TiddlyInstall: A universal, reusable, install system

TiddlyInstall: A universal, reusable, install system(robertsdotpm.github.io)

10 points by Uptrenda 4 hours ago | 10 comments

andai 8 minutes ago |

This project is inspired by TiddlyWiki, which is from 2004, and apparently still going!

TiddlyInstall appears to be unrelated (and not by the same author?), and serving a very different function. The only similarity is the "single HTML file" part?

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Previous discussions on TiddlyWiki for context:

Why every programmer should have a Tiddlywiki (2011)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2913670

TiddlyWiki: a local, single-page wiki (2017)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13523660

Tiddlywiki – A non-linear personal web notebook (2018)

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=18107271

murderfs 2 hours ago |

> Designed by Matthew Roberts and implemented by Claude. If you like this software why not hire me?

Why would I hire you when I could pay $17 for a Claude subscription?

bberenberg 51 minutes ago | |

If you can do x and a pro can do x better who do you think can do it better using AI?

mooman219 41 minutes ago | |

Yeah I agree with that sentiment. The readme is also just a run on mess as well, so it doesn't not inspire confidence.

Zecc 8 minutes ago | |

Perhaps so you could spend more time with your loved ones, or doing literally anything else, instead of talking to a machine? Just saying.

Uptrenda 1 hour ago | |

By "design" I mean choosing how the software works and the engineering trade-offs. I didn't type "make install system" into claude. I designed how the software worked based on my past research and my engineering knowledge. This included the original NSIS code I wrote: https://github.com/robertsdotpm/win-auto-py3 and file-based meta-data data here: https://robertsdotpm.github.io/software_engineering/program_...

I don't really get the hate. Everyone here uses AI for just about everything yet they almost never credit the models. I think this misrepresents the work so I credited the tools. But I'm by no means just handing a blank script to a model and hoping for the best.

treetalker 2 hours ago |

> One file, like TiddlyWiki

> TiddlyInstall is a single HTML file. This page carries the installer programs, the runtime catalogue, and all the code that makes, edits and signs them

Uptrenda 1 hour ago | |

Click save page, buddy.

andai 19 minutes ago | | |

The neat thing about TiddlyWiki was that you could edit the page (WYSIWYG, I think?) and it would save the modified HTML. At least, it did 20 years ago.

Uptrenda 1 hour ago |

Author here: TiddlyInstall is based on the observation that programs written for runtimes like Python, Nodejs, and so on -- all follow the same basic requirements for installation. In that they need the runtime installed and then the software. Existing approaches like freezing apps and trying to port it to an exe directly usually break.

The simplest possible approach is to install the runtime on a users computer, isolated, with the package inside it. It's wasteful in terms of disk space but can be generalised to build reusable installers that work for just about any language.

Reusable installers

A reusable installer reads its own meta-data to decide on the runtime to install and the project. Linux and Mac are supported through a bash script while all windows versions use an NSIS program. The unusual thing about this is once you build the reusable installers since it's just meta-data everything can be edited inside the browser without compiling new binaries.

Like TiddlyWiki: You can actually download this entire system as a single HTML page to create installers without ever needing a server. Though Github project support only works online at the moment (not a limitation, haven't added this feature yet.)