[PD] deken and windows

[Roman Haefeli]

On Fre, 2017-02-17 at 10:34 +0100, IOhannes m zmölnig wrote:
> 
> what deken does *not* do, is to automatically create any of the
> standard
> search paths for you (in case they don't exist).
> this has been discussed at great lengths on this very list, and i
> don't
> think that this will change.

Oh, I am definitely going to challenge that notion. I am totally
convinced the _correct_ way for the user-specific folder is to be
created automatically at some point. I don't know if it should be done
by deken (the plugin) or Pd and I don't care too much. The current
situation, however, is just totally absurd. Whenever I install Pd on a
new machine, I need to go visit Deken's README first on github.com to
find out the user specific path for the particular platform. Last time
I helped someone on a Mac by giving directions without using a
terminal, I figured there is no sane way without terminal (some people
create symlinks to have Finder access to ~/Library). Also on Windows,
you need to know sysadmin stuff (-> %AppData%) before you can create
the directory. 

Why is that stuff hidden by the OS? Because applications normally
create their own folders there _A_U_T_O_M_A_T_I_C_A_L_L_Y_! The user is
_not_ supposed to go there. 

From what I remember, people objected to the auto-creation of ~/pd-
externals directory. Yes, I, too, find it rogue to create visible
folders directly in the user home without asking. But Pd has progressed
and does use _sane_ paths now and nicely adheres to the platform
specific standards. But why, oh why does it _not_ create the necessary
directories when the standard is exactly that required directories are
auto-created by the application? 

Pd's refusal to automatically create that directory where 99% of the
users need it is hypocritical, since it does already auto-create
~/.pdsettings (or even writes to the registry). Why not also create the
directory for installing externals? Do you want Pd to ask for a
location before you can save changes in the preferences dialog, just to
confuse the user and make sure that Pd won't read the settings file
because the uninformed user will use some random location and filename,
just not the _only_ right combination that guarantees consideration by
Pd? How do people who object to auto-creation expect newcomers to do
things correctly without any hint from Pd? Standard

I vaguely remember that people didn't want a pre-established way,
because they thought that workflows are so diverse that deken shouldn't
enforce one specific workflow. I still do not believe this is a valid
argument. Deken asks you every time you install something for the
installation path. You can always manually change the installation
path. Deviating workflows wouldn't be harmed at all by auto-creation of
the user specific standard directory. Also, I don't see why we should
care so much about a handful of experts that may use several versions
of Pd installed in their home directory. First, things should be made
easy for the masses (I count myself to the masses, I deliberately
install things like the most common user would do it, since usually I
want my stuff to work in standard installations). 

</rant> 

# sorry if I come off as grumpy, I'm not at all, I'm enthusiastic about
how things got better with Deken. It's just that such tiny things stick
out so far that they really hurt...

Roman



-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: signature.asc
Type: application/pgp-signature
Size: 473 bytes
Desc: This is a digitally signed message part
URL: <http://lists.puredata.info/pipermail/pd-list/attachments/20170217/db57ac00/attachment-0001.sig>