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A new wave of Linux applications

tuxphones.com

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Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#151

Post by pygar »

habosa wrote: post #127

These apps look very nice, I am happy to see this movement. But this is HN so ... allow me to go a bit off topic and complain. Why is is so freaking hard to install an app on Linux (Ubuntu)? There's nothing in the software center, and when I find an app I want I am just pointed to a .tar.gz or something. I want a file I can double-click and end up with a launchable icon representing that app in my dock later. I would…

Do you know how to use apt? [0] It sounds like you're trying to install software the windows way (download from a website and run).

Some software is distributed as source only, but it's super rare for anything remotely popular to not be packaged (although you might have to add a PPA).

[0] https://help.ubuntu.com/community/AptGet/Howto

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#153

Post by hughrr »

fsflover wrote: post #131
hughrr wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A certain $2tn+ company can't manage to pull that off and actually has different interfaces for each platform. We're making some big assumption that responsive interfaces actually work and don't push poor compromises on all users at the end of the day. This is another UX death march like flat interfaces without cues and mystery meat.

> We're making some big assumption that responsive interfaces actually work I think is pretty clear that they work. Look at responsive web pages.

The thing is they don't always. And in some cases they actually completely fall apart.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#154

Post by spitfire »

nailer wrote: post #24

> An example is Flathub, where new applications using the most modern toolkits and UX strategy appear every day, providing "just works" alternatives to complex older FOSS software,, in a boom similar to that seen around 2012 on Apple's Mac App Store. Damn that’s sad to read - for those unaware, Linux had one of the first app stores ever in about 2002 (Click n Run on Lindows/Linspire).

Interestingly NeXTStep (which became Apple) did it back in the 1991. http://www.kevra.org/TheBestOfNext/SWCatalogs/page274/page27... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_AppWrapper

Also, I remember back in 1996 when quake came out you could buy the shareware CD which came with all of IDs games locked. You called up a number and paid to get an unlock code. Very, very quickly a serial generator started floating around.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#155

Post by go_elmo »

quanticle wrote: post #58

Furthermore, the variety of projects that are enabling convergence on their applications is growing at a fast rate, with KDE, GNOME, Nitrux, Elementary and Jingling among others shifting their interest on mobile-ready and touch-friendly applications for the future of Linux. So, in other words, Linux desktop applications are going the same way as "desktop" applications on Windows and MacOS. I put "desktop" in sarcasm…

cli > gui

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#157

Post by dleslie »

asddubs wrote: post #34
dleslie wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Beta. At the time I purchased it, it wasn't even Alpha. Beta, as a game developer, implies to me that there's a few outstanding show-stoppers but on the whole the product is safe to show to eager end-consumers who are willing to tolerate some rough edges. The PinePhone isn't even that, yet; I couldn't conscientiously hand it to a non-techy and ask them for feedback because I'm not even sure it would reliably…

Seems like you're just arguing semantics. The pinephone is very clearly advertised as aimed at developers

The question was if anyone was using a Linux phone.

Did I use it to tinker with mobile Linux? Sure.

Did I find success using it as a phone? No. It's nowhere near ready to be used as a phone outside of tinkering.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#158

Post by Lukineus »

zozbot234 wrote: post #74
rland wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I found a solution for Firfox on Ubuntu MATE: 1. go to about:config 2. find widget.non-native-theme.scrollbar.size.override 3. Change to some pixel value (I have mine set at 26). voila! I do not understand why the default is so thin. Really bucks the trend of every UI element being touch-screen large nowadays!

Because if you have touchscreens you can use two-finger gestures, and if you're on a mouse you'll have no issue targeting a thin widget. It makes a lot of sense from that POV.

Some touchpads also support gesture scrolling.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#159

Post by dleslie »

bogwog wrote: post #141
dleslie wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's not Beta. At the time I purchased it, it wasn't even Alpha. Beta, as a game developer, implies to me that there's a few outstanding show-stoppers but on the whole the product is safe to show to eager end-consumers who are willing to tolerate some rough edges. The PinePhone isn't even that, yet; I couldn't conscientiously hand it to a non-techy and ask them for feedback because I'm not even sure it would reliably…

The Pinephone isn’t a video game.

Considering that video games are usually released unfinished; if you're saying it doesn't even meet the dismal quality standards of video game development, wrt Beta quality, then I agree with you.

Re: A new wave of Linux applications

#160

Post by bmn__ »

habosa wrote: post #143
drekipus wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

what's wrong with the ol' "sudo apt install foo" outdated packages are the problem of the distro, not of the tool. the whole reason I went from windows -> linux was because I could just type in what I want, rather than having to go looking around for dumb things on sites that no longer exist.

That installs a binary tool I can run at the command line. Which is great for a lot of things. It's not great for a web browser or a calculator. I want an app. I want it to have an icon I can click on and a button to close it. I don't want logs in my terminal or zombie processes and I don't want to have to remember the name/path of a binary.

> > what's wrong with the ol' "sudo apt install foo"

> That installs a binary tool I can run at the command line. […] It's not great for a web browser or a calculator.

You're wrong about that. A package manager installs any type of software, the user interface of the software (command-line or GUI) is irrelevant. For example, chromium and kcalc: `apt install chromium kcalc`

• https://packages.ubuntu.com/chromium # web browser

• https://packages.ubuntu.com/kcalc # calculator

> I want an app. I want it to have an icon I can click on and a button to close it.

You got it.

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