Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
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Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
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Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#2Molnar's point about the political and procedural difficulties of adding new applications in the official repositories of most distributions is true (although this is changing -- witness Canonical's Ubuntu Software Center, PPAs, and "universe" repositories).
But his reasoning breaks down when he says the relative dearth of commercial applications for the Linux Desktop is due to this issue. That's not true.
The main reason why OSX/iOS, Android, and Windows attract more commercial developers is because those platforms have a much greater installed base!
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#3This is basically why Ubuntu has PPAs and what they are trying to turn Software Center into right?
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#4It really frustrates me that authors are not responsible for compiling and distributing their software, only then will we have software upgraded regularly and quickly.
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#5I'm just an ordinary user, but I'd put my 2¢.
Nowadays, any developer can create a packages for his application (and any of its dependencies) and publish it in self-hosted repositories. Users can easily add such repository to their system's sources list and bureaucracy problem's over. Well, some developers are doing this already - the only thing that keeps the rest of them is either ignorance or complexity of the packaging process.
I believe there's no need for an Android market clone (which is yet another centralized repository). What users may need is just a directory, pointing to external repos. Ubuntu market seems somehow promising (at least I remember seeing some dialogs like "you need to enable this source to install that package").
Content duplication is not a problem. A real problem is keeping the system up-to-date when you want to update some library, because of an important feature or bugfix. And it's nearly impossible with every application's bundling their own copy of that library, with some copies being actually incompatible forks (and a lot of copies being just different builds - think of different compiler versions - of exactly the same sources).
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#6It really frustrates me that authors are not responsible for compiling and distributing their software, only then will we have software upgraded regularly and quickly.
which distribution should they compile and distribute (sigh) for? Not to mention basic problems like "should I integrate with GNOME, Unity, KDE or nothing at all?"
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#7It really frustrates me that authors are not responsible for compiling and distributing their software, only then will we have software upgraded regularly and quickly.
I believe proper packaging is quite complex process, so it scares a lot of the developers away.
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#8My impression is that the problem is more fundamental: a lot of open source and free software which finds its way onto linux is made by people who don't seem to care about the end-user experience. If it works for them, there is no need to improve it.
Not all open software projects are receptive to changes, improvements or bug reports from strangers so nothing is really resolved without forking by which adds its own complications.
Of course there is still good open source / free software. It's just hard to come by.
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#9I am running on linux desktop for already 5 years together with 50 friends, peers etc. It does not quite seem write to compare 90 cent mobile applications, which are 'mostly' few bunch of screens interfaced to a service otherwise given by a web site or simple 80s area arcade games, to packages in a linux distro. the author is totally making a terrible mistake here. mobile apps lack in size, complexity and who said they are great? they are mostly consumables which perish in few days or months (I exclude some ).
Ubuntu is already trying to be more flexible with software center and applications, however open source is not single walled garden which can adhere to tight monotonous architectures found in mobile.
In an linux distro the apps are diverse, and programmed in multitude ways by all possible programming languages (from python to lisp to C) and environments. That is reality and life, and what must be done must be done by being aware of that fact. and No, no one can force the broad, diverse open source world to a tight control a la Apple.
Re: Ingo Molnar on what ails the Linux desktop
#10It really frustrates me that authors are not responsible for compiling and distributing their software, only then will we have software upgraded regularly and quickly.
which distribution should they compile and distribute (sigh) for? Not to mention basic problems like "should I integrate with GNOME, Unity, KDE or nothing at all?"
There are only 2 popular package formats: deb and rpm.
I don't have any experience with RPM, but to build a package for a reasonably big part of the Debian-based world, you have to set up a build system (pbuilder/cowbuilder) and tell it something like `for DIST in lenny squeeze wheezy sid lucid maverick natty oneiric pangolin do; git-buildpackage ...; done`
The problem is, to get it right one has to find and read TONS of documentation.