RE: Some things GNOME really needs

["Fox, Kevin M" <KMFox mail bhi-erc com>]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Shutko [mailto:ats@acm.org]
> Sent: Thursday, June 24, 1999 4:52 PM
> To: gnome-list@gnome.org
> Subject: Re: Some things GNOME really needs
> 
> 
> "Fox, Kevin M" <KMFox@mail.bhi-erc.com> writes:
> 
> > Use the webfind feature of gnorpm... it does everything for 
> you... You click
> > ok, Yes I want to download, and install... simple. :)
> > Dependancies are handled automaticly by gnorpm.
> 
> That's not quite what I was talking about.  What if you have one large
> program, with lots of optional parts.  For example, word perfect.  On
> Windows, you get the installer which will show a tree of different
> features, explain what they are if you don't know, and let you select
> what to install.  How would you do this with RPMs?
> 
> Well, you'd start by separating the components into different RPMs.
> You'd have the spell-checker, install filters, grammar checker,
> languages in different RPM.  That would probably get you around 30
> different RPMs for one package.  If you wanted to duplicate the
> functionalidty of the existing installer, allowing you to choose which
> printer drivers to install, you'd have a few hundred.  Ouch.

Well, IMHO, there should only be 1 printer driver. A universal printer
driver that makes use of lpd. (Or even better, make all printers follow a
standard printer communication language like they all use to in the good old
days (before microsoft). :)

> 
> So, the user pops in a CD, sees a directory with tons of RPMs, and a
> readme.  User has to choose what RPMs to install by hand.  (Sure, they
> can query the info of the packages, but still, not as easy.)  That's
> very intimidating, and there's nothing else you can do.  That's why
> some packages (KDE, I think) have an install script which wraps around
> the RPMs, so you can choose what to install.

Well, then maby the rpm front end should be designed alittle better. Say you
tell it to open a directory of rpms... It would be nice if it came out with
a list of the rpms with check boxes, and their description...
X Word perfect.
X WP Spell checker.
X WP Gramer checker.
X ...

It is a front end problem. One that can be solved in one tool rather then
make all programmers do it individually for their own program.

> 
> > Use a runlevel editor for that. Besides, if it is a program 
> that needs
> > runlevel setup, it needs to be done as root. And being a 
> root situation, I
> > would not trust it to a normal user.
> 
> 
> Most installs are done as root.  Surely, RPM installs (on redhat, at
> least) have to be done as root, since users don't have access to rpm
> database.  And if there's extra configuration to be done, it's polite
> to ask the user to do it now, rather than relying on them to find out
> for themselves.  Windows users dont' expect to have to run lots of
> different apps after installation to make their program work.
> 
> > One of the main conserns is downloading a bunch of gnome 
> rpms and haveing a
> > user install them. That is too ugly for the target "normal 
> user" audience.
> > The solution is, let the distribution handle the details. 
> For example,
> > redhat 6. You plop in the cd, hit install, and you have gnome. 
> 
> Sure, that works for programs a distribution includes.  That doesn't
> work for commercial apps or apps which dists don't include.  

If gnorpm was redesigned in the above mentioned way, all you would have to
do to install a program from cd would be plop in the cd, run gnorpm, and
tell it to open the cd... 
Then you would get a list of parts you can install.

> 
> An install app doesn't _have_ to suck.  There's no reason it couldn't
> work with rpm, for instance.  
> 
> 
> -- 
> Alan Shutko <ats@acm.org> - Looking for a job in Long Island!
> Check http://rescomp.wustl.edu/~ats/ for a resume.
> Hacking's just another word for nothing left to kludge.
> 
> 
> -- 
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