Open Source Design
FontraHelp Wanted: Windows users seem to prefer a proper installer over a loose .exe from a .zip archive. I'm not enough of a Windows user/developer to make this a reality. Can I nerd-snipe anyone into contributing? https://github.com/fontra/fontra-pak/issues/209
Anirban Mitra@fontra we need to create an nsis script and use this github action https://github.com/joncloud/makensis-action
@fontra this is a sample workflow to create installer for all platforms https://github.com/joncloud/makensis-action-test/blob/publish/.github/workflows/main.yml
Just van Rossum@mitradranirban @fontra I certainly don’t want this for macOS, though.
Jens Kutílek@mitradranirban @fontra This generates an exe to install another exe? Wouldn’t a msi file be more desirable?
@jenskutilek @fontra as per the issue linked the user want something that puts the executable is a proper folder in Program Files with addition of start menu, uninstall option and Registry entries. NSIS does all that and when I used windows 10 yrs back most installer were NSIS exe format. Nowadays msi are used more, but most old windows program are available as NSIS installer
Here is a PR by @mitradranirban (thank you!):
- https://github.com/fontra/fontra-pak/pull/235
However, I would like some community input about this. Is NSIS indeed the best option for Fontra Pak?
I'm a little uncomfortable that this adds a large-ish NSIS configuration script that I so far understand very little of. How reliable and maintainable is this?
Cc @jenskutilek
feat: add Windows NSIS installer via GitHub Actions by mitradranirban · Pull Request #235 · fontra/fontra-pak
Add packaging/windows/fontra-pak-installer.nsi: installs Fontra Pak to Program Files, creates Start Menu and Desktop shortcuts, registers with Windows Apps & Features, and provides a silent uni...
Jany Belluz@fontra I'll ask our IT team to test the installer that this PR generates
@belluzj For anyone who would like to try: this links to an installer generated by a test run: https://github.com/fontra/fontra-pak/actions/runs/23947419334/artifacts/6259892786 (You need to be logged in with GH)
@fontra @belluzj I have submitted a patch to add .msi creation facility to app builder workflow https://github.com/fontra/fontra-pak/pull/236#issuecomment-4184003670
@fontra @belluzj msi is available for testing at https://github.com/fontra/fontra-pak/actions/runs/23960308382/artifacts/6264868056 . Feedback welcome.
@mitradranirban @fontra thanks! My colleagues will likely test next week. Have a nice weekend :)