| ---Quote---
|| I do too. Why is it a problem if we download the same installer by
|| ftp instead of http?
| ---End Quote---
| Three problems:
|
| 1) We've got 200,000 people using the http site and 10 using the ftp
| site -- but it takes longer to get the new versions set up on the
| ftp site.
I'd have thought you'd have a TCC batch file to upload them automatically,
in fact it could even be the same batch file which uploads them to the http
site.
| 2) For new installs it doesn't make a lot of difference, but updates
| are designed to use the updater -- and I have a constant stream of
| complaints from the 10 people using the ftp site about update
| problems. Using the updater also shows you the bug fixes or new
| features in each version.
"Installs": 3rd person singular of verb "to install", not a noun.
I've never seen the list of bug fixes, or new features, when using the
updater. It offers to display the README file, but that's typically for a
new VERSION, listing new features, not a new BUILD. I don't remember a case
when a bugfix was reported in any manner other than in one of the subfora of
this forum.
| 3) The ftp downloads are much more susceptible to being cached
| somewhere else, resulting in those 10 people getting the wrong
| version (and complaining about it!).
If that is true for downloading directly from ftp://jpsoft.com, the
whole ftp implementation in TCC is useless, as you never know whether you
are getting an old version or the latest version of any file. For example, I
use Comcast as my ISP, and I doubt it would be caching copies of
ftp://jpsoft.com files. If the caching is in my own WinXP machine, the IFTP
package ought to be able to get past it. If the caching is on the
ftp://jpsoft.com server, I don't think it is a true implementation of the
File Transfer Protocol. OTOH, I had (in the 1980-s) worked with a Unix file
system, which did this kind of caching - you uploaded a new file via the
network, but it kept downloading the cached old version, until other uses
overwrote the cache - a glaring mistake in the design. It caused major
project delays.
Another point is that with ftp you can download the updates for all
products (tcmd, tcmdx64, tccle, tcmdle) with one command, and selectively
install those you want when it is convenient, even across a network. In a
situation where there is a system administrator controlling multiple
machines, downloading can be to a singe system, not to each authorized one
individually. You don't need to go testing each for updates when you want to
use them. Update installation can also be more automated, since the updater
is a GUI program, the installer can be run in command mode. Installing a new
build while retaining the previous build is a bit more difficult, but what
is impossible without ftp is the ability to install an older build then the
one registered. It's something a few of us do, very occasionally. Lastly,
the updater leaves behind lots of files.
--
Steve