[GNC] Uninstalling previous versions

[Geert Janssens]

Op zondag 1 juli 2018 14:02:06 CEST schreef Stan Brown:
> Here's my take, for what it's worth. At least in the Windows world, the
> assumption is that when you install a new version it either removes the
> old version entirely, or leaves the old version functional but installs
> the new version in parallel. (The latter is less common, but some
> programs do it when the new version is a major change.) Leaving a few
> old files behind as orphans is usually regarded as an error of the new
> installer.
> 
> I don't have a problem with the requirement to uninstall the old
> version, but it was news to me, and I think would surprise many Windows
> users. Surely the installer of the new version can uninstall the old
> version itself -- and in my opinion, it should.

That's the general principle and that's also what the gnucash installer will 
do.

There are a few caveats though:
1. the automated uninstall will fail if gnucash is still running.
2. If you have changed files in the gnucash installation, these changed files 
will not be removed. This happens sometimes as users make changes to reports 
or the environment configuration files

There may be other reasons why stray files of the old installation are left 
behind that I'm not aware of.

An update usually works though. If not an explicit uninstall followed by a 
manual removal of left over files helps to eliminate this class of errors.

Regards,

Geert