I want to add, most of the program you can think of is in the store (most of the time, by default!), including many properties tools used in industry.
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, spotify, discord, signal, thunderbird, chrome, firefox, brave, steam, OBS and many more are all installable with one click!
This store is the only store that is actually usable across all three major OSs.
Just saying that, because people coming from other OSs have a hard time believing a usable app store on desktop can exist.
I use Lubuntu for my home theatre PC, typically with a wireless mouse. But the amount of times I had to pull out the keyboard and open a terminal and add repositories and then apt get update all and then reboot and then try to install my program and then turns out I added the repositories for the wrong version of Ubuntu and now I gotta add the right one and also I can’t double click someting cause it will open it up as a text file instead of an executable.
Look, I like Linux. This isn’t a bad faith propaganda. I honestly think Linux could replace Windows if the developers tried, just tried, to make it user friendly. I work with multple programming languages daily, I’m not computer illiterate, but I appreciate ease of access. When I was a kid, you could install and run things easier on DOS than on Linux today. Why is it so hard to make an installer? Every answer I get on this subject is either whataboutisms or gatekeeping.
The reason installers are uncommon is a similar reason installers are uncommon on phones. Security and convenience. When your system is based around a unified “app store” system installers are generally not preferred because they bypass that and then the package manager can’t do anything about the program, and simply that the package manager provides a better experience overall.
Of course on Debian or Debian based distributions you can also download and install .deb files similarly to downloading a .exe installer on Windows, but that’s not preferred.
And developers of multiple DEs like Plasma, Gnome, etc, absolutely make it easy to use. I use Plasma, and it is incredibly intuitive.
Yeah, the repo shenanigans are something I definitely do not miss from my Ubuntu days. The simplest solution would probably be to look for flatpaks or snap packages instead.
It is possible for rpms and Deb packages to contain repos in them, see the vscode packages, it’s just a matter of how developers choose to distribute their software. This is getting alot better with things like Flatpak, Snap and to a lesser extent AppImages
and add repositories and then apt get update all and then reboot and then try to install my program and then turns out I added the repositories for the wrong version of Ubuntu and now I gotta add the right one
and also I can’t double click someting cause it will open it up as a text file instead of an executable.
I work with multple programming languages daily, I’m not computer illiterate
As a computer programmer, I’m assuming you’re aware of the right click option to mark a file as an executable?
Also, Ubuntu has a GUI for repositories management.
Every answer I get on this subject is either whataboutisms or gatekeeping.
If you were a computer novice then I could maybe understand your criticisms more.
Windows has literally been taking queues from Linux on how to makes installing packages and apps easier.
Not to argue with you, but I think it would be fun if you can provide the source for this. I am very interested in how Windows is improving (not that I will jump back)
There’s GUI front-ends for things like apt that are pre-installed on many Linux distros, e.g. Ubuntu. And windows has been moving towards trying to have the same thing. And yes, also they’ve got an apt of their own.
One of the reason I use linux is because there is no reasonable way to manage/update program on Windows using GUI.
The only reasonable program management tool on Windows is chocolatey, which is in the terminal. I need to remember typing choco upgrade all in command prompt from time to time, and stop all my work to wait for it updates (since it will close your program during updates). And then I will restart to wait for 20 mins for Windows to update itself.
Honestly, I don’t mind a break, but remembering thing is not my strong suit; also there are certainly circumstances where stop working for 20 mins is not ideal and Windows just insist on updating itself.
On linux, I install all my program straight from the store (very pretty GUI, even without ads!), and they all automatically update in the background without bothering me at all. Even my OS updates in the background. Every time I reboot, I just boot into a brand new OS, without waiting for any update. (Could use a notification after update is installed, but I think it is broken in gnome…)
I never use the terminal in Linux besides installing and using development tools.
People say this is u friendly but don’t bat an eye at needed a group policy or registry edit to keep edge from stealing your tabs and making itself the default.
Agreed. Terminal commands for installing simple programs is a huge turn off for Windows users used to opening an exe and it’s idiot proof. Getting the casual base will be the crucial point
Edit: oof. Guess this is why it doesn’t have a mainstream audience
Once I can install a program without using the terminal, Linux’ll have a chance in the primetimes
If only a tool like this came default with most mainstream distros
I want to add, most of the program you can think of is in the store (most of the time, by default!), including many properties tools used in industry.
Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, spotify, discord, signal, thunderbird, chrome, firefox, brave, steam, OBS and many more are all installable with one click!
This store is the only store that is actually usable across all three major OSs.
Just saying that, because people coming from other OSs have a hard time believing a usable app store on desktop can exist.
As an aside, damn these window screenshots from GNOME look awesome with the shadows
I use Lubuntu for my home theatre PC, typically with a wireless mouse. But the amount of times I had to pull out the keyboard and open a terminal and add repositories and then apt get update all and then reboot and then try to install my program and then turns out I added the repositories for the wrong version of Ubuntu and now I gotta add the right one and also I can’t double click someting cause it will open it up as a text file instead of an executable.
Look, I like Linux. This isn’t a bad faith propaganda. I honestly think Linux could replace Windows if the developers tried, just tried, to make it user friendly. I work with multple programming languages daily, I’m not computer illiterate, but I appreciate ease of access. When I was a kid, you could install and run things easier on DOS than on Linux today. Why is it so hard to make an installer? Every answer I get on this subject is either whataboutisms or gatekeeping.
You can add repositories through GUI.
The reason installers are uncommon is a similar reason installers are uncommon on phones. Security and convenience. When your system is based around a unified “app store” system installers are generally not preferred because they bypass that and then the package manager can’t do anything about the program, and simply that the package manager provides a better experience overall.
Of course on Debian or Debian based distributions you can also download and install .deb files similarly to downloading a .exe installer on Windows, but that’s not preferred.
And developers of multiple DEs like Plasma, Gnome, etc, absolutely make it easy to use. I use Plasma, and it is incredibly intuitive.
Yeah, the repo shenanigans are something I definitely do not miss from my Ubuntu days. The simplest solution would probably be to look for flatpaks or snap packages instead.
It is possible for rpms and Deb packages to contain repos in them, see the vscode packages, it’s just a matter of how developers choose to distribute their software. This is getting alot better with things like Flatpak, Snap and to a lesser extent AppImages
Watch it friend. That middle ground double speak will get you ratioed here
As a computer programmer, I’m assuming you’re aware of the right click option to mark a file as an executable?
Also, Ubuntu has a GUI for repositories management.
If you were a computer novice then I could maybe understand your criticisms more.
Sweet, then you agree that computer novices have real grievances regarding Linux’s usability?
A novice would have a learning curve for anything new that they just started to use.
You… can? That’s been a thing for ages. Windows has literally been taking queues from Linux on how to makes installing packages and apps easier.
Not to argue with you, but I think it would be fun if you can provide the source for this. I am very interested in how Windows is improving (not that I will jump back)
They recently introduced a package manager called winget. I’m not sure how many people actually use it however, and it is very much a power user tool
Okay, yeah, but it is still mostly a terminal tool. To a user, this is just chocolatey with less packages, lol.
There’s GUI front-ends for things like apt that are pre-installed on many Linux distros, e.g. Ubuntu. And windows has been moving towards trying to have the same thing. And yes, also they’ve got an apt of their own.
One of the reason I use linux is because there is no reasonable way to manage/update program on Windows using GUI.
The only reasonable program management tool on Windows is chocolatey, which is in the terminal. I need to remember typing
choco upgrade allin command prompt from time to time, and stop all my work to wait for it updates (since it will close your program during updates). And then I will restart to wait for 20 mins for Windows to update itself.Honestly, I don’t mind a break, but remembering thing is not my strong suit; also there are certainly circumstances where stop working for 20 mins is not ideal and Windows just insist on updating itself.
On linux, I install all my program straight from the store (very pretty GUI, even without ads!), and they all automatically update in the background without bothering me at all. Even my OS updates in the background. Every time I reboot, I just boot into a brand new OS, without waiting for any update. (Could use a notification after update is installed, but I think it is broken in gnome…)
I never use the terminal in Linux besides installing and using development tools.
People say this is u friendly but don’t bat an eye at needed a group policy or registry edit to keep edge from stealing your tabs and making itself the default.
Agreed. Terminal commands for installing simple programs is a huge turn off for Windows users used to opening an exe and it’s idiot proof. Getting the casual base will be the crucial point
Edit: oof. Guess this is why it doesn’t have a mainstream audience