tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655831292737118435.post4418529929104139647..comments2013-01-27T15:54:39.714-08:00Comments on A Mac User Does Linux: Observations on fragmentationJay Maynardhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17225059135487539410noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655831292737118435.post-79731097230281241882012-10-31T13:38:52.702-07:002012-10-31T13:38:52.702-07:00The problem with this is twofold: first, you have ...The problem with this is twofold: first, you have to build multiple packages - hopefully, a .deb that will work for most of the Debian-derived systems, and then a .rpm for the Red Hat and CentOS and SuSE users, and then something else for the Slackware types, and oh wait now you have to maintain a Gentoo ebuild, and and and... This means that you can't build just one Linux package, as you can for Windows and OS X. Secondly, you have to pick a set of releases of those systems to build against that's neither bleeding-edge nor too ancient, and track that as things progress - and if you're building five or six packages, that means tracking at least 10 different releases of different distributions.<br /><br />The job is much bigger for a Linux software builder than it is for anyone else.Jay Maynardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17225059135487539410noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6655831292737118435.post-15317575219307597792012-10-31T12:46:49.855-07:002012-10-31T12:46:49.855-07:00"40 zillion desktops means there's no sin..."40 zillion desktops means there's no single way a program's installation process can automate adding it to the menu."<br /><br />This isn't actually true. What this really means is that more of the onus must be placed on the OS as opposed to the developer in regard to positioning things properly.<br /><br />The way things work in Debian-based distributions (of which Mint is one) is that serious, professional-grade software distribution isn't done in bare binary form, it's done in the form of packages called .debs. The .deb contains the program binary and associated files as well as information like the program's name, its icon, and its dependencies. You double-click the downloaded .deb, and the OS automatically downloads the required dependencies (no need for the user to futz around with Synaptic), installs the program, properly adds it to whatever menu the desktop environment uses, and... that's it. It just works.<br /><br />Releasing a .deb for a Linux program (and possibly an .rpm for Red Hat and SUSE users) is really kind of like releasing an installer for a Windows or OS X program. If a developer releases installers for Windows and OS X but only puts the Linux binary in a tarball, it likely just means they're treating Linux development as a secondary consideration.dtsundhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12283743906061415765noreply@blogger.com