Multiplatform Installer

Question

I am looking for a recommendation on an installer program. The installer needs to support mulitple OS\'s - Solaris, Linux and Windows. I have three build machines each run

Answer 1

Maybe is my personal opinion but I think that the installer is probably the only thing that you may want to keep platform specific and here is why:

• it is good to integrate with platform specific deployment systems like: RPM or DEB on Linux, DMG on OS X or MSI under Windows. By using them and allowing both UI and silent installation you will easy the installation of the product for individuals and also for enterprise environments - where it's common to push the installations to the clients.
• you can add move the configuration screens outside the installer and trigger them first time when the user runs your application
• also do not forget to minimize installer complexity - each "feature" you add will cost you more specially on QA.