Re: Some Stuff...

[Hugo Gayosso <hgayosso gnu org>]

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA1

I agree in what Chuck says.


If you are a "Windows" user, install your distro and then update it as they
release "official" updates of the packages "a la" Windows.

Once you start getting into the guru side of GNU/Linux then you start playing
with download/configure/compile/install.


Greetings,
On 02-Mar-2000 Chuck Dale wrote:
> Hi Cory,
> 
> 
>> If you dig a little deeper, the list gets longer, as I believe imlib
>> requires all the assorted image type libs for functionality (libpng,
>> libtiff, libungif, libjpeg).  Granted, gdk-pixbuf will replace imlib, but
>> at the same time, this takes away the advantage that imlib is on alot of
>> stock Linux systems.
> 
> Gnome is a *big* system. It is not an easy or useful operation to reduce
> the number of requirements. See later for why this isn't a problem.
> 
>> <tangent>
>> All these rewrites make Gnome better, but now people are going to have to
>> have both Imlib and gdk-pixbuf installed, same goes for alot of other libs
>> that get rewritten, because alot of the programs I run are not gnomified.
>> </tangent>
> 
> I think you've made a false generalisation here. gdk-pixbuf is one of
> the only libraries I can think of that rewrites the functionality
> (obviously with extra bits) of a different library. Almost all the other
> libraries have not replaced any other library, they have created new
> functionality that was not previously available.
> 
> [...]
>>  but part of the
>> attractiveness of Windows and MacOS is that the user has one 'package'.
> 
> You've got one package! Install RedHat Linux 6.1 from a CD. You have a
> Gnome set up. Maybe the Gnome interface isn't complete yet, but the user
> has just installed one big "package", RedHat Linux. Gnome is not
> primarily designed to be downloaded and installed by new users, it is
> designed to come on a distribution CD. New users won't have any clue how
> to get to the downloading stage unless you give them Gnome first. 
> 
>> One thing that Linux has always sported as both a detriment and benefit is
>> the extensive use of shared libraries.  Keeping up with them gets to be a
>> nightmare sometimes, but is an amazing tool at the same time.
> 
> Again, you are talking from the viewpoint of someone keeping up with the
> latest development releases. The end user doesn't have to bother with
> keeping up with libraries. They just buy a distrobution CD and install
> it. It works. No downloading, no tracking libraries, nothing. It works.
> 
>> On a tangent, has anyone ever thought of creating a CD of Gnome software,
>> and perhaps writing an installer?  Not necessarily a distro (not another!),
>> but a collection of the gnome packages in some native package format (RPM,
>> deb, or something nice and detached, we seem to like rewriting
>> everything;).  These things could be given out at all the shows were KDE
>> seems to get all kinds of play, but Gnome doesn't. (In the yumminess of
>> competitive spirit)
> 
> Sounds like a <insert favourite distribution> CD to me. Again, what's
> wrong with just handing out a RedHat 6.1 CD? It's got reasonably new
> Gnome on it (or 6.2 when it comes out). And it's all done for you, in
> RPM. There's no need to put all these packages on a separate CD and
> provide an installation interface for them, it's all there.
> 
> And if they want to upgrade to the latest Gnome they wait till RH6.2 and
> do the upgrade. It's all tested, works seamlessly etc.
> 
> That is where the user interface needs to be strongest for new users.
> Having to download lots of packages may also be a hassle for experienced
> users who want to upgrade easily, but that's a different question. In
> that case you may want a graphical tool which pulls all the right
> packages etc.
> 
>> If we want to make strides on to the desktop of John Q Public, we need to
>> cater to them.  Gnome is moving rapidly, and I couldn't be happier with
>> 1.1.4 of core and applets (1.1.5 in a few minutes), its beautiful and
>> functional, but my little brother wouldnt have a snowballs chance in hell
>> of getting it installed, even if he could install Linux;)
>> 
>> Maybe someone should just hide Linux from the user, integrate gnome and
>> Linux in a fashion similar to the way Win98 works, Windows over DOS.
> 
> Again - this has been done by almost all the major distributions! 
> 
> Chuck
> 
> 
> -- 
>         FAQ: Frequently-Asked Questions at http://www.gnome.org/gnomefaq
>          To unsubscribe: mail gnome-list-request@gnome.org with 
>                        "unsubscribe" as the Subject.

- -- 

- -----------------------
Hugo Gayosso

Support the "Free Software", support The GNU Project

http://hgayosso.linuxbox.com

http://www.gnu.org

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: GnuPG v1.0.1 (GNU/Linux)
Comment: For info see http://www.gnupg.org

iD8DBQE4v0CiMNObVRBZveYRAtIKAJ97WZcz+C3aODk3o/7LN7qMjX07JQCcDDfT
nNh6605N85H6lIkXW2XqeQ8=
=O6KK
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----