Austin wonders
I wonder: how hard would it be to provide a .zip or .gz version of
each package on SSC? Or one zipped file including all the packages
updated or added in the prior 2 calendar months, say? I assume the
creation of such a compressed file could be automated in a relatively
straightforward way...
Similar things have been proposed at various times. It is not going to happen. Tremendous clutter for the webserver to have another whole set of files, issues of ensuring that every time a change is made to the individual fies that the .gz or /.zip is properly rebuilt a la make, and---more seriously--for many users it would be problematic to download .gz or .zip files and end up with the packages in the right place. Plus manual installations of packages lose all the nice features of Stata's being able to track installs.
Solutions for those with hassles: (1) if you use Windows, find a configuration that does not zap .hlp files, and learn how to put manually-downloaded files in the right directory; or (2) use ssc / net install on a machine that does work fine, and zip the ~/ado/ directory and move it to the problem machine (which works well for machines in locked rooms). That also might solve the 'update official Stata on a machine that doesn't talk to the internet' problem.
Kit Baum, Boston College Economics
http://ideas.repec.org/e/pba1.html
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