Right now, we can build an installer which embeds other installers (e.g. the LVRTE). So we can distribute the installer and allow our customers to install everything they need using one installer. This is great. But I find that it sometimes disturbs my customers when they see that my application is also installing other things (i.e. LVRTE, DAQmx, etc). They are curious about the "3rd Party Components". I totally understand this. When I download an installer, and see things like "Click here to also install Google Chrome" or Google Earth or some other spyware garbage, I am immediately suspicious. Or worse, when I am not even warned about. Bundling other installers is a common way to spread adware.
Problem:
- Bundling third party componenets into an installer is suspicious to many users.
- Bunlding extra installers also makes the un-intall process more complex (you have to uninstall things the extra stuff in a different step).
- Current method of bundling extra installers does not inform the user about all of the components being installed
So my suggestion: Allow these components to be bundled (i.e. hidden) in the application directory. I believe this is already possible with other run-time engines like the Java Runtime Engime. And I see that something similar is possible with LabWindows/CVI (see here), though I have never used LabWindows.
I guess another way to do this is just to somehow hide the extra stuff from the user. Do a silent install of all the 3rd party componenets. But I feel like that is a bit devious, and might piss off some customers.
http://www.medicollector.com
Duplicate of http://forums.ni.com/t5/LabVIEW-Idea-Exchange/Build-executibles-that-don-t-require-a-runtime-engine/...