2. If you choose a different mirror, then the update does
not go
smoothly; that is, the update does not know anything
about
the previously installed packages, so all sorts of
dependencies
get broken.
I suppose that this feature allows some flexibility
(one could
have different installs in different directories from
different
mirrors), but I suspect that most people just want
one install.
Therefore, I suggest that you get rid of the mirror
in the path
where the downloaded packages are stored. If you
feel there
is a need to keep the mirror in the path, then
perhaps you
should make it an "advanced" option.
3. As a wish list, it would be convenient to be able to
type
something like (I don't care what the command is
called,
for example):
cyg-install $command
where $command is some command like (cal, bash,
wget, etc.)
It would make it easier to find the package where a
particular
command is installed, however, the above problems
(for example,
dependencies getting messed up) would need to be
avoided.
I really appreciate the work you have done. The first two
programs
I start when I am forced to use a Windows box are cygwin
and
firefox.
I have never had a problem with the initial install, but
an update
6 months later can be problematic.
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