pidgin installs

[Mestl, Robert R]

Apologies, yes this is to a Windows machine, and re-installs are for the new update installs that keep coming out...  which if just updated to the most-recent 2.7.10.

thx

Robert Mestl
Software Analyst, West Interactive Corporation
402-716-0492 | Cell 402-305-0702 | rrmestl at west.com 

-----Original Message-----
From: Ethan Blanton [mailto:elb at pidgin.im] 
Sent: Monday, February 14, 2011 9:29 AM
To: Mestl, Robert R
Cc: 'support at pidgin.im'
Subject: Re: pidgin installs

Mestl, Robert R spake unto us the following wisdom:
> Is it possible when installing a new version of Pidgin, to not remove 
> the previously installed plug-ins, and have to re-install them?
> 
> Kind of annoying each time a new version of Pidgin comes out...

You're going to have to provide a lot more information.  Why do you have to reinstall?  What platform are you on?  What are the symptoms of not reinstalling?

I assume, by the fact that you appear to have no functional package management, that you are on Windows.  I don't know if maybe this is a limitation of our Windows binaries, the Windows installer, or the Windows dll system, which is known to be inadequate in many respects.
However, if it isn't, then there's no reason you should have to reinstall plugins as long as your Pidgin stays within the same major version series.  (That is, until you upgrade to 3.0.0 or beyond, 2.x.y versions should be fine.) New versions of pidgin and libpurple are backward compatible with older versions.

Someone who knows more about Windows might be able to weigh in if this is a platform-specific limitation.

Ethan