5 ms·

Depends on how good the Microsoft implementation is. Afaict, mainly power users use Chocolatey, and they're going to be particularly critical of a solution that

Depends on how good the Microsoft implementation is. Afaict, mainly power users use Chocolatey, and they're going to be particularly critical of a solution that is half-baked and doesn't solve the problem as well as an existing, third-party solution that they're already using and they're already used to. I'm certainly not going to switch over just because it's MS. It's going to have to prove it's at least as good as, if not better than, Choco. There are also benefits to Chocolatey that probably can't be replicated by MS, such as the package repo being a community effort and it being a relatively open platform for anybody to add whatever package they need.

GordonS 6y ago
I think most power users switched to scoop, because chocolately is... not great. Scoop is much better, but has a much smaller list of apps. I don't want to hate on chocolately too much, because it has filled a very obvious gap in the Windows landscape for so long, but I really don't like it. The biggest problem is that there are invariably 5 different packages for anything you want to install, with no reliable way of deciding which is the real/main one. Another problem is packages constantly breaking. This can happen because packages actually pull files from remote, primary sources, and those files disappear or the site goes down, but also for a myriad of other reasons. Yet another problem is the reliability of the chocolately site - it seems to go down or be slow as hell quite frequently. Another gripe is that AFAIK, chocolately doesn't support 3rd party repos. And finally (and this one is totally subjective) the website is ugly. So as glad as I am that chocolately filled a void, I'll also be glad for Microsoft to provide an official, reliable replacement that also supports 3rd party repos.
- jedieaston 6y ago
  scoop and scoop extras (https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop-extras https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop-extras) covers pretty much everything I use on Windows. I didn't realize the other repos existed for a while, but once I did, I got rid of choco entirely.
  - GordonS 6y ago
    I wasn't aware of scoop extras until you mentioned it, so thanks!
- neves 6y ago
  My gripe with Chocolatey is just that I can't set a non default dir. Everything is installed in my small SSD.
  - lostmsu 6y ago
    You can probably work around it using reparse points https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_reparse_point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_reparse_point E.g. just move all the files where you want them, and create a directory junction/symbolic link.
    - neves 6y ago
      sure, but I have to do it manually for each one. Who has time for this?
      - lostmsu 6y ago
        Oh, I thought you want to put all chocolatey packages on a different drive (in which case you'd just move the root folder).
  - kasabali 6y ago
    You can change the installation directory, but you need pay for it https://chocolatey.org/docs/features-install-directory-override https://chocolatey.org/docs/features-install-directory-overr...
- lostmsu 6y ago
  > The biggest problem is that there are invariably 5 different packages for anything you want to install, with no reliable way of deciding which is the real/main one. > Another problem is packages constantly breaking. This can happen because packages actually pull files from remote, primary sources, and those files disappear or the site goes down, but also for a myriad of other reasons. How are these different on Scoop? The first one seems to only be related to the actual amount of packages. E.g. if Scoop ever grows to the same size, it will get it too. The second one is also unclear. Does Scoop test all the packages it provides? Somehow I think it is unlikely.
- mavhc 6y ago
  Not tried scoop, but not had many problems with choco, installing stuff on 100 machines at work, made a smb share to store the package files, wrote a script to grab xml files based on machine names of lists of things to install. The search does seem to break sometimes, but not had much problem with the packages themselves, a few end up installing in a user context, which isn't helpful when the user is SYSTEM. Easier than constantly repackaging things as MSI/writing install scripts

GordonS 6y ago

I think most power users switched to scoop, because chocolately is... not great. Scoop is much better, but has a much smaller list of apps. I don't want to hate on chocolately too much, because it has filled a very obvious gap in the Windows landscape for so long, but I really don't like it. The biggest problem is that there are invariably 5 different packages for anything you want to install, with no reliable way of deciding which is the real/main one. Another problem is packages constantly breaking. This can happen because packages actually pull files from remote, primary sources, and those files disappear or the site goes down, but also for a myriad of other reasons. Yet another problem is the reliability of the chocolately site - it seems to go down or be slow as hell quite frequently. Another gripe is that AFAIK, chocolately doesn't support 3rd party repos. And finally (and this one is totally subjective) the website is ugly. So as glad as I am that chocolately filled a void, I'll also be glad for Microsoft to provide an official, reliable replacement that also supports 3rd party repos.

jedieaston 6y ago
scoop and scoop extras (https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop-extras https://github.com/lukesampson/scoop-extras) covers pretty much everything I use on Windows. I didn't realize the other repos existed for a while, but once I did, I got rid of choco entirely.
- GordonS 6y ago
  I wasn't aware of scoop extras until you mentioned it, so thanks!
neves 6y ago
My gripe with Chocolatey is just that I can't set a non default dir. Everything is installed in my small SSD.
- lostmsu 6y ago
  You can probably work around it using reparse points https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_reparse_point https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NTFS_reparse_point E.g. just move all the files where you want them, and create a directory junction/symbolic link.
  - neves 6y ago
    sure, but I have to do it manually for each one. Who has time for this?
    - lostmsu 6y ago
      Oh, I thought you want to put all chocolatey packages on a different drive (in which case you'd just move the root folder).
- kasabali 6y ago
  You can change the installation directory, but you need pay for it https://chocolatey.org/docs/features-install-directory-override https://chocolatey.org/docs/features-install-directory-overr...
lostmsu 6y ago
> The biggest problem is that there are invariably 5 different packages for anything you want to install, with no reliable way of deciding which is the real/main one. > Another problem is packages constantly breaking. This can happen because packages actually pull files from remote, primary sources, and those files disappear or the site goes down, but also for a myriad of other reasons. How are these different on Scoop? The first one seems to only be related to the actual amount of packages. E.g. if Scoop ever grows to the same size, it will get it too. The second one is also unclear. Does Scoop test all the packages it provides? Somehow I think it is unlikely.
mavhc 6y ago
Not tried scoop, but not had many problems with choco, installing stuff on 100 machines at work, made a smb share to store the package files, wrote a script to grab xml files based on machine names of lists of things to install. The search does seem to break sometimes, but not had much problem with the packages themselves, a few end up installing in a user context, which isn't helpful when the user is SYSTEM. Easier than constantly repackaging things as MSI/writing install scripts