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Installing a program on Windows that's not on the App store: With installer: - Download installer - execute installer by double clicking on it Without in

by leppr 8y ago

Installing a program on Windows that's not on the App store: With installer: - Download installer - execute installer by double clicking on it Without installer: - Download .exe - (Optional) Drag'n'drop .exe to some random folder - Right click .exe and select "Create desktop shortcut" All of that is way more intuitive for a regular user than entering even one string of text in a terminal. People aren't trained to enter case-sensitive, exact-match strings of text in any input nowadays. Product designers are trying to eliminate the few times users are forced to do so (login forms, and again the difference with login is that the text is familiar to the user). The CLI feels too much like coding for regular users.

jenscow 8y ago
There's a significant piece of information omitted from those instructions: From where do you download the installer? How do you know the source you are downloading it from is the official one? And there's the dreadful download pages with ads that look like download buttons, which are more obvious than the real one. Also, don't forget to inspect every option of the installer to ensure you're not allowing the installation of bundled adware, toolbars, and search page hijackers. And these are sometimes bundled by the distributor. Every mainstream Linux distro has an "app store"-like GUI application, where you click install and it installs. Click uninstall, and it uninstalls. You should try it - you'll be impressed.
- leppr 8y ago
  I agree the download process is boring and risky, but that's a process users are familiar with. At no point does this make them think "that's all over my head" (even if they end up with malware). I'm not saying the approach is superior in all points, I'm pointing out how much more intuitive it is for the average person. And I was specifically talking about software that's not in a pre-installed repository. The different GUI app stores are pretty much equally easy to use.
andrepd 8y ago
Correction: - Open browser - Type program name - Navigate maze of adware, crapware, and ad-ridden websites, download the stuff you want from "softpedia" or a similar dodgy website; somehow miraculously download the actual software instead of a virus. - Open .exe - Navigate installer While in Ubuntu/Linux Mint: - Open the software center - Type program name - Click Install See?
- bootlooped 8y ago
  This is a pretty biased representation. You're assuming that there either is no official website for the windows app or it cannot easily be found, and that the linux app is in the distro's software center. You've presented the worst case scenario for windows and the best case scenario for linux. A recent example of one of my installation experience for a certain application: - Download tar.gz file from official website - Move to appropriate installation folder - Extract files from archive - Look at readme contained within for further instructions - Give execute permissions to the install script - Execute install script - Copy location of app launch script and create shortcut - Download icon from google image search and add that to the shortcut so it looks right A lot of steps required the googling how to do it and/or using the command line. Would normal users go through this? Would they even be able to in some cases? It's been claimed anybody who needs special software is already advanced enough to know how to do this. Ok, maybe, but I also don't want to have to, it's a pain. Admittedly what I outlined is not the normal case of installing an app. Usually it is very easy with the software center. You can't hand wave away the shitty experience for anything that's not there though. Even with the technical knowledge to get it done, who wants to? Installing the same program for Windows would have required downloading the .exe from the official site and running it.
- leppr 8y ago
  The different GUI app stores are pretty much equally easy to use. The problem is when you want something that's not in it.

by leppr 8y ago

jenscow 8y ago

There's a significant piece of information omitted from those instructions: From where do you download the installer? How do you know the source you are downloading it from is the official one? And there's the dreadful download pages with ads that look like download buttons, which are more obvious than the real one. Also, don't forget to inspect every option of the installer to ensure you're not allowing the installation of bundled adware, toolbars, and search page hijackers. And these are sometimes bundled by the distributor. Every mainstream Linux distro has an "app store"-like GUI application, where you click install and it installs. Click uninstall, and it uninstalls. You should try it - you'll be impressed.

leppr 8y ago
I agree the download process is boring and risky, but that's a process users are familiar with. At no point does this make them think "that's all over my head" (even if they end up with malware). I'm not saying the approach is superior in all points, I'm pointing out how much more intuitive it is for the average person. And I was specifically talking about software that's not in a pre-installed repository. The different GUI app stores are pretty much equally easy to use.

andrepd 8y ago

Correction: - Open browser - Type program name - Navigate maze of adware, crapware, and ad-ridden websites, download the stuff you want from "softpedia" or a similar dodgy website; somehow miraculously download the actual software instead of a virus. - Open .exe - Navigate installer While in Ubuntu/Linux Mint: - Open the software center - Type program name - Click Install See?

bootlooped 8y ago
This is a pretty biased representation. You're assuming that there either is no official website for the windows app or it cannot easily be found, and that the linux app is in the distro's software center. You've presented the worst case scenario for windows and the best case scenario for linux. A recent example of one of my installation experience for a certain application: - Download tar.gz file from official website - Move to appropriate installation folder - Extract files from archive - Look at readme contained within for further instructions - Give execute permissions to the install script - Execute install script - Copy location of app launch script and create shortcut - Download icon from google image search and add that to the shortcut so it looks right A lot of steps required the googling how to do it and/or using the command line. Would normal users go through this? Would they even be able to in some cases? It's been claimed anybody who needs special software is already advanced enough to know how to do this. Ok, maybe, but I also don't want to have to, it's a pain. Admittedly what I outlined is not the normal case of installing an app. Usually it is very easy with the software center. You can't hand wave away the shitty experience for anything that's not there though. Even with the technical knowledge to get it done, who wants to? Installing the same program for Windows would have required downloading the .exe from the official site and running it.
leppr 8y ago
The different GUI app stores are pretty much equally easy to use. The problem is when you want something that's not in it.