Steven wrote:
>As a long-time DOS user, I like installing each application
>in its own directory. This compartmentalization keeps
>things tidy and makes it really easy to delete/upgrade.
>However, Linux is more complicated than DOS and requires
>a different kind of organization. For example, Linux
>programs share libraries (which, naturally, live in the
>/lib directory).
DOS programs share some things as well, dos4gw.exe and cwsdpmi for instance.
>It would be extremely wasteful of space
>if every program had to include all of these functions in
>its own directory. Similarly, it would be wasteful of
>space if every user on a multi-user Linux system had their
>own version of every application.
Well I haven't looked at the size but since not everything in these
libraries are used I wonder if it would really make a big diffrence. More
over it would be much easier if the user had a choice to install something
that *only* installs to the directory the user specified. If this were the
case the program would be independent of everything else that's installed,
as it is now it might lack some module.
Also I think that the multi-user approach is good - but most PCs are only
used by one person at a time so the waste would be very small. Also
(although I bet some wont like this) HD space isn't that expensive these
days so loosing a few MBs on programs aren't much (the data is what takes
up space).
It seems to me that the Linux world lives on thinking that everyone will
set his/her machine up as a server to the Internet and let people log in to
it. This ain't going to happen!
>> This is as bad as Windows in ALL respects.
>
>No it isn't. The Linux approach is very different,
>but it does have an internal logic. On the surface
>Linux appears to be MUCH messier than DOS, but it's
>just different.
How is it diffrent from Windows that stores several .dll files (shared
libraries) in the windows directory (and the windows\system directory and a
few others). Most new users do either of these when they uninstall a
program in Windows:
1. Remove it from the "Start|Programs" list
2. Delete the directory where the program is installed.
I think very few newbees use the "uninstall" (that doesn't work all of the
time). I doubt it's much diffrent in Linux.
So having it in the logical way that DOS has it is probably much easier for
the beginners. When you find out that you can share some parts then you
also know what you are doing.
//Bernie
http://bernie.arachne.cz/ DOS programs, Star Wars ...
