>
> I don't agree Charles. What's wrong with rpm? Easy to install
>and uninstall. If all the various software vendors and developers
Could be it's my stupidity (quite likely) but I find rpm to be foolproof (a
fool like me can't get them to work well). I much prefer to get stuff as
compressed tar files.
That said, install/uninstall issues/debates center on who is the user. I
agree that you don't want each vendor with a separate install function. We
had that back in the days of DOS and it was silly at times. But what Linux
needs is an OS-dependent equivalent of Setup. I suppose rpm is supposed to
be that way but....
Here's an example, and it may not be a good one as I'm new to using
rpms. I bought Mandrake v7, installed it, and then wanted to install Star
Office, which comes as an rpm on the third CD. I shove that CD in and the
autorun starts a description file. That description file gives me a long
rpm string that I'm supposed to type on the commandline to install Star
Office. I type that (notice that a typical Windows user is already bawking
at this). But it doesn't work. It doesn't work because the path to the
rpm is wrong in the document.
How do you get to the actual directory on the disk to understand what path
you need? If you simply use the file browser, the minute you click on the
CD you get that damn description file and you still know nothing. A simple
"cd /mnt/cdrom" will let you see the file structure but again, we're back
at the commandline doing an install.
When the path is identified and the rpm string is given, you end up with a
whole pile of stuff dumped into /opt. Then, to install it you've got to
find out that the install function is in /opt/Office51_en. You do all this
as root. Then you have to become the user who wants to use the application
and run the install program.
By comparison, to install Microsoft Office the Windows user runs "setup"
and drinks coffee while it happens.
I'm a BIG FAN of UNIX and Linux but all the work being exerted by people
who are posting here to get the OS operational and to install apps
shouldn't be ignored. Someone asked how anyone could like Windows. Good
question as it leaves much to be desired. But what it brings to the party
is virtually every driver necessary to run virtually ever piece of hardware
on the market functional and with a standard installation that is a
no-brainer. People trying to work on computers rather than having a desire
to become a computer expert value these things well above whether they have
"cool sounds" (grin).
Cheers --- Larry "donning flame-proof suit with full understanding that the
Linux zealots will be all over this" Marshall
