Hi everyone, first of all, thank you guys for this effort to continue improving Netbeans. I've been following this mail list for a while, because I wish I could contribute to the project, but it's not been easy and I'm still learning, maybe someday... :)
I just wanted to express my point of view about the recent question of why its so difficult for users to extract an app file from a zip after the idea of putting Netbeans for Mac on the App store (which I thing is a great idea). Well, I can tell that I didn't know that. I have programmed with Java since version 0.9, and I still feel like a newbie because today there are so many components and utilities, that sometimes I feel I'm spending my time learning how to use a tool instead of working on my projects. I just compiled Netbeans from the sources, and still I wish I had an installer, because even when I have the app, I'm not sure that I'm using the "official version" if there is one, and I don't look myself spending 40 minutes compiling each time a new version is released. I have also watched the videos from Geertjan Wielenga which I think are great, but I still don't like the idea of running Netbeans from a Download folder and having all the time a terminal window showing log messages. The first computer I used was a Macintosh 512KB, I used to like Macs, they were impressive, with its graphical user interface, mouse, windows, menus, it was very easy to learn to use a computer, everything was intuitive, there was not a command screen, it was not needed. And now?, well maybe I hate them, because its all the opposite of what they were. I think power users have walked the road many times that its transparent for them, but for a user like me? well, it's a .zip file, a black box, I don't know what's inside, until I unpack the file, which maybe is going to create hundreds of files, which one is the correct?, so maybe I'll find the readme where it describes an installation procedure or maybe not, and if it does, I'm going to read about which version of Java is supported and system requirements. What is my Java version?, so next I need to open a terminal and type "java" to find out, by the way, do I need a JAVA_HOME environment variable just like Windows? Is my PATH environment variable pointing to the Java installation?, If I have multiple versions of Java installed, which one will be used by Netbeans?, and let's say that I end opening the correct application, I don't feel confortable with that, its like working with a prototype. To move app to the Applications folder, will I need to copy all the folders tree? I don't want to look it like a garbage of folders, maybe installing a just a link?, how do I make a link?. Maybe I copy the app into the applications folder but, what will it happen then? will everything be saved in the applications folder? It will look ugly. Of course each of these questions has an answer, but I need to investigate one by one until I start to know Netbeans, however, will that be the road I'll have to walk each time a new version is released? If I overwrite the Netbeans folder, will I transparently upgrade to the new version?, in the long term, will I end with hundreds of files/folders that are not used anymore?, and what about the plugins I have currently installed and working?. By the way, how many directories does Netbeans use?. At the end, I like Netbeans but I really don't care about details, I just want to spend 2 hours working on my own projects, not learning how to use the IDE, I wish I had an installer, where I just click on it, upgrade my version and continue with my stuff... what about Netbeans on the App Store? just install, and let the app store upgrade it, period. There is a point where I prefer an installer make the decisions for me instead of me having to control everything when I'm not an expert, its like buying a new car in a big box with all its parts, and an easy manual that shows me how to build that car before using it. The reason I've been using Netbeans over other IDEs is: Easy to install, easy to upgrade and easy to use... +1 to following that direction :) Regards, On Mon, Aug 13, 2018 at 7:11 AM Neil C Smith <neilcsm...@apache.org> wrote: > On Mon, 13 Aug 2018 at 12:42, Brett Ryan <brett.r...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > On 13 Aug 2018, at 19:22, Neil C Smith <neilcsm...@apache.org> wrote: > > > I admit to using my mac as little as possible for testing purposes, > > > but I really don't get why a zipped up application bundle is seen as > > > unfriendly for macOS users? > > > > Power users aside, it’s unfriendly for users of any OS. My test team > team are a good example of people that want a one click setup, my devs just > want to develop without needing to fiddle with a tool chain. > > Are we talking about the same thing here!? Double-click netbeans.zip > to extract, double-click netbeans.app to run. > > Best wishes, > > Neil > > --------------------------------------------------------------------- > To unsubscribe, e-mail: dev-unsubscr...@netbeans.incubator.apache.org > For additional commands, e-mail: dev-h...@netbeans.incubator.apache.org > > For further information about the NetBeans mailing lists, visit: > https://cwiki.apache.org/confluence/display/NETBEANS/Mailing+lists > > > >
