Had the same chat with another senior developer earlier this year. We both agreed the auto-installer is the way to go.

Reason being is that an auto-installer (for everything, including the SQL part) is the way of Computers and the Web. As Zen Cart makes its way to becoming more automatic with modules this will be a requirement. We need to move past the point where Zen Cart is so brittle or module code is so bad, that one must test everything in a 'dev' section first.

For example, think back to Windows "Blue Screen of Death" and, if you are a Windows User, ask yourself how long has it been since you last saw that msg.