Re: "app store" for open source Unix?
Jamie
> Well why can't we have this for open source Unix for desktop users?
>
> I assume all these apps are designed to fit a certain mold, are based on
> a consistent API, maybe using common templates, most have a standard
> interface, etc.
Well, different distributions have different "app stores" they're not
web based (and IMO, hopefully never will be! it's a PAIN to install
stuff like that on remote servers)
I know you're already aware of "ports" so I won't go there.
> I do understand the problem. The open source Unix community is so
> diverse -- so many platforms, so many APIs, so many different developer
> environments, so many opinions, and little money incentive.
For cross platform, there is "pkgsrc" you might look into it, NetBSD,
DragonFlyBSD and rumors... some linux's can use pkgsrc.
We have the technology to do all this, but, not everyone uses a unix
desktop. I for one would be disgusted if I needed a gui or a browser
to install something.
Browsing them is a bit of a hassle, I use 'grep' for that, but I guess
there's something like:
make search keyword="blah"
(I never use that)
Most of the apps have some kind of URL you can load for more info if you
need it.
I do wish there were a safe way to run the make config-recursive and
have it "really" do it recursively, I wish the build system would test
for a tty and if no tty, go into batch mode, and I wish it'd email me
if it needed more from me. (and give me the chance to conf later one)
Something like this:
# echo "cd app/app ; make install clean" | batch
batch runs the install, (I always use batch, it's well suited to this)
Later on, it needs me to specify something, so, it detects no TTY, and
instead sends me an email "Hey, I need some info!" (perhaps with an
email attachment that I can "launch" and mail back) it sits there, in a
frozen state, waiting for info (perhaps reading config from a unique
named pipe)
In any event, it should give me a unique ID (example: 1234) which might
be a named pipe called /tmp/pkg-conf-1235.pipe
Then, (if I can't do it via email), I simply login and run something
like:
# config-running-port 1234
Which fires up a gadget for me to supply additional info to the package
being built, and things continue... (I suppose this stage could have a
web based gadget, but security would be an issue, one would hope the web
part would be a lower priority... I'd much rather be able to simply
forward the config via email to an alias and have it fed into the pipe
after being verified)
Jamie
--
http://www.geniegate.com Custom web programming
Perl * Java * UNIX User Management Solutions
Jeremy C. Reed
> > I do understand the problem. The open source Unix community is so
> > diverse -- so many platforms, so many APIs, so many different developer
> > environments, so many opinions, and little money incentive.
>
> For cross platform, there is "pkgsrc" you might look into it, NetBSD,
> DragonFlyBSD and rumors... some linux's can use pkgsrc.
:) (Yes, I KNOW pkgsrc. I ported it to BSD/OS, I helped port it to
DragonFly. And I have an entire Linux distro based on pkgsrc which I
means a pkgsrc-ized glibc, linux the kernel, modutils, netkit,
vixie-cron, etc ...)
> We have the technology to do all this, but, not everyone uses a unix
> desktop. I for one would be disgusted if I needed a gui or a browser
> to install something.
>
> Browsing them is a bit of a hassle, I use 'grep' for that, but I guess
> there's something like:
>
> make search keyword="blah"
s/keyword/key/
> (I never use that)
>
> Most of the apps have some kind of URL you can load for more info if you
> need it.
Building from ports (or pkgsrc) is too slow. So I will stop there.
Reading pkg-descr usually doesn't provide enough detail to know if it
provides what I want. Visiting each website adds more time (especially
since websites vary in quality of explanation. For example, when my wife
wanted a calculator, I ended up installing around seven and when I
wanted an image viewer I installed over ten. Too much wasted time.
> I do wish there were a safe way to run the make config-recursive and
> have it "really" do it recursively, I wish the build system would test
> for a tty and if no tty, go into batch mode, and I wish it'd email me
> if it needed more from me. (and give me the chance to conf later one)
I haven't tried it, but what about the BATCH setting used for skipping
interactive ports?
<snip>
> Which fires up a gadget for me to supply additional info to the package
> being built, and things continue...
Now ... that is just way too much time for me. If I want an application,
I want to find it and install it within a minute.
Jeremy C. Reed
echo 'EhZ[h ^jjf0%%h[[Zc[Z_W$d[j%Xeeai%ZW[ced#]dk#f[d]k_d%' | \
tr '#-~' '\-.-{'
Programmer In Training
<snip>
> Now ... that is just way too much time for me. If I want an application,
> I want to find it and install it within a minute.
I really think that's asking for a lot. Phones and desktop computers are
two totally different platforms. To expect the same behavior out of both
is ludicrous.
IME, most phones seem to run off some form of Java (I can't speak for
the smart phones, I've never had one). Even my LG CU515's took upwards
of two-three minutes to have an app installed (not including time to
browse AT&T's app store for that model phone, time to purchase, and then
downloading it).
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Programmer In Training
> On 04/09/10 21:54, Jeremy C. Reed wrote:
> <snip>
>> Now ... that is just way too much time for me. If I want an application,
>> I want to find it and install it within a minute.
> <snip>
>
> I really think that's asking for a lot. Phones and desktop computers are
> two totally different platforms. To expect the same behavior out of both
> is ludicrous.
>
> IME, most phones seem to run off some form of Java (I can't speak for
> the smart phones, I've never had one). Even my LG CU515's took upwards
> of two-three minutes to have an app installed (not including time to
> browse AT&T's app store for that model phone, time to purchase, and then
> downloading it).
>
I would like to note, though, that I wouldn't mind the other aspect of
this idea, though. A friendlier UI that at least provided a snapshot of
the site (and perhaps of the program in action) with a better
description would be nice. Especially if there was a search function
(think of Snaptic or RH's old RPM package manager from the 6.2 days).
With such a comprehensive list of ports, it would be nice. And since you
can apparently bring in non-ports sources via pkgsrc perhaps an option
to add even individual program pages that would automatically find the
package source (tarball'd, of course) so if you wanted to download it,
it would be as close to one-click as you would be able to get.
Just a thought.