Re: Simplifying package installation.

[Ronald de Man <deman win tue nl>]

On Wed, Sep 01, 1999 at 07:17:40PM +0100, Michael ROGERS wrote:
> >	If we require user-level package dbs, then suddenly there is a
> >system requirement for Gnome that the underlying O.S. have a packaging
> >system that supports multiple databases.  I personally know of RPMs and
> >DEBs, but do most other OSes have such an application database?  Is this
> >really an OS requirements we want to burden Gnome with?
> 
>  Where did "require" come in to this?
> 
>  OK, I deleted most of this thread, so maybe I'm missing the point, but why
> does there have to be a universal Gnome package tool for all package types 
> when each system ideally uses only one package type? Can't the vendors who 
> insist on creating their own package formats also provide their own package 
> tools? Why would the choice of package tool ever be a "system requirement for 
> Gnome"? Some systems will support per-user package databases. Some will not. 
> Some admins will create user groups to allow users to share software. Some 
> will not. Why should Gnome care about any of this? Just identify the file 
> type and launch the relevant tool (tar/gunzip, rpm, deb, whatever), and then 
> forget about it.

The thread is about user level installs. As it is now, they are possible
by compiling the source. For something package based we would (e.g.) need
a modified rpm that can deal with multiple dbs (one system wide, and a few
dbs from trusted users). What does this have to do with Gnome? Well, the
tool could have a nice Gnome interface (and KDE and command line interfaces
would be great to have as well). In certain situations it's just nice for
users to have a convenient way of installing a new application. Requiring
users to know the root password is not an option, IMHO.
On an OS or distribution without such a tool you can still use Gnome...
nothing is lost compared to the current situation.
So it's not a system requirement at all. But should such a tool exist,
or should it be developed by someone or by a vendor, then it would be
nice if it had a Gnome interface (but not exclusively).

Ronald