Things That Just Don't Make Sense

[GreyGeek]

Re: Things That Just Don't Make Sense

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The problem with this approach is that folks are used to being able to, under Windows, freely download a wide range of software anywhere on the net and install it with ease using MSI.

And THAT is the reason why, last month, they discovered a 4,500,000 Windows botfarm, and that 95% of all Windows are or have been infected, even with active AV, because of Zero-Day exploits, and those exploits which Microsoft knows about but chooses not to patch.

Linux, at this point, cannot offer this because....
1. Files that are considered dependencies are not included with the package and if the version of the installed dependency is not the one the program needs, then the install stops right there. Occasionally, it is possible to install or upgrade a older dependency. However, I have rarely have been able to achieve success using this method. Please see here, although be assured that this in no way compares to the real hell located in the center of the Earth.

"Dependency Hell" is a fading phenomena that was mainly a curse of the RPM package system. The reliability of the Debian packaging system is one reason why Debian based distros have become the most popular, Fedora and SUSE not withstanding. In the two years I've been on this forum, IIRC, I've seen only a couple examples reported, and those were not with repository apps.

2. There is no singular installer like MSI that can install the various files in Linux with ease.

That's because Windows is a monoculture, under the control of a single company, which determines its future directions, and Linux is not. The constants in Linux are the kernel and the libc library. The /etc directory and its contents are not treated uniformly across all distros. It used to be that /etc/inittab was the startup configuration file which controlled run levels, ttys, etc..., but now inittab doesn't exist and /etc/init/*.conf are the configurations files because Upstart uses that method. Serial settings are put in /etc/default/grub.cfg and update-grub is run to set them.

In the final analysis, the USER, not some corporation using proprietary lock-in, will determine which distro is the most popular and that distro's approach to how a Linux desktop or server should behave will become the defacto standard.

I do feel Linux has a reasonable chance of competing with Microsoft if user friendliness issues such as these were addressed along with the many bugs and glitches that seem to plague the OS, particularly with upgrades.
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With a desktop market share over 12% in the US and higher in other countries, and taking into account the Apple market share, the reign of Microsoft is coming to an end, unless they tilt the field even more by forcing PC OEMs to install Windows in firmware to prevent dual booting or replacing a windows installation, Linux is doing very well. Unity appears to be a hit among Windows users trying Ubuntu, which then leads them to Kubuntu, where they find a familiar home, but one with good locks on doors and "windows". 8)