[Pythonmac-SIG] Python package maker for OS X Installer.app

[Dinu Gherman]

Gordon Worley wrote:
> 
> Well, don't get to excited.  You should probably read this Stepwise
> article first:
> http://www.stepwise.com/Articles/Technical/Packages/InstallerOnX.html.
> Due to some of the reasons mentioned in the article, the Mac GPG project
> was forced to abandon the .pkg and go with good old fashion tar
> installers.  Not that nice, but it's safe.  One thing we have discussed,
> but not done yet, is use the installer's ability to run a script that is
> supposed to be for cleanup and use it instead to install via tar like we
> do now, but so that the user doesn't have to figure out how to use
> gnutar (we try to keep it simple, but there are always a few ...).  The
> effects of packages are real and have affected mine and other user's
> systems, too many to safely ignore.  I should note all the problems lie
> in pax and those .bom files, not the rest of the installer.

I'm aware of the article, but just have not enough practice
to say how serious that is. So far, I know that I did in-
stall plenty of stuff using Installer.app and haven't en-
countered any problem whatsoever, but ok, maybe I was just
lucky?! In any case, it seems like Apple uses that for more
or less everything, isn't it?

Ironically, it is said that pax was written to fix many 
of the problems of tar... (but not gnutar?) I don't quite 
get why Installer.app could not just execute the "approp-
riate" Unix tool to unarchive whatever the package does
contain...?

Dinu