#nullsoft

Node.js

You would think that with the Linux Foundation’s take over of Node.js future versions of Node would be written more like an open source program and run on any drive on the computer.  But still no.  Most of this program’s bells and whistles are put on the C: drive.  Sure you can put the meat and potatos part elsewhere, but what you also won’t be able to do is use Node.js in Cygwin. This may have something to do with a dependency on Python which is ironic considering Python can run on a different drive.

Microsoft Visual Studio

For some reason, Visual Studio wants to be EVERYWHERE.  Never mind that you just want to put it either on you C: drive with all the other Microsoft stuff or the D: driver where where is room to play.  And it wants 10 GB of space on each drive for no damn reason!

Worst of all, Microsoft won’t fix it.

It’s all or nothing, which sucks especially on those hacknights when the folks who have never heard of Linux or programmed in C, C++, Ruby, or Python decide they want to write their program in a proprietary software language that their company has used the same version for the past 10 years.

Atom Editor

The free, open-source alternative to the just as awesome (but pricey) Sublime Text Editor, Atom Editor boasts itself as being the most hackable editor out there. Unfortunately, you need to literally be a hacker rewrite the Atom Editor to put it wherever you want.

Dependent on Node and Python, Atom installs redundancy on Windows, which is a shame considering it’s interface is much more beautiful than the venerable Notepad++.  

Mapbox Studio

It’s no surprise that if you are working in Geographic Information System (GIS) software, you’ll be working on projects that take quite a bit of memory or quite a bit of disc space.  Most of these programs will give you the option of putting this software in another location (especially another drive) with no qualms about it.  Mapbox Studio may as well be the Atom Editor of GIS software.

The installer is a runaway freight train once it gets going.  So unless you have the space, don’t click Install. The cancel button is disabled.

OK, So I’ve complained about this before. Let’s do something about it.

It feels like I just come here way too often to vent my frustrations with software that would be so enjoyable if it weren’t for some dumb thing.  What can be done about this?

For starters, Node.js needs to shape up.  Don’t use Node or Python for Windows projects, at least not yet.  If you have plans on using Node consider the issue that unless you are using Linux, which most people still are not, you don’t really have a choice as to where you can put your software.

Secondly, CHECK YOUR CODE! AND let someone else check it as well!  One if the pet peeve’s I’ve had with the programming industry isn’t so much they won’t hire guys like me to look over code once in a while, it is that they don’t hire guys like me to look over code.  Instead, they think that the computer can check all their edits for them automatically like spellchecker in Microsoft Word.  If that were the case, most news papers wouldn’t still have news editors to read everything over first before publishing and the entire media would be as stumbling as CNN.   Peer editing is just as important as pair coding.

Thirdly, if you are releasing a binary executable, use a installer program software AND let the users decide where to put the software.  Nobody in their right mind is going to sit through hours of code compiling and installing other software just to get that one program that you made to work, unless they are a power Linux user.  For that guy using Windows, he’s going to need a executable that installs the binary version of the software which will allow him or her to install the parts of the software he knows that he needs (especially if there’s a dozen or so language localization files he or she knows he doesn’t need), that he or she can install it on whatever drive in any directory that he or she needs to put it in, and that there is a program to uninstall it if they don’t need it anymore or are not quite satisfied with the program.  Tech Republic wrote an article a couple of years ago listing some of the more popular programs that do this. Nullsoft Scriptable Install System (NSIS) is popular among the Open Source community.

Lastly, and this is just optional, if you’ve done well to master those first three items, try to make your software portable if possible.  Use alternatives methods of storing data other than the Microsoft Registry like a encrypted file near the binaries.  Refactor your code to make your program smaller.  If you want, try to make a version that runs off a USB thumbdrive.  Don’t squat space on the harddrive of a computer that isn’t yours, it’s just rule and bad programming.