kpackage and similar offer a graphic inetrface that is similar to
add/remove programs - they just havent gone the step further and
integrated extra module control, you have to do it.  And as for tryng to
add say, gxedit and having extra packages installed, thats called
dependencies in linux - if you want it to work - you must install them! 
In short, linux does have the equivalent, working in a similar way, but
it is quite primative in user facilities and operation compared to the
microsoft product!  I would dearly be able to look at a display and see
what I need to install a package, before I download it, not after like
linux does.  Mandrake Update is also a form of auto-installation.  And
there are the debian folks who script apt-get so it runs in the
background and keeps their system up to date - automatically.  What
Linux does give is more low level control, but paradoxicly what it needs
is better high level control such as a better uninstall, be able to
preview changes with little work and handhold those with little
experiance, whilst keeping low level control.

So whats the distinction - control (Linux), usability (MS).  And food
for thought, the more control you give someone, without the help or
knowlege to control it, the more damage they can do.  Dont confuse the
design decisions made by MS with being unsophisticated, it is often VERY
sohpisticated under the hood, particularly in gui design, where kde
(which I use) and gnome (urk) are playing catchup.

BillK




> I think you're missing one very basic distinction between the Windoze
> world and the Linux world (and thus the breadth of the problem of
> auto-installation).
>

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