I don't know that I would say that Linux *always* had package management going well -- certainly not all distros.
There was a time when Debian was highly regarded *because* of its excellent package management system. Redhat was next, and then RPM became a major standard because of their popularity and subsequent clout. SuSE was probably the next one in line. I'm not disagreeing with you as far as where things stand today, but at best, we can say that Linux started off on a "better" footing, and had less legacy and installed base to overcome. Such is both the power and drawback of a large installed base over a shaky foundation. -ASB: http://XeeSM.com/AndrewBaker On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 1:47 PM, Ben Scott <[email protected]> wrote: > On Tue, Jun 15, 2010 at 12:15 PM, Phil Brutsche <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> And why is a solution like this missing from MS operating systems?? > > > > It isn't. > > Comparing MSI/WSUS to RPM/YUM (or dpkg/APT or...) is really missing > a lot. MSI is a beast to develop for, it's a compatibility nightmare > across releases, MSI packages frequently require an interactive > presence, MSIs vary radically in design, they're a bear to customize, > the post-install management functions are non-existent, WSUS is a > completely different framework vs MSI, I could go on and on and on. > > > Third parties who refuse to publish catalogs SCUP can use (like Adobe) > > are as much as fault as anyone else. > > So, basically, practically the entire software industry. > > Microsoft has been working on Windows software installation for a > decade plus, and it's still very hairy, especially if you want to also > support not-the-latest-release-of-Windows. I can't really blame > third-party developers for (1) resorting to doing their own thing and > (2) not wanting to jump aboard Microsoft's bandwagon when Microsoft > themselves weren't done building it yet (and still may not be). > > Now, a lot of this is due to the "legacy" Microsoft built with > classic Windows, which was completely ad hoc. The entire Windows > software industry ecosystem is built up around that. It's way too > late to get it right the first time, so now Microsoft has to come up > with a way to migrate the world's largest installed base to something > more manageable. That's not going to be quick. Microsoft is still > responsible, since they built it like that way-back-when, but even > Microsoft can't change the past. They work in the world they built, > and it's not realistic to expect them to fix it overnight. > > But for those same reasons, expecting the rest of the software > industry to adopt what Microsoft's latest idea quickly is also > unrealistic. > > In contrast, all the current Linux distributions were designed > "right" the right time, with strong package management from day one. > So everything has been and continues to be much smoother on the > package/update management front. > > -- Ben > > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~
