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RE: [dsdp-pmc] TCF agent for windows: "works with"dependencyfordbghelp.dll
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If a project has an external dependency, whether
a "pre-req" or "works with", how can we alert the user to find the proper
binaries?
Some freeware do a great job letting the user know they
need a specific DLL and others just stop working or give a vague indication of
what they require. I would prefer to have great documentation on the site, but I
think a runtime component is essential as well. So where is the dividing
line on what is an acceptable indication to the user?
For example, if we have a non-fatal modal
window with text similar to this: "This feature requires an external
library that cannot be distributed. You will need to download and install it
yourself. Instructions to download are at
http://www.eclipse.org/DSDP/myproj/install_prereqs". Would this be OK? I'm
guessing it is.
What if we have the same window with text similar
to this: "This feature requires an external library that cannot be
distributed. You will need to download and install it yourself. One location to
download is http://www.someothersite.com/foobar_project
or use a search engine to find foobar.dll version 3.4.5 or later".
Is it the link offensive? If the
link is to the project page and not a direct download aren't we
good?
Just trying to learn the
ropes and not being argumentative (much).
-E
Hi Eric,
we'll certainly not be allowed to auto-download dbghelp.dll
since that would be essentially the same as redistributing it ourselves. I'm not
even sure if we're allowed to have links that directly navigate to the
downloadable item. There must be one stage where end-users clearly see the
license of the 3rd party lib.
In terms of docuware, yes, as we're going to create real
download pages for TCF (and actually produce downlaodable artifacts), we'll make
users aware that they need dbghelp.dll and where to get it.
Cheers,
--
Martin Oberhuber, Senior Member of Technical
Staff, Wind River
Target Management Project
Lead, DSDP PMC Member
+1 from Eric Cloninger
Are there adequate instructions on the TCF web site for
directing the user to the correct place? How about in the runtime
itself--can it determine that users have an inadequate version of the
DLL?
-E
Dear PMC,
dbghelp.dll is a part
of Microsoft Windows, but the version that's on the OS out of the box is
buggy. For the debugger to work properly at runtime, users need to go to
microsoft and download the newer version (for free). The DLL is marked as
"redistributable", but none the less the Eclipse Legal Team has found sections
in the license that prohibit us from redistributing it directly with the
Eclipse.org downloads (see CQ 2553 [1]).
Thus we request now to document it as 3rd party dependency, which basically
means that products that want to use the TCF exemplary windows agent would
have to bundle the microsoft dbghelp.dll.
Since the dbghelp.dll
that we need is just a version update, the TCF agent can build without the external download,
it can even run without the external download (though crippled), and on
platforms other than Windows the download certainly isn't needed. I
think that this clearly qualifies the dbghelp.dll as a "works-with"
dependency.
As per the 3rd party
dependencies process, the DSDP PMC now needs to discuss this publicly and
agree that it is indeed a "works-with" dependency. Please read the
process [1] for more information about how "works-with" is defined, then
respond here on the mailing list with your +1 or -1 or comments or
questions.
Thanks,
--
Martin Oberhuber, Senior Member of Technical
Staff, Wind River
Target Management
Project Lead, DSDP PMC Member
