Re: Making Linux Easy for Newbies

Christopher Hunter wrote:
kurt wrote:
Regardless of what the other posters have said, software OTHER than
what's included in a distrubution is USUALLY more difficult to install.
As a recent convert, I still have some difficulty getting programs to
work. And then there's the dependencies to deal with.

Either you can't (or won't) /read/ /the/ /instructions/ for the package
manager for your distro. Modern methods like /synaptic,/ /apt,/ or /rpm/
handle dependencies automatically for you. There are invariably programs
packaged for /your/ distro available on the 'net - just find the right
repositories.

If there's some obscure program that isn't packaged suitably for your
distro, email the software developer and request an appropriate .deb or
a .rpm - if the original developer doesn't do it, he'll pass you along to
someone who can. However, it's rare to find something /so/ obscure that
it's unavailable for your distro.

C.

Not defending anything. Not even saying installing software on a Linux Distro is hard. Your reply, however, makes my point. I've never had to read installation instructions for Windows software. Never had to type a single command line command to install it. Never had to contact anyone for a package. I'm not saying it's better, worse or in between. The point is, Windows software IS easier to install. My granny can do it. Linux software is easy sometimes, sometimes not. Sometimes there's a package. Sometimes it installs and runs problem-free. Plenty of times not. Flash player for Firefox is a perfect example. Sure, there's a script - that must be launched from a shell. Then you have to tell it where to put the files. OK, it's not that tough (even I figured it out!). But with Windows, you click "Install" and a few seconds later the animated Flash screen is playing a movie telling you that you're all set for Flash web sites. Don't get me wrong, I'm loving my learning experience into Linux. I use it primarily for network monitoring applications (The Linux applications in this area are MUCH better than Windows stuff - and once again, the commercial Windows packages are ridiculously expensive). But you'll not convince anyone that installing software is easier than on Windows.

....kurt
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