Repository Applications Update Information

Discussion in 'Misc Discussion' started by Glenn, May 17, 2015.

  1. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    I think I'll keep all my future app issues and update in this thread starting with:

    MKVToolNix - It was missing MKVExtractGUI2 which I actually use to extract out the video and audio so I can change the audio to AAC without having to re-encode the video.
     
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  2. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    I had to edit Sanatize to allow spaces in the Users %AppData% path as my Windows 10 install put my full name with a space and I noticed it was not adding the send to option for it.
     
  3. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    I noticed that Google Chrome had been updated to use the non MSI version, I run the MSI Business edition on every install I have done for the last 3 years so to update it on my PC's I just install the new .APZ version, switching back to the .exe home edition will not update the existing installed version, so I just renamed mine and will update it as required :) I also have Google Update enabled by default so it's a non event anyway, but I found the .exe one's updater was glitchy for me in AUS so I stuck to the .msi one.
     
  4. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Yeah, I normally prefer MSI but the MSI versions have been glitchy for me several times in the past is why I did not use them. Funny how that goes.
     
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  5. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    During the big app update today I re-did some more of the older apps that had |SendTo in the flags, it sucks having a bunch of extra apps in there (most of them are video editing apps BTW).
     
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  6. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Well hello :) some updates there
     
  7. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Since Adobe AIR doesn't have an uninstaller, instead I added a ssApp.cmd with the following line:
    Code:
    wmic product where "name like 'Adobe AIR%%'" call uninstall /nointeractive
    Just installing a new version over an existing installation will not upgrade the app, but the above solution seems to do the trick.
     
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  8. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    BTW, I was impressed by the new SoftMaker FreeOffice 2016 (see repo) they came out with. It's much better than the previous version of FreeOffice (based on SMO 2012), includes a dark theme, doesn't have the annoying side panel loading all the time telling you you are using a free version of SMO, etc.

    Like the Pro and Standard versions of SMO, it comes with a portable creation tool, which I used to make the ppApp.

    The limitation with FreeOffice is that you can't save in the OpenXML based document formats that Microsoft Office uses (.docx, .pptx, .xlsx, etc.), although it can read those formats. It does have good support for older document formats used by MSO (.doc, .xls, etc.) and also SoftMaker Office's own documents formats (.tmd, .pmd, etc.), as well as OpenOffice/LibreOffice type formats like .odt.

    The great thing is this FreeOffice supports direct export to PDF which is very good, as well as EPUB format export! So that's really a great feature-set for a free suite. SoftMaker really does have very good read and write filters for MS Office document formats, and if you don't need the advanced features of the later MS Office suites/formats then FreeOffice is very good to use.

    EDIT: Even though it's a free suite, it does normally require you to give your email address before download, after which you'll get a key code sent that is needed to register/activate the suite. I used a key, then made the portable version which will save the activation info inside certain files. The reason I mention this is because for some reason the suite won't run if you only repackage the app files (like directly into a ppApp.7z) or put the app files into a folder with a different name than the one created when you make the portable version. The app functioning is dependent on the files existing in a folder with the name "SoftMaker Office 2016" or it won't run. Weird, but true. So if you package it as a ppApp, you have to retain the original portable folder in which the app files exist, and package that as ppApp.7z. So this is why for shortcuts I had to change paths to %AppPath%\SoftMaker FreeOffice 2016\*.exe, rather than %AppPath%\*.exe.
     
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  9. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Peeps, I updated VLC ppApp to v2.2.4 and this time added some skins. The way VLC implements custom skins is kind of unintuitive and doesn't work very well if not done correctly. I kept the default skin settings in place, so if you want to try another skin you have to go to Preferences->Interface->custom skin, at which point you can select a skin. Even though VLC has the skins folder in the main directory, it doesn't open to that location by default (which really should be the case), so you have to navigate to the ppApp install location and manually select a skin first. Then, you will find it doesn't change the skin on the fly, so you will have to close VLC player and start it again. Then the custom skin will be implemented. Once you have selected the custom skin, you'll see that you now have the option to right-click the player and will be able to select Skins from the context menu (which is not an option using the default skin). Another pitfall then comes into play and that is that you can't always implement a new skin on the fly without it failing, thought most of the time it works. So if you have a skin not changing or not working at all, restart VLC and it should work. Other than that, skins work well once you've found one you like. I think I'll just stay with the default skin myself as you can customize the buttons and stuff. Which leads me to the next point, I customized the button bar on the default skin to include more buttons like record, slow rew and ff, point a-to-b selection, screenshot, etc.
     
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  10. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    I updated Last10 Tweaks to have the new Hosts file, new Autoruns version it also now includes Disable Aero Peak as it seems to get stuck on for a lot of people (Until you click onto one of the choices).
     
  11. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Oops, added extension pack files for VirtualBox straight into the Patch.7z archive, rather than inside appropriate folder structure, so the extension pack wasn't getting installed. Fixed, re'uploading now.
     
  12. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    New versions of Windows 10 now locks out the ability to associate certain file types from the Open With menu (unless you pick a windows store app), I found a work around by setting the \App Path in the registry like we had to with the Adobe products and this allows you to pick it from the Open With list. I am starting to dislike Windows 10 more than I want to continue using it - if the anniversary update introduces any more limitations I'll be building a Windows 7 LastOS next and abandoning Win 10.
     
  13. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Life can be so swell, Win7 will be around for a bit still (y) After that, if they haven't made Win10 better then I may use something else. I still need desktop power and good applications, and I don't like the Apple products due to their price and locked down nature, so I'm not sure what I would do. Linux is too limited regarding the type of applications I would want to use.
     
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  14. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    Be honest, if Linux had Adobe's support and another large company to do hardware it would bypass Windows within a few years, people only dislike Linux now because you can't do things simply (meaning they can't use adobe's software to edit photo/video/audio) meaning there is no need for other software developers to make their simpler apps Linux compatible as people will buy Win or OSX over free Linux because of no Adobe support. If a hardware company got rid of the "Might" work mentality of Linux and made 100% sure you could get a PC, ATM, Smart Card, Pen, Printer, Scanner, TV and some other bits and pieces all working easily and by default (no messing about in the command prompts or adding repositories etc) then no one would bother working with an expensive or locked down OS anymore - security at the cost of freedom isn't the type of security I want!
     
  15. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Yep, I guess that sums it up in a nutshell: "If only Linux..." :) I agree that hardware compatibility, applications support, ease of use are all crucial for Linux to be a viable option. As I think about the programs I use it becomes clear that I'll probably stick with Windows; I can honestly live without Photoshop although I prefer it, but there are many other programs that have no Linux equivalent. OSX would in that sense be more viable for me but the hardware limitations that Apple imposes belong more in the Communist Bloc than they do in the free world if you ask me :D
     
  16. pacav69

    pacav69 Live long and prosper Staff Member

    At first glance i too was skeptical about the apple ecosystem until i realised that macs have intel chips and are based on linux with posix system. With this in mind i proceeded to investigate what i wanted to do with a computer you know browse the internet, download apps, play games, do some coding, build websites etc. My conclusion was that Mac computers can do what i wanted to do and with an app called Parallels i was able to run Win7 also. If there was an app that had no equivalent mac version then i would use the windows version. For example there are many games available that are developed for Windows and maybe if lucky ported to OSX but the ported versions 'don't play well with others'. At present Parallels software supports directx10 games with a possibility of directx11 sometime later. Plus there are sites that provide software that are available for download and not necessary locked into the ecosystem. ;)

    For installing Mac Apps similar to sswpi have a look at my project
    https://github.com/pacav69/caskroom-offline-install
     
    Last edited: Jul 1, 2016
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  17. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    A GUI with multiple selections to install all at once would make it more like ssWPI, your project is more like SetupS than ssWPI as it only installs one at a time - then again even SetupS will install every app in a folder if you send a folder filled with .apz in it ;)

    If you have to use Windows more than 50% of the time then running a Mac OS isn't viable still, I agree Apple have done wonders at letting more people just use computers (trouble free), it is the way things should be, BUT they also made it hard to customize or pre configure - your app works to sort both these so it's good your doing it, but I still think it makes more sense to do multiple installs at once than having to script them one at a time, if I had OSX I'd even write a front end for you, I know my basic list views etc are boring compared to the cover art 3D flipping effects you get in app stores now days, but that is also gimicky for a tool that your only using to place apps on at the end of a fresh install (I removed the app store ability of ssWPI as it wasn't being used anyway).
     
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  18. pacav69

    pacav69 Live long and prosper Staff Member

    The offline installer is still WIP and the GUI will come later when i have finished the CLI part of the project.

    The project is based on Homebrew and Homebrew-cask projects and i have developed it so that it can accept a file that lists apps to install from the command line making it easy for me to install apps for other people instead of 'the old fashion way' of clicking on next, next, agree etc.

    When i first started developing this project i was looking at all the ways that a GUI App is installed and it was when i discovered the Homebrew-cask project that had lots of support that had resolved some of the issues.
     
    Last edited: Jul 2, 2016
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  19. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    In updating the Last10 and Last7 Tweaks ssApps, I updated MyUninstaller to v1.77. Previously, MyUninstaller would allow you to edit the Manifest section in Resource Hacker so it could be set to run with "RequireAdministrator" instead of "AsInvoker" but the new version of MU doesn't appear to have those entries anymore. Maybe we could add it? Maybe not. Worst case scenario, you'd have to run MyUninstaller as administrator once in Win10 (MU won't uninstall programs when UAC is on and when not run as admin). We'll see I guess. Autoruns has been updated too, but it still allows the invoker to be edited so I did that (also on the Autoruns ppApp I posted the other day). Of course, hosts file also got updated in the Tweaks ssApps.
     
  20. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    I wouldn't bother updating the MyUninstaller then, whats the change log say is worth upgrading it for?
     
  21. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Don't you know newer is always better??? :D
    Somewhere, the developer did a silent update to v1.76, because a later one I downloaded did not have the Manifest section populated the same was as the older 1.76 we had been using. Sneaky!
     
  22. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Heads up: qBittorrent ppApp is now dual-arch.
     
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  23. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Updated Last7 and Last10 Tweaks ssApps. Reverted MyUninstaller to v1.76 so it will work with UAC on (modified manifest section). Updated hosts file to latest someonewhocares.org one and added a few more blocks of pages I encountered personally.
     
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  24. Trouba

    Trouba Administrator Staff Member

    Updated Last7/10 Tweaks ssApps with updated hosts file. Also cleaned up custom added blocks a bit, made it alphabetical so easier to find when adding custom addresses. No biggie :)

    EDIT: Used .msi installers for Google Chrome (instead of .exe's).
     
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  25. Glenn

    Glenn Administrator Staff Member

    Thanks for switching to .msi's for chrome, they seem to work when you update with them where the .exe version didn't, also the MSI version was able to repair broken installs and the .exe one would just fail without a reason given, you had to manually remove appdata folders and reg keys to fix.
     
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