February 2010
Beginner
255 pages
6h 10m
English
Content preview from 97 Things Every Programmer Should Know
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
Start your free trial
Chapter 40. Install Me
I AM NOT THE SLIGHTEST BIT INTERESTED IN YOUR PROGRAM.
I am surrounded by problems and have a to-do list as long as my arm. The only reason I am at your website right now is because I have heard an unlikely rumor that every one of my problems will be eliminated by your software. You’ll forgive me if I’m skeptical.
If eyeball-tracking studies are correct, I’ve already read the title and I’m scanning for blue underlined text marked Download now. As an aside, if I arrived at this page with a Linux browser from a UK IP, chances are I would like the Linux version from a European mirror, so please don’t ask. Assuming the file dialog opens straight away, I consign the thing to my download folder and carry on reading.
We all constantly perform cost-benefit analysis of everything we do. If your project drops below my threshold for even a second, I will ditch it and go on to something else. Instant gratification is best.
The first hurdle is install. Don’t think that’s much of a problem? Go to your download folder now and have a look around. Full of .tar and .zip files, right? What percentage of those have you unpacked? How many have you installed? If you are like me, only a third are doing more than acting as hard drive filler.
I may want doorstep convenience, but I don’t want you entering my house uninvited.
Before typing install, I would like to know exactly ...