custom package help

[benhur]

Maybe the answer to this is obvious but I was wondering how you are building your third party packages.

For example, with Firefox, are you simply packaging Firefox or are you installing it, added bookmarks, themes, etc. and then packaging it. I’m currently using Composer and am just wondering if makes more sense to have separate packages in case later I want to make changes to just bookmarks.

[Patrick Fergus]

If we’re specifically picking on Firefox, I’d suggest splitting your configuration package apart from the application. It mainly stems from having to build some custom Firefox distributions myself and finding:

– The preferences to set
– How to set them

It’s not that the Firefox customization information isn’t out there, but I had some significant issues collating it together into something useful. Keeping the packages apart will allow you to update Firefox without having to remember where you put all your customizations.

– Patrick

[benhur]

Thanks for the reply. Firefox was just one example but the general question was whether it makes sense to install, configure, and then package or two keep those two separate.

Just wondering how the pro’s do it 🙂

[jasonpgignac]

I’m lazy, so my personal mantra is to modularize – and NEVER mix data with presentation as it were. The software itself is it’s own install, so that it is completely generic, and non-specific. This way if my company gets bought, for instance, I don’t have to rebuild a big package. Settings go in a seperate package – and as a general rule, even here I install individual settings in individual packages, so that, for instance, you might put bookmarks in their own package browser setting configurations in another, etc – again, so that if I have to change any specific setting, I can with a minimum of work. This is just like InstaDMG to me – the more you split it up, the more easily you can change it later. IF you know you’re going to install Firefox, plus the bookmarks, plus the browser configs over and over and don’t want to have to do three packages? That’s what mpkgs are for. B ut that’s just my opinion, YMMV.
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