[Icecast] an OS X installer

[Dan Stowell]

> It's not a big deal by any means. However, I'd be willing to wager that
> Icecast would substantially increase its Mac user base with a simple
> GUI installer. Would make my life easier to :)

Absolutely. It's definitely worth doing.

> > Personally, I've no idea how to go about creating an OSX installer.
> > Would it even be able to check and fulfill dependencies? Or would it
> > simply need to carry all the other libraries along with it?
> 
> You could go either route. There are installers that can check
> installed components (by checking in /Library/Receipts/ or in this
> case, the typical BSD paths). If you did it without including the
> dependent libs, the installer can pop up a window saying "You cannot
> install on this disk because [you don't have libxml installed]".  The
> installer can also provide for optional install components, where the
> dependencies could be installed after a version check. These features
> are actually provided by a preferred OS X method -- packages. They are
> created by /Developer/Applications/Utilities/PackageMaker.app and can
> have multiple pre- and post- install scripts attached to the them.

The "Nicecast" software for OSX http://www.rogueamoeba.com/nicecast
comes with icecast and its prerequisites built in, and starts
broadcasting at a single click, with no installation/config required.
This is very nice indeed.

So my vote would be for an OSX app with the necessary libraries
bundled in, so we can have the mind-blowing ease of use that really
helps people get into a piece of software. However, the problem that
remains is the config. Since icecast has no real GUI, how are people
going to set it going, or choose what it should be broadcasting? The
XML config file has to be set up somehow, and ideally should be able
to be edited without re-installing...


> It wouldn't be hard to put an installer together. I was actually going
> to build one just for my own ease of use. I'd be willing to share that
> with folks on the list if the Icecast folks don't mind. If they do,
> I'll scrap the idea and say no more.

Pleeeeeeeease do it! I'm sorry I don't quite have the background
knowledge to do it straight away myself. But if I can help then let me
know.

Dan

-- 
http://www.mcld.co.uk