Installers vs executables.

[H2SO4]

Hi all. Hope you can help.

So I've just downloaded M$ Edge and instead of a drop and drag executable it comes in the form of a pkg installer. Now I have Pacifist and can easily extract the app but I'm just curious, whey do devs suply them like this?

What advantage is there to the dev or I to use an installer over just double clicking and running an executable?

Thanks.

 

[chabig]

The installer can place support files where they are needed, such as in Library folders. If none of that is required, then the developer usually just ships the app as stand alone.

By the way, don't use Pacifist to extract the app. Run the installer.

 

[H2SO4]

The installer can place support files where they are needed, such as in Library folders. If none of that is required, then the developer usually just ships the app as stand alone.

By the way, don't use Pacifist to extract the app. Run the installer.

Ok, just wondering. An installer seemed like overkill.

Thanks.

 

[Brian33]

I'm just guessing, but I suspect that they used an installer because they want to set up a launchd job that will periodically check for and download updates to Edge. IIRC Dropbox and some Adobe and Google apps do this. Look in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, or, if installation asks for an Admin password, look in /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons.

This also means that just deleting the app from /Applications doesn't clean up everything, and you should run the app's own uninstaller. (Although there's typically no big harm in leaving the launchd job's plist behind, as the executable it points to is usually in the .app package, I believe.)

 

[chrfr]

Specific to Microsoft Edge, the Microsoft Autoupdater gets installed from the same package.

 

[H2SO4]

I'm just guessing, but I suspect that they used an installer because they want to set up a launchd job that will periodically check for and download updates to Edge. IIRC Dropbox and some Adobe and Google apps do this. Look in ~/Library/LaunchAgents, or, if installation asks for an Admin password, look in /Library/LaunchAgents and /Library/LaunchDaemons.

Makes sense. In fact it uses exactly the same application, (Microsoft Autoupdate), as the M$ Office package does - and yes, there are plists in both System folder locations.