6 ms·

Isn't https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox-app/ https://www.jetbrains.com/toolbox-app/ doing that?

robomartin 7y ago
It seems to a heavy-handed solution to a traditionally simple problem. The easiest example of this would be some thing like Notepad++. When I fire it up it tells me there's an update and if I say "yes" to installing it I can go have a cup of coffee and it is done when I get back. Toolbox has always sounded interesting but then you have stuff like this: "Why can’t I update a tool via the Toolbox App? If you are planning to use the Toolbox App, we recommend uninstalling all previously installed JetBrains tools and re-installing them again through the Toolbox App. Your settings will not be affected." and "Is there a way to reduce the Toolbox App’s disk space usage? The app keeps a previously installed version of each tool to enable instant rollback. You can delete them to save space: please use Keep only the latest version setting in the app’s settings. Note that you’ll lose the ability to instantly roll back to a previous version, though." There's more in the FAQ. I might try it, but it sure feels like using a sledge-hammer to solve a problem that could have been done with a single "Install Update" button for each IDE. In other words, offer the simple "Notepad++ style" option and if someone wants the entire aircraft carrier solution they can use Toolbox. In general terms, I go for less complexity and less stuff to setup whenever possible. I love the JetBrains tools and have been a happy user and subscriber almost since they came out, they just lack a nice, simple and friction-free updater, that's all.
- sWW26 7y ago
  That's weird because I get your ideal update flow in the apps of theirs I use (Rider, Webstorm & Datagrip) i.e. a notification that there is a new update with an update now button that downloads and installs the update. Maybe it's a platform specific thing, I'm on Windows.
  - robomartin 7y ago
    Interesting, I haven't seen that in WebStorm, PhpStorm, DataGrip, CLion, IntelliJ or PyCharm. I'm on Windows 10. Hmmm. Need to look at latest updates and see if things changed. That would be wonderful. Thanks for the note. I've been doing circuit design for a couple of months and haven't touched any of the tools. I'll let you know what I discover.
  - mdaniel 7y ago
    AFAIK that's how the "individually downloaded" apps behave, but Toolbox apps -- for good or bad -- appear to be whole-hog downloads each time. I strongly suspect that's due to the roll-forward and roll-back behavior in Toolbox. Although unless my mental model is wrong, it should still be possible for Toolbox to have release-1 in a directory and _create_ a release-2 directory based on (release-1 + update patch), just into a new directory instead of in-place
- keithnz 7y ago
  what tools are you using? all the tools I use (webstorm, rider, R#, datagrip, clion) seem to bug me all the time about new updates, not only for the software but plugins as well.

It seems to a heavy-handed solution to a traditionally simple problem. The easiest example of this would be some thing like Notepad++. When I fire it up it tells me there's an update and if I say "yes" to installing it I can go have a cup of coffee and it is done when I get back. Toolbox has always sounded interesting but then you have stuff like this: "Why can’t I update a tool via the Toolbox App? If you are planning to use the Toolbox App, we recommend uninstalling all previously installed JetBrains tools and re-installing them again through the Toolbox App. Your settings will not be affected." and "Is there a way to reduce the Toolbox App’s disk space usage? The app keeps a previously installed version of each tool to enable instant rollback. You can delete them to save space: please use Keep only the latest version setting in the app’s settings. Note that you’ll lose the ability to instantly roll back to a previous version, though." There's more in the FAQ. I might try it, but it sure feels like using a sledge-hammer to solve a problem that could have been done with a single "Install Update" button for each IDE. In other words, offer the simple "Notepad++ style" option and if someone wants the entire aircraft carrier solution they can use Toolbox. In general terms, I go for less complexity and less stuff to setup whenever possible. I love the JetBrains tools and have been a happy user and subscriber almost since they came out, they just lack a nice, simple and friction-free updater, that's all.

sWW26 7y ago
That's weird because I get your ideal update flow in the apps of theirs I use (Rider, Webstorm & Datagrip) i.e. a notification that there is a new update with an update now button that downloads and installs the update. Maybe it's a platform specific thing, I'm on Windows.
- robomartin 7y ago
  Interesting, I haven't seen that in WebStorm, PhpStorm, DataGrip, CLion, IntelliJ or PyCharm. I'm on Windows 10. Hmmm. Need to look at latest updates and see if things changed. That would be wonderful. Thanks for the note. I've been doing circuit design for a couple of months and haven't touched any of the tools. I'll let you know what I discover.
- mdaniel 7y ago
  AFAIK that's how the "individually downloaded" apps behave, but Toolbox apps -- for good or bad -- appear to be whole-hog downloads each time. I strongly suspect that's due to the roll-forward and roll-back behavior in Toolbox. Although unless my mental model is wrong, it should still be possible for Toolbox to have release-1 in a directory and _create_ a release-2 directory based on (release-1 + update patch), just into a new directory instead of in-place
keithnz 7y ago
what tools are you using? all the tools I use (webstorm, rider, R#, datagrip, clion) seem to bug me all the time about new updates, not only for the software but plugins as well.