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Show HN: Ndm – Npm Desktop Manager

62 points by 720kb 10y ago

tokenizerrr 10y ago
(for Mac)
- 720kb 10y ago
  (beta) i forgot that too sorry ;)
vuldin 10y ago
This looks nice. I'm really tied to using creationix nvm at the moment and it seems like these two libraries would be competing for control over how to manage node/npm. There's no GUI on nvm though, so if this tool can handle installing multiple different versions of node/npm then maybe it is a better alternative.
- 720kb 10y ago
  thanks! nvm, node, npm, yarn, as well as brew for example, and so on: all different tools made for different scopes.
sickbeard 10y ago
npmDM?
- 720kb 10y ago
  node package manager desktop manager, yes you're right :)
- TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
  NPM Package Manager Desktop Manager
  - sickbeard 10y ago
    Node Desktop Manager (whatever that means)
philliphaydon 10y ago
It looks great, but mac only? Isn't Electron meant to be cross platform? Shouldn't this also work on Windows and Linux?
- 720kb 10y ago
  OFC, Electron is cross-platforms. This is a beta release, due the fact we need to spot out many other possible and common bugs/problems before to make it really stable, that's the only reason why ;)
  - fdim 10y ago
    Don't forget that you can have platform specific bugs ;)
    - 720kb 10y ago
      Ofc, just you know ... too much meat on bbq it will be quite degenerative :) Actually, the API used is require('npm') that mean if it gets stable on OSX there will be quite 99% possibilities it will be stable the same on Linux and Win. Then templating and releasing will be quicker ;)
diggan 10y ago
In general I like Electron, it makes it easy for web developers like me to get into making desktop apps. However, if you're not building it cross-platform, what's the benefit of Electron? If you disregard easy for web-developers.
- kilian 10y ago
  This frustrates me a lot too. Whenever I encounter non-crossplatform Electron apps, I extract the mac or windows app.asar files and so far, all of them have ran fine on Ubuntu. That means it's just a matter of not taking the effort to package the app for multiple platforms. I get that packaging is not the most exciting part of application building, but it's not rocket science either. If anyone has an Electron app and wants/needs help with cross-platform packaging, feel free to contact me.
  - creshal 10y ago
    It's not even that exciting with electron-builder. Especially not for Linux, as there's zero things you need to configure, unlike Win/OSX.
  - johnhenry 10y ago
    Perhaps you've written a guide you might like to post on hackernews?
- 720kb 10y ago
  Hi, have a look here later https://github.com/720kb/ndm#faq https://github.com/720kb/ndm#faq "As soon as we are sure that the project is stable, it will be delivered to the other OSs." :)
- tommoor 10y ago
  Why do you disregard one of it's main benefits? MacOS development is notoriously tricky, so to enable it for the largest class of developers today makes a lot of sense. The other big advantage would be speed of iteration - particularly in a startup environment, being able to iterate on designs, layouts and functionality fast is a huge plus of working in JavaScript / HTML over native constructs.
blauditore 10y ago
Offtopic: There are merely 40-50 words on that page, but 3 different font families and several sizes and weights. Almost every line is styled differently.
- 720kb 10y ago
  hi, thanks for the feedback, you can PR on Github if you want feel free seriously we'll be glad a lot!
jashper 10y ago
168 mb for a dependency manager seems a bit steep
- guessmyname 10y ago
  45M for the downloaded DMG file; 387M of extracted/mounted data; 314M in the Contents/Frameworks directory (which is where Electron is); 73M in the Contents/Resources directory (which is where the application is); 73M is actually the size of the "Contents/Resources/app/node_modules" directory :D
  - 720kb 10y ago
    Yes, the whole js app is a dist/ folder and weight does not exceed 1mb i guess, the outer weight is the price to pay
- dleslie 10y ago
  I find it funny that I know people who prefer Vim to Emacs for being lightweight, but also swear by a handful of electron apps for their daily work.
duck2 10y ago
Next: Nwm- Npm window manager based on Electron. Works on Mac and sometimes Ubuntu.
dkns 10y ago
Why have page that tells almost absolutely nothing about your project? I could understand if it was aimed at non-tech people but I have serious doubts that anyone that isn't developer will be interested in your project. If I read title on hacker news that says 'Npm Desktop Manager' I would like to be able to read a little more about it before I decide to use it without having to go to github. Like, the information that there is no stable release is only in FAQ section of github project.
- jonursenbach 10y ago
  I thought it was pretty clear what it was by the screenshot on the page...
  - dkns 10y ago
    It is but additional info like release version or minimum required npm version would be nice. Or have any info from 'Recommendation' and 'FAQ' section from github displayed.
fdim 10y ago
Not to nitpick, but I fail to understand the problem you are trying to solve. Even if something like this would be bundled with some IDE, the reason is unclear to me. It's nice as a side project to get used to electron though.
- jamescostian 10y ago
  In their README, they have a section describing why one should use this project[0] which essentially says something like this: Not everyone knows how to use the npm CLI, and they oftentimes cannot use it for "intern/office/job" reasons, or they are simply unwilling to use the cli at all. However, the learning curve for the npm CLI, at least for the tasks that this project accomplishes, is not steep at all. For example, installing a dependency is as simple as `npm install dep` where `dep` is the name of the dependency you want to install. Furthermore, I have never heard someone say "I couldn't use npm because it's a CLI and my job does not allow me to use those", nor have I ever heard someone who wants to use npm say "I am not willing to use a CLI" I'm curious, in what job setting is one not allowed to use the npm CLI? And, since this project itself uses the CLI[1], wouldn't using Ndm be just as bad as using the npm CLI? [0] https://github.com/720kb/ndm#i-love-the-shell-why-use-an-app https://github.com/720kb/ndm#i-love-the-shell-why-use-an-app [1] https://github.com/720kb/ndm/blob/master/lib/js/npm/npm-api.js#L96 https://github.com/720kb/ndm/blob/master/lib/js/npm/npm-api....
  - bluejekyll 10y ago
    To say nothing of the fact that a programmer can't use the CLI? What programmer is that? I mean, I'm all in favor of tools that integrate into the IDE, that reduce the overhead of running commands, but not being able to use the CLI would be a huge red flag. In fact, you now have me considering writing a new interview test to make sure people are literate with the CLI.
    - untog 10y ago
      > To say nothing of the fact that a programmer can't use the CLI? What programmer is that? People who use Excel, maybe. There are a lot of people who do "programming" in their job without their job title containing "programmer". I can absolutely believe that these days there are people out there brewing up little JS scripts to help them with their day-to-day tasks.
jamescostian 10y ago
OT: I noticed in the GitHub repository that there is `.jshintrc` as well as a `.jscsrc` and `.eslintrc` Why are you using 3 different JavaScript linters, instead of just 1? Especially since one of them (JSCS) was merged with the other (ESLint). There was a blog post about this in April[0] and even the front page of JSCS says that it was merged with ESLint[1], so why use both of them, in addition to yet another linter? [0] http://eslint.org/blog/2016/04/welcoming-jscs-to-eslint http://eslint.org/blog/2016/04/welcoming-jscs-to-eslint [1] http://jscs.info/ http://jscs.info/
- 720kb 10y ago
  that's because we setted up the projects months ago. if you can please contribute, just PR PR PR PR :)
intralizee 10y ago
This is comparable to what JetBrains has built into their IDEs for viewing project modules with option to update. I like this solution better because it manages all projects compared to opening each project separate in an IDE. A few commands in my terminal can be equal in functionality to what this app does but I can see myself using this app regardless.
- 720kb 10y ago
  thank you for your impressions!
koolba 10y ago
What's the point of this? By that I mean what would you actually use it for? Is this a GUI version of nvm and if so, seriously who would use it? The whole point of nvm is to be able to pop in/out of node versions as you're working on a project. That doesn't make any sense for a global GUI.
- SlashmanX 10y ago
  It's for npm, not nvm. It shows the installed packages in a project, the version that is installed and the latest available version which is handy. You can install/update packages too but don't see much use for that since the CLI is there but the displaying of info is decent.
  - koolba 10y ago
    Okay now I get it. So it's a GUI to see what's in use by a given project. I mistakenly thought it was a tool for managing node installations. I guess the git analogy would be something like gitk?
    - SlashmanX 10y ago
      Yeah sort of. I wouldn't use it to replace npm CLI or anything (even though you can), but like I said being able to glance at installed modules and see the different versions (installed vs latest) is a nice thing to have.
SlashmanX 10y ago
Good job. I think it's useful purely for the fact that it can tell you the latest available version for each of the packages in your project. It's handy to have that at a glance
- 720kb 10y ago
  That's what this is supposed to be/do/handle/visualize/inform/etc/ Glad that you find it useful, many thanks!
aswerty 10y ago
Congrats on shipping!
- 720kb 10y ago
  Oh well thanks :)

62 points by 720kb 10y ago

tokenizerrr 10y ago

(for Mac)

720kb 10y ago
(beta) i forgot that too sorry ;)

vuldin 10y ago

This looks nice. I'm really tied to using creationix nvm at the moment and it seems like these two libraries would be competing for control over how to manage node/npm. There's no GUI on nvm though, so if this tool can handle installing multiple different versions of node/npm then maybe it is a better alternative.

720kb 10y ago
thanks! nvm, node, npm, yarn, as well as brew for example, and so on: all different tools made for different scopes.

sickbeard 10y ago

npmDM?

720kb 10y ago
node package manager desktop manager, yes you're right :)
TazeTSchnitzel 10y ago
NPM Package Manager Desktop Manager
- sickbeard 10y ago
  Node Desktop Manager (whatever that means)

philliphaydon 10y ago

It looks great, but mac only? Isn't Electron meant to be cross platform? Shouldn't this also work on Windows and Linux?

720kb 10y ago
OFC, Electron is cross-platforms. This is a beta release, due the fact we need to spot out many other possible and common bugs/problems before to make it really stable, that's the only reason why ;)
- fdim 10y ago
  Don't forget that you can have platform specific bugs ;)
  - 720kb 10y ago
    Ofc, just you know ... too much meat on bbq it will be quite degenerative :) Actually, the API used is require('npm') that mean if it gets stable on OSX there will be quite 99% possibilities it will be stable the same on Linux and Win. Then templating and releasing will be quicker ;)

diggan 10y ago

In general I like Electron, it makes it easy for web developers like me to get into making desktop apps. However, if you're not building it cross-platform, what's the benefit of Electron? If you disregard easy for web-developers.

kilian 10y ago
This frustrates me a lot too. Whenever I encounter non-crossplatform Electron apps, I extract the mac or windows app.asar files and so far, all of them have ran fine on Ubuntu. That means it's just a matter of not taking the effort to package the app for multiple platforms. I get that packaging is not the most exciting part of application building, but it's not rocket science either. If anyone has an Electron app and wants/needs help with cross-platform packaging, feel free to contact me.
- creshal 10y ago
  It's not even that exciting with electron-builder. Especially not for Linux, as there's zero things you need to configure, unlike Win/OSX.
- johnhenry 10y ago
  Perhaps you've written a guide you might like to post on hackernews?
720kb 10y ago
Hi, have a look here later https://github.com/720kb/ndm#faq https://github.com/720kb/ndm#faq "As soon as we are sure that the project is stable, it will be delivered to the other OSs." :)
tommoor 10y ago
Why do you disregard one of it's main benefits? MacOS development is notoriously tricky, so to enable it for the largest class of developers today makes a lot of sense. The other big advantage would be speed of iteration - particularly in a startup environment, being able to iterate on designs, layouts and functionality fast is a huge plus of working in JavaScript / HTML over native constructs.

blauditore 10y ago

Offtopic: There are merely 40-50 words on that page, but 3 different font families and several sizes and weights. Almost every line is styled differently.

720kb 10y ago
hi, thanks for the feedback, you can PR on Github if you want feel free seriously we'll be glad a lot!

jashper 10y ago

168 mb for a dependency manager seems a bit steep

guessmyname 10y ago
45M for the downloaded DMG file; 387M of extracted/mounted data; 314M in the Contents/Frameworks directory (which is where Electron is); 73M in the Contents/Resources directory (which is where the application is); 73M is actually the size of the "Contents/Resources/app/node_modules" directory :D
- 720kb 10y ago
  Yes, the whole js app is a dist/ folder and weight does not exceed 1mb i guess, the outer weight is the price to pay
dleslie 10y ago
I find it funny that I know people who prefer Vim to Emacs for being lightweight, but also swear by a handful of electron apps for their daily work.

duck2 10y ago

Next: Nwm- Npm window manager based on Electron. Works on Mac and sometimes Ubuntu.

dkns 10y ago

Why have page that tells almost absolutely nothing about your project? I could understand if it was aimed at non-tech people but I have serious doubts that anyone that isn't developer will be interested in your project. If I read title on hacker news that says 'Npm Desktop Manager' I would like to be able to read a little more about it before I decide to use it without having to go to github. Like, the information that there is no stable release is only in FAQ section of github project.

jonursenbach 10y ago
I thought it was pretty clear what it was by the screenshot on the page...
- dkns 10y ago
  It is but additional info like release version or minimum required npm version would be nice. Or have any info from 'Recommendation' and 'FAQ' section from github displayed.

fdim 10y ago

Not to nitpick, but I fail to understand the problem you are trying to solve. Even if something like this would be bundled with some IDE, the reason is unclear to me. It's nice as a side project to get used to electron though.

jamescostian 10y ago
In their README, they have a section describing why one should use this project[0] which essentially says something like this: Not everyone knows how to use the npm CLI, and they oftentimes cannot use it for "intern/office/job" reasons, or they are simply unwilling to use the cli at all. However, the learning curve for the npm CLI, at least for the tasks that this project accomplishes, is not steep at all. For example, installing a dependency is as simple as `npm install dep` where `dep` is the name of the dependency you want to install. Furthermore, I have never heard someone say "I couldn't use npm because it's a CLI and my job does not allow me to use those", nor have I ever heard someone who wants to use npm say "I am not willing to use a CLI" I'm curious, in what job setting is one not allowed to use the npm CLI? And, since this project itself uses the CLI[1], wouldn't using Ndm be just as bad as using the npm CLI? [0] https://github.com/720kb/ndm#i-love-the-shell-why-use-an-app https://github.com/720kb/ndm#i-love-the-shell-why-use-an-app [1] https://github.com/720kb/ndm/blob/master/lib/js/npm/npm-api.js#L96 https://github.com/720kb/ndm/blob/master/lib/js/npm/npm-api....
- bluejekyll 10y ago
  To say nothing of the fact that a programmer can't use the CLI? What programmer is that? I mean, I'm all in favor of tools that integrate into the IDE, that reduce the overhead of running commands, but not being able to use the CLI would be a huge red flag. In fact, you now have me considering writing a new interview test to make sure people are literate with the CLI.
  - untog 10y ago
    > To say nothing of the fact that a programmer can't use the CLI? What programmer is that? People who use Excel, maybe. There are a lot of people who do "programming" in their job without their job title containing "programmer". I can absolutely believe that these days there are people out there brewing up little JS scripts to help them with their day-to-day tasks.

jamescostian 10y ago

OT: I noticed in the GitHub repository that there is `.jshintrc` as well as a `.jscsrc` and `.eslintrc` Why are you using 3 different JavaScript linters, instead of just 1? Especially since one of them (JSCS) was merged with the other (ESLint). There was a blog post about this in April[0] and even the front page of JSCS says that it was merged with ESLint[1], so why use both of them, in addition to yet another linter? [0] http://eslint.org/blog/2016/04/welcoming-jscs-to-eslint http://eslint.org/blog/2016/04/welcoming-jscs-to-eslint [1] http://jscs.info/ http://jscs.info/

720kb 10y ago
that's because we setted up the projects months ago. if you can please contribute, just PR PR PR PR :)

intralizee 10y ago

This is comparable to what JetBrains has built into their IDEs for viewing project modules with option to update. I like this solution better because it manages all projects compared to opening each project separate in an IDE. A few commands in my terminal can be equal in functionality to what this app does but I can see myself using this app regardless.

720kb 10y ago
thank you for your impressions!

koolba 10y ago

What's the point of this? By that I mean what would you actually use it for? Is this a GUI version of nvm and if so, seriously who would use it? The whole point of nvm is to be able to pop in/out of node versions as you're working on a project. That doesn't make any sense for a global GUI.

SlashmanX 10y ago
It's for npm, not nvm. It shows the installed packages in a project, the version that is installed and the latest available version which is handy. You can install/update packages too but don't see much use for that since the CLI is there but the displaying of info is decent.
- koolba 10y ago
  Okay now I get it. So it's a GUI to see what's in use by a given project. I mistakenly thought it was a tool for managing node installations. I guess the git analogy would be something like gitk?
  - SlashmanX 10y ago
    Yeah sort of. I wouldn't use it to replace npm CLI or anything (even though you can), but like I said being able to glance at installed modules and see the different versions (installed vs latest) is a nice thing to have.

SlashmanX 10y ago

Good job. I think it's useful purely for the fact that it can tell you the latest available version for each of the packages in your project. It's handy to have that at a glance

720kb 10y ago
That's what this is supposed to be/do/handle/visualize/inform/etc/ Glad that you find it useful, many thanks!

aswerty 10y ago

Congrats on shipping!

720kb 10y ago
Oh well thanks :)