Most Linux software is now available in DEB or RPM format. There's some
smaller packages that aren't, and commercial companies have a habit of
not fitting in. But frankly most modern distros take an RPM and DEB and
know exactly what to do with it so that the user need do little more
than click on the file.
As for UI it depends. GNOME have some very good UI rules.
But then I recently took one look at the new KDE4 version of Amarok and
fled for the hills.
________________________________
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alun Rowe
Sent: 04 August 2009 12:55
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [backstage] Fwd: [Autonomo.us] Skype, out?
Or they provide clear instruction on how to do it WITHOUT having to
resort to Google...
A large number of issues come from the wide breadth of software and
authors, all doing things in their own ways...
The 'openness' here is what causes the problem as there don't appear to
be any accepted design patterns to follow etc. Don't get me wrong I'm a
geek and 'mostly' can do what I need to on Ubuntu but honestly at the
moment I wouldn't put Linux on a 'users' desktop.
Also, it'd be nice if the software was seen my a UI designer before
launch. Most UI's on Linux software are very sucky at the moment!
On 04/08/2009 12:46, "Andrew Bowden" <[email protected]> wrote:
Out of interest, did you get him to try using a tar.gz file or a
deb/rpm?
I ask as tar.gz is a pain in the backside. This cannot be
denied. But then I use Linux on all my home PCs and almost never use
them for software installation.
For my mind, using DEBs or RPMs from central repositories is a
FAR FAR FAR superior way of managing your software than the Windows
method of downloading random files from random sites, each of which use
a random installation routine! This is especially true with upgrades.
I can upgrade my entire Ubuntu box with complete ease.
However it requires a user to be told "this is what you do with
software".
But lets be honest - this is not a Linux thing. When I first
tried to installed software on OS-X, I got completely thrown and that's
probably the easiest installation method going! It wasn't that it was
hard - just that no one told me what to do.
So software companies either do everything like Windows because
"everyone knows what to do", or they do something which may be better
but which people have to learn something new.
________________________________
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Alun Rowe
Sent: 04 August 2009 12:36
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [backstage] Fwd: [Autonomo.us] Skype, out?
Ask a genuine user to install some software on it. I
know it's a LOT better than it used to be but my dad still couldn't do
it.
Alun
On 04/08/2009 11:31, "Brian Butterworth"
<[email protected]> wrote:
2009/8/4 Alun Rowe <[email protected]>
...
Mere users don't stand a chance with
anything Linux based. It's far too geeky to use still.
Your final pronouncement is
interesting. How can you justify it?
Alun
On 04/08/2009 08:13, "Dave Crossland"
<[email protected] <http://[email protected]> > wrote:
Have you heard of Red Hat?
On 4 Aug 2009, 7:02 AM, "Alun Rowe"
<[email protected] <http://[email protected]> > wrote:
The problem with a 'free digital
society' is that people need salaries.
Ask the music/film industry what they
think.
I love the idea of utopia but we all
know that unicorns don't exist, right?
On 3 Aug 2009, at 20:14, "Dave
Crossland" <[email protected] <http://[email protected]> > wrote: > Hi, > >
What about the case fo...
Alun Rowe Pentangle Internet Limited 2
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Alun Rowe
Pentangle Internet Limited 2 Buttermarket Thame
Oxfordshire OX9 3EW Tel: +44 8700 339905 Fax: +44 8700 339906
Please direct all support requests to
[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>
Pentangle Internet Limited is a limited company
registered in England and Wales. Registered number: 3960918. Registered
office: 1 Lauras Close, Great Staughton, Cambridgeshire PE19 5DP
Alun Rowe
Pentangle Internet Limited
2 Buttermarket
Thame
Oxfordshire
OX9 3EW
Tel: +44 8700 339905
Fax: +44 8700 339906
Please direct all support requests to [email protected]
<mailto:[email protected]>
Pentangle Internet Limited is a limited company registered in England
and Wales. Registered number: 3960918. Registered office: 1 Lauras
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