kicad-developers team mailing list archive

[Michael Kavanagh <michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Adam,

Looks like KiCad already has a Cask:
https://github.com/Homebrew/homebrew-cask/blob/master/Casks/kicad.rb.

On Fri, 24 Apr 2020 at 16:32, Adam Wolf <adamwolf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>
> Hi folks,
>
> Thanks for bringing this to my attention, Rene.
>
> I have attached two images, one showing what "normal" macOS
> installation looks like, and what ours looks like.
>
> Our situation is not very far from normal and I would hesitate to call
> it "manual" copying.  I do not know what they're talking about, but it
> is not correct that you need to use a terminal or something to run
> commands to install KiCad on macOS.
>
> When we surveyed users ~5 years ago when I revamped the macOS
> packaging, users were overwhelmingly in favor of this method vs a pkg.
> Pkgs have a bad reputation for doing bad stuff to your system--like
> Zoom just did.
>
> There is also a README right when you open the DMG that explains step
> by step what to do:
>
> """
> To install KiCad, click and drag the two directory icons to the
> targets pointed at by the arrows.
>
> After dropping kicad onto Application Support, you may be asked to
> authenticate with an administrator username and password.  This
> installs the support files for KiCad for all users on the system.
>
> KiCad is now installed!  Inside of /Applications will be a directory
> called KiCad, and inside of that are all the programs in KiCad.  The
> project manager is the one labeled kicad, and is probably where you
> want to start.
>
> When you open the KiCad apps the first time, you must right-click on
> them and select Open.  You only need to do this once.  You must open
> KiCad first before opening the standalone apps, or else the standalone
> apps won't be able to open up due to macOS quarantining.
> """
>
> If someone wants to write a homebrew cask for using the mac DMG, I
> suspect it would only be an hour or so total, and then users could
> install with a single command in just a few minutes (however long it
> takes to download the DMG).  Previously, another developer made a
> homebrew recipe but it did not have a bottle, so it took hours to
> install on a user's computers.  This was before homebrew casks which
> should solve this problem.
>
> On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 9:35 AM Jon Evans <jon@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >
> > I believe these users are talking about the normal MacOS method of installing software,
> > which does typically involve copying files.
> >
> > Normally MacOS software is packaged as a disk image that is mounted when you double click it.
> >
> > The mounted image then normally contains the software to be installed, and shortcuts
> > that are used as drop targets for a "drag and drop" copy.
> >
> > Most software only has one "file" (the .app file, which is actually a directory)
> > That file is copied to the Applications folder on the user's system.
> >
> > KiCad's installation also involves copying a second folder to a privileged location (Application Support),
> > so the user will be prompted for authentication when they do this step.
> >
> > This part of the approach is not very common for commercial MacOS software.
> > Software that must install to privileged locations typically ships as a binary installer with a wizard,
> > more like what you would typically see on a Windows machine.
> >
> > I am not familiar enough with the MacOS packaging to know if there is any potential for KiCad
> > to have a single app file that just gets copied to Applications in the future.
> >
> > If we want to do fancy things such as write-protecting certain parts,
> > probably the best bet would be to build a MacOS installer wizard (a PKG file).
> > But, I don't know the details there either or if there are reasons we cannot / should not.
> >
> > -Jon
> >
> > On Fri, Apr 24, 2020 at 10:22 AM Rene Pöschl <poeschlr@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> >>
> >> Hi all but especially adam,
> >>
> >>
> >> lately there where a few threads on the forum where installation on Mac
> >> came up. The users reported that they installed KiCad by manually
> >> copying files around which sounded wrong to me. But as a lot of users
> >> seem to be under the impression that this is indeed the right way i am
> >> now starting to believe them.
> >>
> >> If these users are really correct then maybe this should be documented
> >> very clearly on our download page. Or if there is any option to automate
> >> this process (reducing human error) then maybe this would be the better
> >> way to go long term but until then it should still be documented what
> >> needs to be copied.
> >>
> >> One problem i see is if users can copy KiCad files then the libs might
> >> not be write protected which would be a problem as KiCad relies on the
> >> operating system write protection to avoid users modifying the shipped
> >> libraries.
> >>
> >>
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