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37 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
37 lines
1.8 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: A bit about batch
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date: 2016-01-21
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---
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#### Or: why there is no NodeMC installer
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Can we just agree on something -- Batch scripting is
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terrible and should go die in a fiery pit where all the other Windows
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software goes? I don't think I can name any useful features of batch
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scripting besides text-based (and frankly pointless) DOS-like games. It
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sucks.
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I recently tried to port the NodeMC install script from Linux (bash) to
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Windows (batch), and while it seemed possible, the simple tasks of
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downloading a file, unzipping it, and moving some others around, it
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proved to be utterly impossible.
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_A quick note before I proceed -- Yes, I realize something like a custom built installer in a more traditional language would have been possible, however I wanted to see what I could do without it. Also I'm lazy._
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First and foremost, there is no native way to download files properly.
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Most Linux distros ship with cURL or wget (or are installed fairly early
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on), which are both great options for downloading and saving files from
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the internet. On Windows, it is suggested
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[BITS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Background_Intelligent_Transfer_Service) could do the job. However, on execution, it simply
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*does not work*. I got complaints from Windows about how it didn't want
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to do the thing. *Fine*. Let's move on to the other infuriating thing.
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Stock Windows has the ability to unzip files just file. So why the hell
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can I not call that from batch? There is no reason I shouldn't be able
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to. But alas, it cannot be done, [at least not
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easily](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/21704041/creating-batch-script-to-unzip-a-file-without-additional-zip-tools) \*grumble grumble\*
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In conclusion: Batch is useless. It should be eradicated and replaced
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with something useful. Because as of now it has very little if any
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redeeming qualities that make me want to use it.
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