elixir-websetup.exe error on Windows 7

[BrandenSchwartz]

Once Erlang has been installed and immediately after clicking the elixir-websetup.exe to begin the install on Win7, I consistently receive the error "Runtime Error (at 114:542): List index out of bounds(1)" . The install proceeds as expected on Win10.

[josevalim]

Does it happen consistently?

[BrandenSchwartz]

Yes, I first downloaded the web installer in November and have downloaded fresh copies a few times since (most recently an hour ago) in case there have been updates to the installer or a Win7 update that addressed the error but the behavior hasn't changed.

[josevalim]

@BrandenSchwartz we haven't changed the installer for a long time. I have no idea why this is happening, if it can be any of help, here is the source: https://github.com/elixir-lang/elixir-windows-setup. I would love if you could help debug it in anyway and help us further.

[bendennis]

@BrandenSchwartz I was having a weird issue with the windows installer a couple weeks ago, and a ccleaner run fixed the issue. My installer was just hanging though, no error message. Huge shot in the dark, but maybe worth a try.

[josevalim]

Closing this as there isn't much we can do without effectively reproducing it. Thank you

[JohnLunzer]

This error message still occurs on windows 7. Writing this issue off as a "can't reproduce" and then giving an empty "thank you" leaves me feeling excluded and unimportant. It also gives an unfortunate first impression.

From a PR standpoint the appropriate thing to do would be to leave this issue open indefinitely (6 months to a year) while soliciting details about the setup of users who experience the issue. You'll find this approach requires the same amount of effort as closing an unfixed issue after considering it for 8 days, but without dismissing an entire user demographic.

[josevalim]

Hi @JohnLunzer!

leaves me feeling excluded and unimportant

That was certainly not our intention, sorry.

There are two things to consider here: Windows support is important for us. That's why we provide an installer in the first place.

It is also important for us to have actionable issues in the issues tracker. That's why we attempt to label and tag most opened issues. There is a very high cost in leaving a ticket that cannot be acted on open. Every time a maintainer needs to retag issues for release, every developer that decides to do some triage, will spend time on something that cannot be solved. I have worked on issues tracker for OSS projects with more than 1000 opened issues to the point they had to declare "issue bankruptcy" and just close everything, which is the worst situation for both users and contributors.

I am outlining our "policy" so it hopefully becomes clear that we didn't close because it did not matter, we closed because we cannot act on it. Furthermore, we are also responsive on closed issues, because we understand someone, later on, may add more information. The "open/closed" status is not permanent.

That said, I remember trying to reproduce this on a Windows 7 computer and being unable to. If you have more information on this, we are all ears, otherwise, as I previously said, there is not much we can do.

[josevalim]

Alternatively, you can also try installing Elixir via Chocolatey: https://chocolatey.org/

[JohnLunzer]

I understand your position. Being confined to only "open" and "closed" can cause misinterpretation. It is true those two statuses are not permanent but they each carry a connotation. Open confers a connotation of "present and unresolved" while Closed connotes "past and resolved".

It appears that you're interpreting "Closed" more broadly to also include "unactionable but unresolved". Given this interpretation I recommend that if you close an unactionable issue without resolving it that it be labelled "unresolved". Otherwise your intent can be misinterpreted, as I am guilty of.

[JohnLunzer]

As for providing more information. Usually not a lot to say about the installation itself as windows installs do not vary greatly. However, I can say that I am attempting the install from a corporate environment which entails all sorts of restrictions on access, specifically writing to certain locations. Even "run as admin" does not provide relief. But this could be a place to start.

Additionally it looks like the message "List index out of bounds" is generated in this file: https://github.com/jrsoftware/issrc/blob/master/Projects/Compile.pas . Which could provide further insight.

[josevalim]

@JohnLunzer that's great feedback, thank you. Do you think the "Note:Needs more info" is enough or should we add a more explicit label?

[JohnLunzer]

"Needs more info" implies an unresolved status but still lacks an explicitness that would prevent the status of the issue being misinterpreted. Stealing some zen: "Explicit is better than implicit". "Unresolved", while big and ugly can never be misinterpreted.