6 ms·

noone is going to prep packages for dozens distros with different distribution mechanism. too complicated|time consuming - why Linux doesn't have first world

noone is going to prep packages for dozens distros with different distribution mechanism. too complicated|time consuming - why Linux doesn't have first world apps.

Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
No one is expecting you to, nor do I trust you to. Distro maintainers do this, not software developers.
- ansgri 8y ago
  How do I get my favorite app included as a user? As a publisher? The maintainer has his own schedule. What if I have a closed-source app? I presume it's just better than PPA and *.deb-s (which would be acceptable if all desktop Linux was based on Ubuntu).
  - Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
    You ask. Find a maintainer who works on similar or related software and send them an email. Send them a patch. Your closed source app can shove it.
    - stemc43 8y ago
      yeah. that's wishy-washy dreamworld. For 20 years Ive been using Linux - noone bothered packaging A-level apps for Linux, definitely not closed source ones. That's been enough of a trial run I would say.
    - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
      This attitude is the reason Linux Desktops suck and will continue to suck.
      - ansgri 8y ago
        Actually they don't. I use Linux Mint Cinnamon for 5 years and find it a very convenient operating system, better than Windows (at least 7 — I hear nothing good about Win7 except its Linux support) and OSX (at least Snow Leopard) in almost every respect, except commercial app support. I very reluctantly reboot into Windows for things like Office, Lightroom and CorelDraw. Maybe Visual Studio. edit: btw, I agree with you on the "attitude" thing. There should be more commercial options on Linux desktop.
        AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
        It was a subjective assessment to be sure, but one shared by many. You can tell because of how few users it has, though I'm sure someone will pop up and blame the fact that it doesn't come pre-installed on PCs as the reason, without consideration for the concept that if people actually wanted to use it, it might.
        sincerely 8y ago
        eh, i disagree. even if linux distros were objectively better than windows in every possible way (not speaking to the truth of that claim) if computers shipped with windows the vast majority of people would use windows.
        AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
        The vast majority of Windows PCs do not ship with Chrome.
        zapzupnz 8y ago
        But the vast majority of internet users do use Google search and other Google products like Gmail. That's how Chrome became popular — because Google will spam you with ads for Chrome at every available opportunity.
    - mort96 8y ago
      So your argument is that anyone who wants to use any proprietary software should just switch to Windows? I suppose I should stop using Linux then, because I occasionally play games from Steam.
      - Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
        And your games are spying on you. Many of these games employ invasive anti-cheat systems which shake down your computer and send a bunch of data to their servers. This shit doesn't fly with distro packages.
        mort96 8y ago
        Yeah, they definitely wouldn't be in distro packages, but I want to play them nonetheless. That means I either have to run software which isn't in my distro repo, or switch to Windows.
        JdeBP 8y ago
        Just don't ask about using WINE. (-: * https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/460036/ https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/460036/
        mynewtb 8y ago
        You wish! Which distro are you talking about? Can't be Ubuntu for sure...
        Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
        Ubuntu is an outlier, not a representative of all of Linux. Linux is open source, you can make a distro that does anything you want, including spying on others. This doesn't make the distros that don't any worse.
    - JdeBP 8y ago
      … and then wait 13 years with no response. (-: * https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=334120 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=334120 * https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/459566/5132 https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/459566/5132
      - Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
        You have to be proactive. Contact the maintainers directly, reach out to other maintainers, etc.
        JdeBP 8y ago
        Debian Developer Stephen Kitt said the opposite, as you can see.
  - conradk 8y ago
    There is AppImage (https://appimage.org/ https://appimage.org/). I have no affiliation with it whatsoever, but if you're not going to have a verified Snap account, I think you're better off offering an AppImage from your website. And it seems like some companies are thinking about something like this (https://github.com/itchio/itch/issues/683 https://github.com/itchio/itch/issues/683). If your Snap account is unverified, there seems to be no way to know who created the snap. It looks like I can create an account with the name of any company and distribute stuff in their name, including malware. With something like AppImage, your users know that the AppImage is actually coming from you if you host the file on your domain. Then again, AppImage has its own drawbacks. But at least, if Slack put an official AppImage on its homepage, I'd be able to download it. Installing a Slack snap from the account of "Felix Rieseberg" doesn't sound to good to me (https://snapcraft.io/slack https://snapcraft.io/slack). If you dig around, you can see that Felix Rieseberg does work at Slack, but for this big a company, that just looks fishy IMO.
    - kyrofa 8y ago
      Verified accounts are pretty new, I suspect we'll see Slack verified soon.
- deleted 8y ago
  [deleted]

noone is going to prep packages for dozens distros with different distribution mechanism. too complicated|time consuming - why Linux doesn't have first world apps.

Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago

No one is expecting you to, nor do I trust you to. Distro maintainers do this, not software developers.

ansgri 8y ago
How do I get my favorite app included as a user? As a publisher? The maintainer has his own schedule. What if I have a closed-source app? I presume it's just better than PPA and *.deb-s (which would be acceptable if all desktop Linux was based on Ubuntu).
- Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
  You ask. Find a maintainer who works on similar or related software and send them an email. Send them a patch. Your closed source app can shove it.
  - stemc43 8y ago
    yeah. that's wishy-washy dreamworld. For 20 years Ive been using Linux - noone bothered packaging A-level apps for Linux, definitely not closed source ones. That's been enough of a trial run I would say.
  - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
    This attitude is the reason Linux Desktops suck and will continue to suck.
    - ansgri 8y ago
      Actually they don't. I use Linux Mint Cinnamon for 5 years and find it a very convenient operating system, better than Windows (at least 7 — I hear nothing good about Win7 except its Linux support) and OSX (at least Snow Leopard) in almost every respect, except commercial app support. I very reluctantly reboot into Windows for things like Office, Lightroom and CorelDraw. Maybe Visual Studio. edit: btw, I agree with you on the "attitude" thing. There should be more commercial options on Linux desktop.
      - AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
        It was a subjective assessment to be sure, but one shared by many. You can tell because of how few users it has, though I'm sure someone will pop up and blame the fact that it doesn't come pre-installed on PCs as the reason, without consideration for the concept that if people actually wanted to use it, it might.
        sincerely 8y ago
        eh, i disagree. even if linux distros were objectively better than windows in every possible way (not speaking to the truth of that claim) if computers shipped with windows the vast majority of people would use windows.
        AnIdiotOnTheNet 8y ago
        The vast majority of Windows PCs do not ship with Chrome.
        zapzupnz 8y ago
        But the vast majority of internet users do use Google search and other Google products like Gmail. That's how Chrome became popular — because Google will spam you with ads for Chrome at every available opportunity.
  - mort96 8y ago
    So your argument is that anyone who wants to use any proprietary software should just switch to Windows? I suppose I should stop using Linux then, because I occasionally play games from Steam.
    - Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
      And your games are spying on you. Many of these games employ invasive anti-cheat systems which shake down your computer and send a bunch of data to their servers. This shit doesn't fly with distro packages.
      - mort96 8y ago
        Yeah, they definitely wouldn't be in distro packages, but I want to play them nonetheless. That means I either have to run software which isn't in my distro repo, or switch to Windows.
        JdeBP 8y ago
        Just don't ask about using WINE. (-: * https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/460036/ https://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/460036/
      - mynewtb 8y ago
        You wish! Which distro are you talking about? Can't be Ubuntu for sure...
        Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
        Ubuntu is an outlier, not a representative of all of Linux. Linux is open source, you can make a distro that does anything you want, including spying on others. This doesn't make the distros that don't any worse.
  - JdeBP 8y ago
    … and then wait 13 years with no response. (-: * https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=334120 https://bugs.debian.org/cgi-bin/bugreport.cgi?bug=334120 * https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/459566/5132 https://unix.stackexchange.com/a/459566/5132
    - Sir_Cmpwn 8y ago
      You have to be proactive. Contact the maintainers directly, reach out to other maintainers, etc.
      - JdeBP 8y ago
        Debian Developer Stephen Kitt said the opposite, as you can see.
- conradk 8y ago
  There is AppImage (https://appimage.org/ https://appimage.org/). I have no affiliation with it whatsoever, but if you're not going to have a verified Snap account, I think you're better off offering an AppImage from your website. And it seems like some companies are thinking about something like this (https://github.com/itchio/itch/issues/683 https://github.com/itchio/itch/issues/683). If your Snap account is unverified, there seems to be no way to know who created the snap. It looks like I can create an account with the name of any company and distribute stuff in their name, including malware. With something like AppImage, your users know that the AppImage is actually coming from you if you host the file on your domain. Then again, AppImage has its own drawbacks. But at least, if Slack put an official AppImage on its homepage, I'd be able to download it. Installing a Slack snap from the account of "Felix Rieseberg" doesn't sound to good to me (https://snapcraft.io/slack https://snapcraft.io/slack). If you dig around, you can see that Felix Rieseberg does work at Slack, but for this big a company, that just looks fishy IMO.
  - kyrofa 8y ago
    Verified accounts are pretty new, I suspect we'll see Slack verified soon.
deleted 8y ago
[deleted]