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Not long ago I upgraded an Ubuntu system to 21.04. It took me more than half an hour of looking around to realise that the "Ubuntu Software" screen everyone was

Not long ago I upgraded an Ubuntu system to 21.04. It took me more than half an hour of looking around to realise that the "Ubuntu Software" screen everyone was referring to was a separate application that wasn't installed by default. Then I could look up the CLI command to install it via apt. That sort of thing would be a small (though very irritating) waste of time for many of us on HN but it could have been a showstopper for other potential Ubuntu users who aren't technically inclined and just want a system that works. Unfortunately in my experience that still sums up desktop Linux in a nutshell. You probably can fix just about anything if you know what you're doing. If you do, you get the benefits that come with running Linux, including avoiding the kind of controlling behaviours we see from Microsoft and Apple in their desktop platforms these days. But the reality is that most normal people won't know what they're doing to that degree and so can't fix the problems. So continues the cycle where "normal people" don't use Linux and so there is no big market for commercial applications and so most commercial applications don't run on Linux and so "normal people" don't use Linux.

dotancohen 5y ago
The "Ubuntu Software" screen should be installed by default. > Ubuntu Software Center is a one-stop shop for installing and removing software on your computer. > It is included in Ubuntu 9.10 and later. > - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuSoftwareCenter
- Silhouette 5y ago
  The "Ubuntu Software" screen should be installed by default. "Should" being the operative word unfortunately. It clearly wasn't installed by default for this machine that had been upgraded through earlier versions (starting around 16 I think so well after 9.10), nor was there any obvious indication to the user that it was missing and available to be added. There were some other oddities after that upgrade, for example Firefox no longer appearing for one-click launching from the default UI layout when it had before, so the lack of Ubuntu Software (and, apparently, its underlying apt package) wasn't the only anomaly. It just wasn't a polished experience that a non-technical user should have to deal with.
  - dotancohen 5y ago
    Ah, the "should-have-but-didn't" class of frustrations! Often undocumented, often not even believed when asking for help online. I understand your frustration!
yarosv 5y ago
Is synaptic not a thing anymore? I haven't used linux in a number of years.
- Silhouette 5y ago
  Synaptic still works fine but it also needs explicitly installing and it is aimed at more technical "power users" and so solves a slightly different problem.

dotancohen 5y ago

The "Ubuntu Software" screen should be installed by default. > Ubuntu Software Center is a one-stop shop for installing and removing software on your computer. > It is included in Ubuntu 9.10 and later. > - https://help.ubuntu.com/community/UbuntuSoftwareCenter

Silhouette 5y ago
The "Ubuntu Software" screen should be installed by default. "Should" being the operative word unfortunately. It clearly wasn't installed by default for this machine that had been upgraded through earlier versions (starting around 16 I think so well after 9.10), nor was there any obvious indication to the user that it was missing and available to be added. There were some other oddities after that upgrade, for example Firefox no longer appearing for one-click launching from the default UI layout when it had before, so the lack of Ubuntu Software (and, apparently, its underlying apt package) wasn't the only anomaly. It just wasn't a polished experience that a non-technical user should have to deal with.
- dotancohen 5y ago
  Ah, the "should-have-but-didn't" class of frustrations! Often undocumented, often not even believed when asking for help online. I understand your frustration!

yarosv 5y ago

Is synaptic not a thing anymore? I haven't used linux in a number of years.

Silhouette 5y ago
Synaptic still works fine but it also needs explicitly installing and it is aimed at more technical "power users" and so solves a slightly different problem.