Several confusing and misleading statements in macOS pkg installer
- Dominant language
- Python
- Stars
- 497
- Forks
- 181
- Avg merge
- 1d 16h
- Merged PRs (30d)
- 17
Description
### Checklist
- [x] I added a descriptive title
- [x] I searched open reports and couldn't find a duplicate
### What happened?
The Miniconda3 py313_25.7.0-2 installer includes the following on its Read Me page:
> By default, this installer modifies your bash profile to activate the base environment of Miniconda3 when your shell starts up.
It actually modifies a lot more than that:
```
modified /Users/msmith/.bash_profile
modified /Users/msmith/.config/fish/config.fish
modified /Users/msmith/.tcshrc
modified /Users/msmith/.xonshrc
modified /Users/msmith/.zshrc
```
> If you decline this option, the executables installed by this installer will not be available on PATH.
~~If I was unfamiliar with Conda, I would probably want to decline this rather than risk it messing up my shell startup files. However, it's very difficult to work out how to do this: you need to go through the next three pages of the installer and then click the Customize button at the bottom. It would be helpful for the Readme to explain this.~~ It already does, not sure how I missed that.
> You will need to use the full executable path to run commands, or otherwise initialize the base environment of Miniconda3 on your own.
"Initialize" suggests I might actually have to *create* the base environment on my own, which isn't the case. "Activate" would be a better word.
> The "Install for me only" option will install Miniconda3 to the default location, ~/miniconda3.
There is no "Install for me only" option, only "Install for all users of this computer" and "Install on a specific disk".
"Install on a specific disk" does not default to ~/miniconda3, but to /opt/miniconda3, which is hidden by default in Finder.
In fact, it seems to be impossible to install to ~/miniconda3 even with a custom location. If I select /Users/msmith, then it installs to /Users/msmith/opt/miniconda3. If I create /Users/msmith/miniconda3 as a new folder and select it, then it installs to /Users/msmith/miniconda3/miniconda3.
### Additional Context
_No response_
Contributor guide
Research direction
Start by locating the macOS pkg installer's Read Me text and the installer screens it describes. Check the documented shell files, activation wording, install options, and default locations against the observed installer behavior. Done means the Read Me accurately describes those behaviors and options.
Written by the indexing model from the issue text.
Assessment
- Tech stack
- macos
- Domain
- documentation, release
- Issue type
- Documentation
- Difficulty
- 3/5
- Estimated time
- 1-2 days
- Activity status
- Stale
- Clarity
- Mostly clear
- Newbie friendliness
- 38/100