[Bf-committers] Suggestion: Drop zip archives (Windows releases)

[Thomas Dinges]

Hi,
ok I see the resistance here. :)

I introduced 7z a few months ago, in the hope it will be a progress 
(smaller file size and faster download).
On Linux and Mac we only have 1 archive and people are happy with it.

Anyway, I am not willing to keep providing all 3 versions (this is also 
extra work on the dl page then) so I guess I have to drop 7z.
I had the impression the 7-Zip program is a "must have" on Windows, 
apparently I was wrong. ;)

Thomas


Am 09.03.2013 18:20, schrieb Alexandr Kuznetsov:
> Hi,
>
> .zip is natively supported on Windows. Not only that, it is the most
> supported format. So, I don't think there is good reason to drop it
> except for size. Also, 7z is only 30% percent smaller, which makes a
> difference only ~10 seconds to download on good connection. Self
> unpacking archives are not trustworthy and worse than installers.
> If you want, I can pack .zip archives!
>
> Best,
> Alex
>
>
>
>
> On 3/9/2013 11:58 AM, Thomas Dinges wrote:
>> It's stupid to have 3 binaries for Windows (*2) and building etc is not
>> really a batch process for me. ;)
>>
>> We have the installer (.exe) for convenience and that is probably the
>> format that is used by most people. This will stay.
>> For the archives though I'd like a change.
>>
>> 1) Only provide 7z
>> 2) Provide an auto extract .exe (7z compression inside a .exe)
>> 3) Only provide zip
>>
>> But imho 3) is the most stupid thing, and the only reason 3) has one pro
>> argument is that stupid windows does not know any other format than zip.
>>
>> Thomas
>>
>>
>> Am 09.03.2013 17:16, schrieb Harley Acheson:
>>> Thomas,
>>>
>>> You talked about the pros and cons of the *formats* but not of the
>>> pros and cons of your proposal.  What maintenance is really involved
>>> in taking a folder of files and compressing it into two archives versus
>>> one?
>>>
>>> The "pros" include more choice and much more convenience for the
>>> user.  The "cons" include 5 seconds more time involved in a batch process
>>> creating two archives, and 50 megabytes of storage on the server per
>>> release.
>>>
>>> I'd say if you really have to drop one of the two archive types for
>>> Windows then drop 7z and keep the zip - the one that is *integrated into
>>> the operating system*.
>>>
>>> It is true that you only use one archive format for Mac, but that format is
>>> zip. All arguments about 7z being better than zip would apply there too but
>>> I doubt anyone would consider changing all archives for all OSs to 7z.
>>>
>>> Harley
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Anyway, I don't think we should keep 3x different types of binaries (*2
>>>> for the architecture) for Windows, as for Mac and Linux we also only
>>>> provide one for each bitness.
>>>>
>>>> Best regards,
>>>> Thomas
>>>>
>>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> Bf-committers mailing list
>>> Bf-committers at blender.org
>>> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers
> _______________________________________________
> Bf-committers mailing list
> Bf-committers at blender.org
> http://lists.blender.org/mailman/listinfo/bf-committers


-- 
Thomas Dinges
Blender Developer, Artist and Musician

www.dingto.org