Application Installation
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greg.ec...@gmail.com
Aug 27, 2007, 11:27:31 PM8/27/07
to billmill.org discussion
I hate to make any comments before I see what your proposed solution
to the desktop application installation problem happens to involve,
but just to play devil's advocate, installing software takes exactly
three steps for me:
1. Click to open a terminal window
2. Type "sudo emerge <package_name>"
3. Type in the root password
And that's it. I'm done. If I was really feeling lazy, there are are
two or three choices of programs that can eliminate steps 1. and 3.
for me, but I like the extra control on the off chance that I decide
to do something a bit more complicated (optional, of course).
Sure, I understand that I'm glossing over the non-trivial overhead in
terms of initial configuration and technical know-how that go into
actually using a Linux or *BSD system on a day to day basis, but the
fact of the matter is that software management systems like the Ports
Collection, APT, and RPM have made this three-step process nearly
ubiquitous among the open-source crowd for something on the order of a
decade now. I'm not trying to sound like an OSS zealot or a Microsoft-
basher, but maybe the Windows paradigm of software delivery is just
the wrong way to do it. Maybe we don't need some radically different
Web 2.0 framework to install programs when the problem was effectively
solved nearly a decade ago. Just a thought.
to the desktop application installation problem happens to involve,
but just to play devil's advocate, installing software takes exactly
three steps for me:
1. Click to open a terminal window
2. Type "sudo emerge <package_name>"
3. Type in the root password
And that's it. I'm done. If I was really feeling lazy, there are are
two or three choices of programs that can eliminate steps 1. and 3.
for me, but I like the extra control on the off chance that I decide
to do something a bit more complicated (optional, of course).
Sure, I understand that I'm glossing over the non-trivial overhead in
terms of initial configuration and technical know-how that go into
actually using a Linux or *BSD system on a day to day basis, but the
fact of the matter is that software management systems like the Ports
Collection, APT, and RPM have made this three-step process nearly
ubiquitous among the open-source crowd for something on the order of a
decade now. I'm not trying to sound like an OSS zealot or a Microsoft-
basher, but maybe the Windows paradigm of software delivery is just
the wrong way to do it. Maybe we don't need some radically different
Web 2.0 framework to install programs when the problem was effectively
solved nearly a decade ago. Just a thought.
Bill Mill
Aug 27, 2007, 11:33:21 PM8/27/07
to billmill.org discussion
There are several problems with apt/emerge/rpm/yum/etc, and I will be
getting to those in the next part. Much closer to what I'm getting at
are systems like 0install[1] and klik[2].
getting to those in the next part. Much closer to what I'm getting at
are systems like 0install[1] and klik[2].
In short, centralized=bad, decentralized=web=good.
-Bill Mill
bill...@gmail.com
Bill Mill
Aug 27, 2007, 11:34:59 PM8/27/07
to billmill.org discussion
Doh! I forgot my references:
[1] http://0install.net/
[2] http://klik.atekon.de/
-Bill Mill
http://billmill.org
On Aug 27, 11:33 pm, Bill Mill <bill.m...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There are several problems with apt/emerge/rpm/yum/etc, and I will be
> getting to those in the next part. Much closer to what I'm getting at
> are systems like 0install[1] and klik[2].
>
> In short, centralized=bad, decentralized=web=good.
>
> -Bill Mill
Bill Mill
Aug 27, 2007, 11:40:58 PM8/27/07
to billmill.org discussion
Actually, the reason why my second post is delayed is because I had
heard of and used all of the major app installation systems, but not
the minor ones I referenced. I'm trying them out as we speak.
heard of and used all of the major app installation systems, but not
the minor ones I referenced. I'm trying them out as we speak.
-Bill
mama...@gmail.com
Oct 5, 2007, 8:17:58 AM10/5/07
to billmill.org discussion
On Aug 28, 4:33 am, Bill Mill <bill.m...@gmail.com> wrote:
> There are several problems with apt/emerge/rpm/yum/etc, and I will be
> getting to those in the next part. Much closer to what I'm getting at
> are systems like 0install[1] and klik[2].
>
> There are several problems with apt/emerge/rpm/yum/etc, and I will be
> getting to those in the next part. Much closer to what I'm getting at
> are systems like 0install[1] and klik[2].
>
GDebi [3] seems to be the gtk equivalent of klik.
PC-BSD has PBI [4] which is more of a windows like experience.
[3] https://launchpad.net/gdebi
[4] http://docs.pcbsd.org/guide/chap4.1.html
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