Re: [Boost-users] Is it safe to download boost_1_67_0-msvc-14.1-64.exe?

Subject: Re: [Boost-users] Is it safe to download boost_1_67_0-msvc-14.1-64.exe?
From: Tom Kent (lists_at_[hidden])
Date: 2018-06-23 01:26:32

On Thu, Jun 21, 2018 at 11:03 PM, degski via Boost-users <
boost-users_at_[hidden]> wrote:

> On 21 June 2018 at 04:42, Tom Kent via Boost-users <
> boost-users_at_[hidden]> wrote:
>
>> The reason for the installers is mostly historical...it seemed easier for
>> users to run an installer than to unzip stuff. Not sure if this still holds
>> true, I'd be curious what the user community thinks about this.
>>
>
> My 2 cents is that a slightly savage user will be reluctant to run an
> executable (if they are already suspicious) and will take the .7z file. The
> less experienced user probably runs the executable. There ought to be a way
> where the person(s) putting this online can give assurances that no bad
> will come of running it, this is easier said than done.
>
>
>> The all-versions .7z was added later, because of its size it was somewhat
>> impractical to get into an installer, so it was distributed as a compressed
>> archive.
>>
>
> I don't know what the "installer" entails, but if it's just an auto run
> compressed file, then one can, with the command-line utility (7za.exe
> <https://www.7-zip.org/a/7z1805-extra.7z>), make a sfx archive using the
> command-line switch -sfx (in addition to any commands and other switches).
>

The installer is slightly more complex than a self-extracting archive. If I
recall some years ago we were doing a sfx archive, but moved to an inno
setup based installer to make the process a little more polished.

Tom