Apache OpenOffice (AOO) Bugzilla – Issue 85113
Installer leaves files on desktop - should go into program directory instead
Last modified: 2008-11-05 21:15:59 UTC
I was notified by OpenOffice that version 2.3.1 is available. It downloaded the installation package, OOo_2.3.1_Win32Intel_install_wJRE_en-US.exe, onto the desktop. When running the installer, it created a whole folder, called "OpenOffice.org 2.3 Installation Files", also on the Desktop. This folder remains even after installation. EXPECTED BEHAVIOUR: a) Such a folder should be in a Temp directory (e.g. C:\Documents and Settings\<username>\Local Settings\Temp), not on the Desktop. b) The folder should be cleaned up after successful installation and not stay around.
Not a defect. This folder is not only needed for installation, it's also needed for repairing or modifying the installation. Deleting it after installation would lead to a kind of dataloss. If the downloaded file is moved from the desktop to a different place and opened then, the folder will be created beside this file and won't be shown on the desktop. Moving it to the temp-folder won't be a good idea too.
This is most definitely unexpected behaviour and very bad UI. A lot of users, if not the majority, download installers to their desktops. It is perfectly reasonable to expect to be able to run the installer from the desktop or indeed from any other location. A user most certainly does not expect any files which appear useless to him to be placed and kept somewhere as prominent as the desktop. If the files are required by OpenOffice, they should be kept in the OpenOffice program folder.
Installation files are never placed in source directory! This doesn't make sense. These files are placed on the desktop so that every unexperienced user can find them. if the user doesn't want them there he can change the path. These files are not temporary so they don't have to be placed in any temp directory. And the 'workaround' for the user is pretty simple: Mark the folder and press the 'Del'. *** This issue has been marked as a duplicate of 49861 ***
You are not making sense. Tm claimed that the files are still needed, yet Of says the user can just delete them. If they can just be deleted, then the software should do that automatically and not leave them around. If they cannot be safely deleted, then they should be with all the other files for the same software, which is in the program directory. Either way, the installer SHOULD NOT clutter the user's desktop with such useless files. No other installation software does that, and for good reason. You say "if the user doesn't want them there he can change the path." I definitely DID NOT specify the Desktop as the path for anything during installation. Therefore the user cannot change the path, at least not in any obvious way. And even if he could, the desktop is a very inappropriate default value that needs to be changed.
I'm sorry, I didn't realise you marked this as DUPLICATE instead of INVALID. I am trying to set it back to DUPLICATE but this system is not letting me.
You mix up two things. It is true that these files are needed for a repair or a modification. Therefor it doesn't make sense that the installer itself deletes it's installation files. That's a kind of data loss. I've never seen an application that will do this. If the user decides to do so it is something completely different. At least the user can do what he wants on his Desktop. And please look careful: The NSIS Installer (That's the software stack you're downloading) is asking where to extract these files to. And the default is Desktop. Where else? At least the OpenOffice.org program folder or the system Program folder is nonsense. My documents is nonsense. So what would have been the better default? Temp is wrong because this are no temporary files? Noone has given a better clue to solve this discussion. And again deleting needed files isn't a solution. *** This issue has been marked as a duplicate of 49861 ***
close the duplicate